STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
STANLEY B. ELLISON, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court reviewed a district court decision reversing a second-degree murder conviction and reducing it to manslaughter, and addressing whether juvenile furlough status constitutes legal constraint for sentencing guidelines purposes. The Court affirmed the reduction to manslaughter but reversed the district court's exclusion of juvenile furlough from legal constraint calculations.
The Court affirmed the reduction from second-degree murder to manslaughter, finding insufficient evidence that Ellison acted with the required ill-will, hatred, spite, or evil intent toward the victim. The Court reversed the district court's exclusion of juvenile furlough from legal constraint, holding that juvenile furlough does constitute legal constraint for sentencing guidelines purposes.
[1] Juvenile furlough status constitutes legal constraint for the purpose of assessing status points on a sentencing guidelines scoresheet.
[2] A conviction for second-degree murder requires proof that the defendant acted out of ill-will, hatred, spite, or evil intent toward the victim.
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“The district court determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a second-degree murder charge because the state failed to show that Ellison acted out of 'ill-will, hatred, spite or an evil intent' toward his eventual victim.”
Establishes the legal standard for second-degree murder and the basis for the district court's reversal
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn May 1988, Ellison was driving a stolen gray Grand Am when a police officer initiated a high-speed pursuit. Ellison lost control of the vehicle and …
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PER CURIAM.
We have for review Ellison v. State, 547 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), due to certified conflict with Butler v. State, 543 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). We grant review pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution. We quash in part the decision of the district court below.
In May 1988, a gray Grand Am automobile was stolen from a Jacksonville mall. The following day, a police officer observed a gray Grand Am exceeding the speed limit and gave chase. Following a high speed pursuit, the driver of the Grand Am lost control and struck another vehicle head on, fatally injuring a sixteen-month-old baby. Ellison, the driver of the Grand Am, was charged with, and convicted of, second-degree murder. At sentencing, the judge added twenty-one points to the scoresheet total for legal constraint because Ellison was on juvenile furlough status at the time of the offense.
Ellison was sentenced to twenty-two years’ incarceration for the second-degree murder conviction, and five years for the grand theft, to run concurrently. The district court determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a second-degree murder charge because the state failed to show that Ellison acted out of “ill-will, hatred, spite or an evil intent” toward his eventual victim. It reversed and remanded with directions to enter judgment for manslaughter. It also ruled that it was error to assign status points based on Ellison’s furlough status. It certified conflict with Butler, wherein the court held that juvenile furlough constitutes legal constraint for the purpose of assessing status points.
The state argues that the district court erred in interpreting Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.701(d)(6) as excluding juvenile furlough status from legal constraint for the purpose of adding status points to the guidelines scoresheet. We agree. This Court addressed this issue in State v. Young, 561 So. 2d 583 (Fla.1990), holding that juvenile furlough constitutes legal constraint for the purpose of guidelines sentencing. We agree with the district court’s conclusion that there was insufficient evidence that Ellison acted out of “ill-will, hatred, spite or an evil intent” toward his eventual victim. See Fla.Std.Jury Instr. (Crim.) at 65. Ellison’s act of losing control of the car was not committed from ill-will or spite.
We approve that part of the district court’s opinion concerning the reduction of the sentence from second-degree murder to manslaughter. We quash the portion of the decision relating to juvenile furlough and remand for resentencing.
It is so ordered.
, EHRLICH, C.J., and OVERTON, McDonald, shaw, barkett, GRIMES and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (18 total)
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Light v. State, 841 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…However, the State failed to present competent, substantial evidence such that a rational trier of fact could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Light’s acts were the product of ill will, hatred, spite, or an evil intent. See State v. Ellison, 561 So. 2d 576 (Fla.1990); Duckett v. State, 686 So. 2d 662 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996); see also Michelson v. State, 805 So. 2d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). Although these cases are not completely analogous to the unique facts of this case, they demonstrate that extremely rec…
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Sigler v. State, 805 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)…ipal because there is no evidence of “ill will, hatred, spite or evil intent” directed at the victim. See Duckett, 686 So. 2d at 663; Ellison v. State, 547 So. 2d 1003, 1005 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), approved in part, quashed in part by State v. Ellison, 561 So. 2d 576 (Fla.1990). In Duckett, the defendant was highly intoxicated, speeding, weaving in and out of traffic and almost caused two accidents [*35] before he eventually collided with a tow-truck and a disabled church bus killing five people. The court held…
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Duckett v. State, 686 So. 2d 662 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996)…ee murder for vehicular homicide. In the instant case, however, the state failed to prove all of the elements of second-degree murder. This case is similar to Ellison v. State, 547 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), approved in part, quashed in part, 561 So. 2d 576 (Fla.1990). Ellison was involved in a high-speed police chase. He was weaving in and out of traffic until his vehicle jumped the median and he lost control of the ear and struck another vehicle head on, killing a baby who was a passenger in that veh…1 / 2
Previewing 3 of 18 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Ellison v. State, 547 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)
- State v. Young, 561 So. 2d 583 (Fla. 1990)
- Butler v. State, 543 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)