VOWELS v. State
| Decision Date | 09 April 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 5D09-114.,5D09-114. |
| Citation | 32 So.3d 720 |
| Parties | Robert VOWELS, III, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Robert E. Wildridge, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kristen L. Davenport, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
The appellant, Robert Vowels, challenges the judgment and sentence entered after a jury found him guilty of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Vowels contends that the trial court read an improper jury instruction and, in doing so, denied him a fair trial. We agree that the reading of the improper jury instruction in this case resulted in fundamental error and that Vowels' conviction and sentence should be reversed.
In November 2001, Vowels was charged by information with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. The charge arose from an incident involving Vowels and Thomas Donaldson, the victim. Both men were long-term residents of the same motel. Vowels intervened when he saw his wife and Donaldson arguing in front of Donaldson's room. A physical altercation ensued between Vowels and Donaldson. At trial, Donaldson and Mrs. Vowels testified about the events of the evening. Needless to say, there was a substantial dispute in their testimony.
According to Donaldson, he threw a chair at Vowels because he believed he saw a knife in Vowels' hand. Donaldson then grabbed his work knife to defend himself. At some point during the confrontation, Vowels went to his room and came back with some type of club. Ultimately, Vowels struck Donaldson with the club. In contrast, Mrs. Vowels testified that Donaldson had a knife and he had cut her husband on the neck with it. Thus, her husband was defending himself when he hit Donaldson with the club.
Self-defense was Vowels' only defense at trial. When the court instructed the jury on the law, it included the forcible-felony exception to self-defense. The instruction was read to the jury without objection. On appeal, Vowels argues it was fundamental error to instruct the jury in this manner because he was not charged with an independent forcible felony. Therefore, the reading of the forcible-felony instruction negated his theory of self-defense, which was his sole defense, and denied him a fair trial.
In Martinez v. State, 981 So.2d 449 (Fla.2008), the supreme court stated that in order to give the forcible-felony exception to the self-defense instruction, there must be a separate and distinct forcible felony. That was not the case here. Vowels was charged with one forcible felony, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. However, Martinez explains that the...
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