VERDIE WILLIAMS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Verdie Williams was charged with first-degree murder but convicted of second-degree murder. On appeal, Williams challenged the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on third-degree murder, arguing the omission was error under prior case law requiring instruction on all degrees of murder when first-degree murder is charged.
The trial court did not err in failing to instruct on third-degree murder because no evidence in the record supported a charge of third-degree murder, and under amended Rule 3.490, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, the judge shall not instruct on any degree as to which there is no evidence.
[1] Third degree felony murder is not a lesser included offense of premeditated first degree murder.
[2] A trial court is not required to instruct the jury on third degree felony murder when the underlying felony has different statutory elements than first degree murder.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“If the indictment or information charges an offense divided into degrees, the jury may find the defendant guilty of the offense charged or any lesser degree supported by the evidence. The judge shall not instruct on any degree as to which there is no evidence.”
The amended Rule 3.490 limiting jury instructions on lesser-included offenses to those supported by evidence, which became the basis for rejecting Williams's argument.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWilliams was observed outside the Silver Bar in Bradenton, Florida, peeping around a corner and staring at a crowd. He then approached the crowd carry…
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CAMPBELL, Judge.
Verdie Williams was charged with first degree murder and convicted of second degree murder. We affirm.
The testimony at trial was that appellant was seen outside the Silver Bar in Braden-ton, Florida. The witnesses observed appellant peeping around the corner of the building from time to time and staring at a crowd that had gathered in front of the Silver Bar. Sometime after appellant had been seen peeping around the corner at the crowd, appellant was seen approaching the crowd carrying a shotgun. Appellant then shot the victim Simmons, first in the leg and subsequently in the back. Simmons died as a result of these wounds.
The court instructed the jury on first degree premeditated murder and second degree murder. However, appellant argues that the court erred in failing to instruct the jury on third degree murder. Appellant supports this contention with the supreme court’s decision in Martin v. State, 342 So. 2d 501 (Fla.1977), wherein the court held that in a prosecution for first degree murder, the court should instruct on all degrees of murder. Appellant further sug gests that the error cannot be deemed harmless under the two-step-removed doctrine of State v. Abreau, 363 So. 2d 1063 (Fla.1978), because third degree murder is only one step away from the crime of which he was convicted. Hunter v. State, 389 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).
We find appellant’s contention to be totally without merit. Rule 3.490, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, was amended since Martin to read as follows:
If the indictment or information charges an offense divided into degrees, the jury may find the defendant guilty of the offense charged or any lesser degree supported by the evidence. The judge shall not instruct on any degree as to which there is no evidence.
See In Re Standard Jury Instruction in Criminal Cases, Nos. 56,734 & 58,799 (Fla. Apr. 16, 1982). In the present case, there was no evidence in the record to support a charge of third degree murder. Therefore, the court properly declined to give an instruction on third degree murder, and it is unnecessary for us to consider the applicability of the two-step-removed doctrine.
AFFIRMED.
OTT, C.J., and BOARDMAN, J., concur.
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Green v. State, 475 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 1985)…der jury instruction was properly denied during petitioner’s trial for first-degree premeditated murder because third-degree felony murder is not a lesser included offense of first-degree premeditated murder. We find conflict with Williams v. State, 427 So. 2d 775 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 433 So. 2d 519 (Fla.1983), [*236] * and, although we approve the result reached by the district court in the instant case, we disapprove the reasoning expressed in the opinion of the Fifth District Court of Appeal. The…
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Barritt v. State, 517 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…st DCA 1985), that in Martin where the requested instruction was for aggravated assault in a murder trial, the lesser includ [*68] ed offense other than homicide that was rejected was not a necessarily lesser included offense. In Williams v. State, 427 So. 2d 775 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983), pet. for rev. denied, 433 So. 2d 519 (Fla.1983) the district court affirmed the trial court’s refusal to give the requested jury instruction on third degree murder because there was no evidence to support a charge of third degree…
Authorities Cited
- Grant v. State, 363 So. 2d 1063 (Fla. 1978)
- Martin v. State, 342 So. 2d 501 (Fla. 1977)
- Hunter v. State, 389 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)