Widner v. State, BR-440
| Decision Date | 01 March 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. BR-440,BR-440 |
| Citation | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 544,520 So.2d 676 |
| Parties | 13 Fla. L. Weekly 544 Eugene WIDNER, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Michael E. Allen, Public Defender, and Terry P. Lewis, Sp. Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Gary L. Printy, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
This cause is before us on appeal of appellant's jury convictions for manslaughter, robbery, and grand theft auto. The unsavory facts in this case are that appellant and a codefendant, Gary Wayne Thompson, went to the victim's house one night, supposedly to seek a loan. Thompson knew the victim, Robert Bowden, Sr., because Bowden had previously befriended him by offering him money and a place to stay when Thompson was down on his luck. Appellant did not know Thompson very well, and knew him only by an alias. 1 Appellant and Thompson had decided to go to Fort Lauderdale to seek employment, because they were having trouble supporting themselves where they were. Thompson told appellant that Bowden would loan them the money for the trip.
When the two men arrived on August 29, 1986, they helped Bowden carry an organ into the living room and install it. As Bowden sat down to play a gospel hymn, appellant left the room in order to use the bathroom. While he was there, he heard a commotion and the words "Why, Steve!" When he returned to the living room, Thompson was beating Bowden on the head with a masonry drill. Bowden died of 31 blows to the head, though not immediately.
Appellant testified at trial that he had no inkling of what Thompson planned and was shocked and appalled when he came upon the beating. Although he tried to break the two men up, Thompson began to attack him, and appellant withdrew long enough for Thompson to finish the beating. According to appellant, he was in such fear of Thompson that he followed his subsequent orders to watch for interruptions while Thompson ransacked the house. Still in fear, he helped Thompson carry the loot to one of Bowden's automobiles, which they loaded and stole. Bowden was known for carrying large amounts of cash at all times. With this money and other stolen valuables, appellant, Thompson, and appellant's sister drove to Fort Lauderdale. Appellant never told his sister what happened and allowed Thompson to explain their bloody and disheveled condition as the result of a fight Thompson had with his roommate. The sister returned home after two days in Fort Lauderdale, but Thompson and appellant remained until they ran out of money and valuables to pawn. When appellant called his sister in mid-September for money, she turned him and Thompson in to the police because she had heard about the murder in the interval.
Although appellant was charged with first-degree murder, he was only convicted of manslaughter and the other offenses listed above. After reviewing the arguments made concerning appellant's convictions, we find no error. Accordingly, the convictions are affirmed. However, the trial judge departed from the guidelines...
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...trial court from considering appellant's role in the robbery as a factor justifying an upward departure sentence. See Widner v. State, 520 So.2d 676 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988); McCammon v. State, 510 So.2d 657 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). We conclude, therefore, that the trial court impermissibly relied on......
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