JOSEPH SNEAD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1987-02-11
No. 4-86-0686
HERSEY, C.J., and WALDEN, J„ concur.
504 So. 2d 550 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1987) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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.

Synopsis

In this sentencing appeal, the court reversed a trial judge's departure from Florida's sentencing guidelines for armed robbery. The court held that a threat made by the defendant during the robbery's flight phase was an integral component of the crime itself, not a separate aggravating factor warranting upward departure from the guidelines.


Holding

The court held that the threat was an act in aid of flight or escape and therefore a component of the robbery under Florida Statute § 812.13(3), not a separate aggravating factor. Additionally, the court held that fear and trauma are not clear and convincing reasons for departure unless they are extraordinary, as these elements are inherent components of robbery.


Headnotes

[1] A threat of violence made in aid of flight or escape after the commission of a robbery is a component of the robbery offense and does not constitute a separate act justif…

[2] Fear and trauma experienced by a victim are inherent components of the crime of robbery and do not, in themselves, constitute clear and convincing reasons for departure f…

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Key Quotes

“an act shall be deemed to be in the course of committing a robbery if it occurs as a component of flight after the commission thereof”

Establishes the legal framework for treating flight-related acts as integral to robbery, not separate offenses

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Facts & Procedural History

After committing an armed robbery, the defendant threatened the victim, telling him to wait five or ten minutes before calling for help or the defenda…

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Opinion of the Court
LETTS, Judge.

LETTS, Judge.

Yet another sentencing guidelines issue is now before us. At the conclusion of an armed robbery, the victim was told to give the defendant five or ten minutes before calling for help; otherwise, the latter would return and blow the former away.

The trial judge found this threat a clear and convincing reason to depart the guidelines because:

In the course of the commission of the offense, the defendant placed the victim in great fear for his life by threatening the victim, with the apparent ability to carry out that threat, with death. The defendant told the victim that if the victim were to disregard the instructions of the defendant that the defendant would come back and “blow him away.” This assault was beyond, and separated by time from the initial assault which constituted one of the elements of the offense for which the defendant is charged.

We disagree with the trial judge and reverse. Section 812.13(3), Florida Statutes (1985), clearly provides that an act shall be deemed to be in the course of committing a robbery if it occurs as a component of flight after the commission thereof. As we see it, the threat here uttered was an act in aid of flight or escape. Escape, inevitably, is 'the ultimate goal of every robber, for without it his evil design cannot be fulfilled. Several cases have held that actual violence in aid of escape are but components of a robbery. Ben v. State, 461 So. 2d 286 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Royal v. State, 452 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984); Stufflebean v. State, 436 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983); State v. Douglas, 337 So. 2d 407 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). That being so, the mere threat of violence can hardly constitute a separate act.

The trial court also held that the victim was placed in additional fear and trauma by the threat, thus justifying departure. However, as of the time of that pronouncement, the court below did not have the benefit of Grant v. State, 11 F.L.W. 2084 (Fla. 4th DCA Oct. 1, 1986), rehearing granted, 12 F.L.W. 236 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 7,1987), in which we recently held that fear and trauma are not clear and convincing reasons for departure “as these elements are inherent components of the crime of robbery,” unless the trauma is greater than that associated with a robbery. In this case, the trauma was not extraordinary.

Accordingly, we REVERSE AND REMAND FOR ENTRY OF A SENTENCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GUIDELINES.

HERSEY, C.J., and WALDEN, J„ concur.

Other
LETTS, Judge.

THE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND/OR MODIFICATION IS GRANTED.

LETTS, Judge.

In our original opinion, we held that the threat was made in aid of flight and did not constitute a separate act from the robbery. To support this view, we stressed the wording of section 812.13(3) which provides that an act in the course of committing a robbery occurs if it is committed in flight after the commission thereof. However, our Supreme Court, in Royal v. State, 490 So. 2d 44 (Fla.1986), came to a different conclusion and held that force or putting one in fear, after the completion of a robbery, is not a component of it. This holding, which overruled Stufflebean v. State, 436 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), and Royal v. State, 452 So. 2d 1098 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984), requires us to delete that discourse from our original opinion. However, we now arrive at the same result as we did initially because the threat in the case at bar was made before the flight and was contemporaneous with the taking of the property. Our initial result, therefore, comports with the Supreme Court version of Royal if not for the same reason.

Accordingly, we reaffirm our prior opinion, but delete the discourse on the statute and the cases overruled.

We would be frank to admit that our original opinion was wanting. Obviously, it should have considered the recent Supreme Court version of Royal. This omission was forcefully raised in the petition for rehearing, but Royal was not previously cited by the state or the public defender. HERSEY, C.J., and WALDEN, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • ABT v. State, 504 So. 2d 548 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
    …236 (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 7,1987); Campos v. State, 11 F.L.W. 1080 (Fla. 4th DCA May 7, 1986); Knowlton v. State, 466 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 476 So. 2d 675 (Fla.1985). See also State v. Cote, 487 So. 2d 1039 (Fla.1986); Snead v. State, 504 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). The fourth reason is invalid. State v. Mischler, 488 So. 2d 523 (Fla.1986); State v. Cote, 487 So. 2d at 1039; Williams, 492 So. 2d at 1308; Massard v. State, 501 So. 2d 1289 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). The fifth reason is also invalid…

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