Summary
The Supreme Court of Florida reviewed whether double jeopardy barred convictions and sentences for attempted first-degree murder, felony causing bodily injury, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm arising from a single shooting during a robbery. The court held that the offenses are separate under the Blockburger test and are not degree variants of the same underlying offense. It answered the certified question in the negative, approved the district court's decision, and remanded for resentencing.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Double Jeopardy Clause barred convictions and separate punishments for attempted first-degree murder, felony causing bodily injury, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm arising from the same criminal episode and one gunshot.
- Whether those offenses were degree variants or aggravated forms of the same underlying core offense under section 775.021(4)(b), Florida Statutes.
- Whether the case had to be remanded for sentencing on Counts II and III after the trial court declined to sentence Gordon on those counts because of double-jeopardy concerns.
Holdings
- Attempted first-degree murder, felony causing bodily injury, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm are separate offenses under the Blockburger same-elements test and may be separately convicted and punished when arising from the same criminal episode.
- The offenses are not degree variants or aggravated forms of the same core offense, even though they arose from one act and involved bodily injury.
- Carawan and Boivin do not control because subsequent statutory amendments expressly established legislative intent to permit separate convictions and punishments for separate offenses and rejected reliance on lenity.
Key quotations
“In no uncertain terms, the Legislature specifically expressed its intent that criminal defendants should be convicted and sentenced for every crime committed during the course of one criminal episode.” (780 So. 2d at 23)
“In short, the separate evils of intending to kill, seriously injuring someone, and injuring someone during the commission of a felony are sufficiently distinct that they warrant separate punishment.” (780 So. 2d at 25)
“Therefore, we hold that attempted first-degree murder, felony causing bodily injury, and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm constitute separate offenses under Blockburger and are not "degree variants" of the same underlying offense.” (780 So. 2d at 25)
Factual background
Gordon confronted Michael Friedman with a gun, punched him, demanded his wallet, and shot him in the side while taking the wallet after Friedman resisted. The shooting caused life-threatening injuries and permanent scarring; there was no evidence that the punch caused injury. The four charged offenses arose from this single criminal episode and one gunshot.
Procedural history
Gordon was convicted on four counts: attempted first-degree murder, felony causing bodily injury, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, and armed robbery. The trial court sentenced him only on attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery, treating the other two counts as subsumed for sentencing purposes. The Fifth District affirmed the convictions but remanded for sentencing on Counts II and III and certified a question of great public importance. The Florida Supreme Court answered the certified question in the negative, approved the district court's decision, and remanded for resentencing.
Remand instructions
Remand to the trial court for resentencing on Counts II and III because the trial court had not sentenced Gordon on those counts based on its double-jeopardy conclusion.