STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
DIANA WOODLEY, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court held that State v. Gray, which abolished attempted felony murder as a crime, does not apply retroactively to convictions that became final before Gray was decided. The Court answered a certified question of great public importance regarding the retroactive application of Gray to a defendant whose conviction had already become final on appeal.
State v. Gray does not apply retroactively to cases where the convictions had already become final before Gray was issued. Gray applies only to cases pending on direct review or not yet final at the time of the decision.
[1] A judicial decision abolishing a crime applies only to cases pending on direct review or not yet final, and does not apply retroactively to convictions that became final…
[2] A prior judicial decision holding that attempted felony murder is not a crime does not apply retroactively to overturn convictions for that offense that had become final…
Previewing 2 of 4 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“This decision must be applied to all cases pending on direct review or not yet final.”
The Gray decision itself limited its application scope to non-final cases, which the Court relies on to deny retroactive application.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDiana Woodley was convicted of attempted felony murder. Her conviction became final on appeal before the Florida Supreme Court decided State v. Gray, …
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HARDING, Justice.
We have for review a decision passing on the following question certified to be of great public importance:
SHOULD STATE V. GRAY, 654 So. 2d 552 (Fla.1995), HOLDING THAT ATTEMPTED FELONY MURDER IS NOT A CRIME, BE APPLIED RETROACTIVELY TO OVERTURN THE CONVICTION OF A PERSON CONVICTED OF THAT CRIME, AFTER THE CASE HAS BECOME PINAL ON APPEAL?
Woodley v. State, 673 So. 2d 127, 129 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla.Const. In Gray we abolished the crime of attempted felony murder in this state. We expressly defined the scope of application in that decision: “This decision must be applied to all cases pending on direct review or not yet final.” Gray, 654 So. 2d at 554. Woodley argues that because Gray held that the offense of attempted felony murder was nonexistent in Florida, the decision must also be applied retroactively. In State v. Wilson, 680 So. 2d 411 (Fla.1996), we dealt with the issue of whether attempted felony murder was a “nonexistent” offense in the traditional sense. There we wrote:
In the earlier cases, “nonexistent” had a slightly different connotation. There, the offenses in question were never valid statutory offenses in Florida; they were simply the product of erroneous instruction. Here, attempted felony murder was a valid offense, with enumerated elements and identifiable lesser offenses, for approximately eleven years. It only became “nonexistent” when we decided Gray. Because it was a valid offense before Gray, and because it had ascertainable lesser offenses, retrial on any lesser offense which was instructed on at trial is appropriate.
Wilson, 680 So. 2d at 412-13. Consistent with this rationale, and with our statement in Gray itself that the decision “must be applied to all cases pending on direct review or not yet final,” we hold that Gray does not apply retroactively to those cases where the convictions had already become final before the issuance of the opinion.
Accordingly, we answer the question in the negative, quash the decision of the district court, and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By (52 total)
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Windom v. State, 886 So. 2d 915 (Fla. 2004)…applying. See, e.g., State v. Stevens, 714 So. 2d 347, 348 (Fla.1998) (holding that decision limiting sentence enhancement for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer to attempted first-degree murder was [*934] retroactive); State v. Woodley, 695 So. 2d 297, 298 (Fla.1997) (determining that decision holding that attempted felony murder was a nonexistent crime was not retroactive). In contrast, because we cannot yet ascertain the effect of Ring in Florida, we cannot yet reliably determine retroactivity.…
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Owen v. State, 986 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 2008)…ucted on attempted first-degree felony murder and attempted first-degree premeditated murder, and the verdict fails to state on which ground the jury relied. While acknowledging that this Court held that Gray was not retroactive in State v. Woodley, 695 So. 2d 297 (Fla.1997), Owen’s motion argued that the Manley conviction should not have been introduced as an aggravating factor because the crime of attempted felony murder no longer existed at the time of Owen’s 1999 sentencing in the Slattery case. This argu…
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State v. Solomon Stevens, 714 So. 2d 347 (Fla. 1998)…mplete the act in order to avoid exposure to the harsher penalty. The State’s interpretation thus would seem to encourage, not discourage, lethal attacks [against law enforcement officers]. This is an irrational result.” Id. . See State v. Woodley, 695 So. 2d 297 (Fla.1997). . See Amlotte v. State, 456 So. 2d 448 (Fla.1984). . See State v. Wilson, 680 So. 2d 411, 412 (Fla.1996) ("[A]ttempted felony murder was a valid offense, with enumerated elements and identifiable lesser offenses, for approximately elev…1 / 3
Previewing 3 of 52 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Collin Gray, 654 So. 2d 552 (Fla. 1995)
- State v. Eduards Wilson, 680 So. 2d 411 (Fla. 1996)
- Woodley v. State, 673 So. 2d 127 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)