RICHARD EARL WALKER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court affirmed the appellant's convictions and sentences, finding sufficient evidence for the kidnapping convictions based on the jury's factual findings.
Appellant was convicted of kidnapping and robbery with a weapon after threatening store occupants with a gun and forcing them to lie on the floor to f…
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CAMPBELL, Judge.
We affirm appellant’s convictions and sentences. We write briefly only to explain our affirmance of appellant’s kidnapping convictions in light of the dissent in this case.
Appellant was convicted of three counts of kidnapping with a weapon, one count of kidnapping, and two counts of robbery with a weapon. After the robbery of a clerk and a patron in a convenience store, appellant ordered all four of the then occupants of the store to go to the back of the store and lie on the floor. He threatened the four occupants with a gun to accomplish this purpose. Appellant admitted that he made this demand in order to enable him to escape.
In light of that admission, we believe it became a factual question, which the jury decided against appellant, as to whether appellant’s movement of the victims was of such a degree as to comply with the holdings in Ferguson v. State, 533 So. 2d 763 (Fla.1988) and Faison v. State, 426 So. 2d 963 (Fla.1983). The jury having been properly charged as to the necessary elements of kidnapping and there being evidence to support their findings, we are prohibited from holding that the movement of the victims was insufficient to constitute kidnapping and thereby substitute our judgment for that of the jury.
Affirmed.
SCHOONOVER, C.J., concurs.
PATTERSON, J., concurs in part, dissents in part with opinion.
PATTERSON, Judge,
concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I concur in affirmance the appellant’s convictions for robbery but would reverse the convictions for kidnapping. Many criminal episodes involve the temporary detention or movement of the victim. However, for such detention or movement to constitute the separate crime of kidnapping, it:
(a) Must not be slight, inconsequential and merely incidental to the other crime;
(b) Must not be of the kind inherent in the nature of the other crime; and
(c) Must have some significance independent of the other crime in that it makes the other crime substantially easier of commission or substantially lessens the risk of detection.
Faison v. State, 426 So. 2d 963, 965 (Fla.1983).
As our supreme court in Mobley v. State, 409 So. 2d 1031 (Fla.1982), observed of kidnapping:
If construed literally this subsection would apply to any criminal transaction which inherently involves the unlawful confinement of another person, such as robbery or sexual battery....
The prevalent view nationwide is that kidnapping statutes, regardless of their wording, do not apply to unlawful confinements or movements incidental to other felonies.
409 So. 2d at 1034.
In this case, the appellant entered a convenience store and threatened the clerk and a customer with an object concealed under his shirt which he represented to be a firearm. The two victims surrendered their money to him. The appellant then ordered the clerk, the customer, and two teenage relatives of the clerk to move to the rear of the store and lie on the floor, a distance of twenty to forty feet. The clerk and her relatives complied while the customer only moved approximately ten feet. The appellant then fled the store. Although the movement of the victims is not necessarily inherent to this crime of robbery, it was slight and inconsequential and does not have independent significance to rise to the level of a separate crime. My position is that the charges of kidnapping should not have been submitted to the jury and that the appellant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, as to kidnapping, should have been granted.
The majority relies on Ferguson v. State, 533 So. 2d 763 (Fla.1988), to support its position that a legitimate jury issue was established by the state. Ferguson, which involved the robbery of a fast food restaurant, is, however, factually dissimilar. Ferguson, after obtaining the restaurant’s money at gunpoint, forced the manager and three employees out of the restaurant and put them into a restroom located in the rear of the building. These actions clearly present a jury issue as to the elements of kidnapping. On the other hand, the instant case is factually similar to Kirtsey v. State, 511 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). In Kirtsey, the court held that confinement and movement of two victims within the interior of a restaurant during the course of a robbery was insufficient to constitute the offense of kidnapping. Here, as in Kirtsey, the confinement and movement of the victims was merely incidental to the offense of robbery. I would therefore reverse.
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Walker v. State, 604 So. 2d 475 (Fla. 1992)…GRIMES, Justice. We have for review Walker v. State, 585 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), because of direct conflict with Kirtsey v. State, 511 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987). We have jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution. Walker was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, three…
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Cathcart v. State, 643 So. 2d 702 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…s uneontradicted. Thus the confinement and movement resulted solely because the victim was resisting the robbery. I would conclude, based on Faisoyi, as interpreted by Ferguson, Kirtsey and Walker, that this was not a kidnapping. . Walker v. State, 585 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991).…
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Germaine Berry v. State, 652 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…ordered the four occupants to go to the back of the store and lie on the floor. Three of them moved 30 to 40 feet but did not lie down, and the defendant then left the store. Defendant’s kidnapping conviction was affirmed on appeal. Walker v. State, 585 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991). The supreme court granted review in Walker because of its conflict with Kirtsey. In approving KiHsey, and quashing Walker, the supreme court said: In KiHsey, the defendant and a confederate forced their way into a restaurant as…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Faison v. State, 426 So. 2d 963 (Fla. 1983)
- Autley Mobley v. State, 409 So. 2d 1031 (Fla. 1982)
- Ferguson v. State, 533 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 1988)
- Kirtsey v. State, 511 So. 2d 744 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)