BRYANT COMMANDER
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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.
Bryant Commander petitioned for a writ of prohibition challenging the trial court's denial of his Stand Your Ground immunity motion. The court granted the petition after the state conceded error in imposing the burden of proof on the defendant rather than on the prosecution, and remanded for reconsideration under the proper burden standard.
The court held that the trial court erred in imposing the burden of proof on the defendant. Under the 2017 amendment to the Stand Your Ground law, the state bears the burden of proving that the defendant is not immune from prosecution, and this burden standard applies retroactively to cases involving offenses committed before the amendment's effective date.
[1] Under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, the state bears the burden of proving that a defendant is not immune from prosecution.
[2] The 2017 amendment to Florida Statute § 776.032, which shifted the burden of proof in Stand Your Ground immunity hearings to the state, is procedural and may be applied r…
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 state conceded error based on the prosecutor's agreement at the evidentiary hearing that the state had the burden to prove that Commander was not immune from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground law”
Establishes that the state agreed it bore the burden of proof, supporting Commander's petition
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCommander was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm based on a November 2016 incident in a Walmart parking lot. He filed a motion to dismiss …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Retroactivity Of Statutory Amendments cases and more on FLexlaw
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________
No. 1D18-36 _____________________________
BRYANT COMMANDER,
Petitioner,
v. STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
_____________________________
Petition for Writ of Prohibition – Original Jurisdiction.
July 9, 2018 PER CURIAM.
Bryant Commander was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm based on an incident that occurred in a Walmart parking lot in November 2016. He filed a motion to dismiss the charges under the Stand Your Ground law (§ 776.032, Fla. Stat.) in July 2017. The trial court denied the motion after an evidentiary hearing.
Commander sought review of the trial court’s ruling by filing a petition for writ of prohibition in this court. In the petition, Commander argued that the trial court erred by imposing the burden of proof on him to establish his immunity from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground law. We ordered the state to show cause why the petition should not be granted, and
2
in response, the state conceded error based on the prosecutor’s agreement at the evidentiary hearing that the state had the burden to prove that Commander was not immune from prosecution under the Stand Your Ground law.
We accept the state’s concession of error because it is supported by the record and is consistent with the statute in effect at the time of the evidentiary hearing. See § 776.032(4), Fla. Stat. (2017) (created by chapter 2017-72, Laws of Florida, effective June 9, 2017); see also Martin v. State, 2018 WL 2074171 (Fla. 2d DCA May 4, 2008) (holding that the 2017 amendment changing the burden of proof under the Stand Your Ground law was procedural in nature and, thus, could be applied retroactively in cases involving offenses committed prior to the amendment’s effective date); but see Love v. State, 2018 WL 2169980 (Fla. 3d DCA May 11, 2018) (certifying conflict with Martin and holding that the 2017 amendment changing the burden of proof under the Stand Your Ground law was substantive in nature and could not be applied retroactively). Accordingly, we grant the petition, quash the order denying Commander’s motion to dismiss, and remand for the trial court to reconsider the motion based on the evidence presented at the hearing and the state’s burden of proof under section 776.032(4).
PETITION GRANTED.
ROBERTS, WETHERELL, and OSTERHAUS, JJ., concur.
_____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________
Rudolph C. “Rusty” Shepard, Jr., Jean Marie Downing, and Chad R. Templeton of Shepard Law, Panama City, for Petitioner. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Quentin Humphrey, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Hight v. State, 253 So. 3d 1137 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)
-
Blair Alexandria Edwards v. State, 257 So. 3d 586 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)
-
Langel v. State, 255 So. 3d 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)
Previewing 3 of 10 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Gabryl Mark Sullivan v. State (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)