DION MICHAEL CARAWAN, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Dion Carawan was convicted of attempted manslaughter, aggravated battery, and shooting into an occupied structure. The appellate court certified the case to the Florida Supreme Court to resolve whether multiple convictions for aggravated battery and attempted manslaughter arising from the same incident with multiple shots fired violate double jeopardy principles, as recent precedent on this issue has become inconsistent and unclear.
The court declined to rule on the merits and instead certified the case to the Florida Supreme Court for immediate resolution. The court recognized that recent Florida Supreme Court precedent (Mills v. State and State v. Boivin) creates conflicting guidance on whether multiple convictions for aggravated battery and homicide-related offenses are permissible.
[1] Conviction and sentencing for both aggravated battery and attempted manslaughter arising from a single incident is improper where the legislative intent does not support…
[2] The Florida Supreme Court has held that the same legislative intent precludes conviction of both aggravated battery and attempted first-degree murder when there is only o…
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“it is improper to convict a person for aggravated battery and simultaneously for homicide as a result of one shotgun blast, since there is no legislative intent that multiple punishments be imposed where both the homicide, and the lethal act which caused it, resulted in no additional injury to another person or property.”
Establishes the general rule from Mills v. State prohibiting multiple convictions for aggravated battery and homicide from a single act.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCarawan was convicted of attempted manslaughter, aggravated battery, and shooting into an occupied structure. The evidence, construed favorably for th…
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COBB, Judge.
Dion Carawan was convicted of attempted manslaughter, aggravated battery and shooting into an occupied structure.1 The issue in this case is whether Carawan can be convicted and sentenced for both aggravated battery and attempted manslaughter arising out of an incident in which the evidence, construed favorably for the state, shows that at least three shots were fired.
The Florida Supreme Court has held that it is improper to convict a person for aggravated battery and simultaneously for homicide as a result of one shotgun blast, since there is no legislative intent that multiple punishments be imposed where both the homicide, and the lethal act which caused it, resulted in no additional injury to another person or property. Mills v. State, 476 So. 2d 172, 177 (Fla.1985).
In State v. Boivin, 487 So. 2d 1037 (Fla.1986), the supreme court, in a four-three vote, held that the same legislative intent precludes conviction of both aggravated battery and attempted first-degree murder, even though neither crime is a necessarily lesser included offense of the other, where there is only one victim. See State v. Baker, 456 So. 2d 419 (Fla.1984).2 But see § 775.021(4), Fla.Stat. (1985) (judgment and sentence for all crimes arising out of the same transaction proper unless same or necessarily lesser included offense). See also Green v. State, 475 So. 2d 235, 237 (Fla.1985), Shaw, J., concurring.
The state contends that Boivin is inapplicable in the instant case, since it appears that only one shot was fired there, whereas here the evidence shows that multiple shots were fired. Thus, the state argues multiple punishment is proper. State v. Hegstrom, 401 So. 2d 1343 (Fla.1981), marked the beginning of a succession of cases from the Florida Supreme Court which has caused the law of double jeopardy in this state to become, in the words of Lewis Carroll, “curiouser and curiouser.”3 Until the Florida Supreme Court ultimately resolves the issue, the decisions of the courts of appeal provide only precarious guidance to the litigants and to the public as a whole. Accordingly, pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.125, we decline to rule in this case and, instead, certify that the instant case requires immediate resolution by the Florida Supreme Court due to issues of great public importance. This court respectfully requests the supreme court to accept jurisdiction pursuant to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.125 and 9.030(a)(2)(B).
UPCHURCH, C.J., and SHARP, J., concur. . Carawan was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder and the other charges.
. Interestingly, the initial opinion of the court in Boivin, which was released one day before Mills, quashed the Third District’s opinion based solely on the determination that aggravated battery was not a lesser included offense of attempted murder. See State v. Boivin, 487 So. 2d 1037 (Fla.1985).
.L. Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Vol. II (1865).
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Dion Michael Carawan v. State, 515 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1987)…BARKETT, Justice. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section (3)(b)(5) of the Florida Constitution, based on the district court’s request in Carawan v. State, 495 So. 2d 239 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986), for “immediate resolution by the Florida Supreme Court due to issues of great public importance.” 1 The issue is whether, and under what circumstances, a defendant may be convicted of multiple criminal offenses based on a single…
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State v. Smith, 547 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 1989)…ety of multiple punishments was in any sense coherent. Indeed, the district court in Carawan had admitted despair and passed the issue directly to this Court because Florida law on this subject had become “curiouser and curiouser.” Carawan v. State, 495 So. 2d 239, 240 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986) (quoting L. Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (1865)). As we noted in our own review of Cara-wan, there were some occasions when this Court arbitrarily applied a strict Blockbur-ger analysis and others when it arbitrarily did no…
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State v. Glenn, 558 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 1990)…on. . The district court in Carawan declined to rule on the merits of the case and certified the issue as one of great public importance, finding that the law of double jeopardy in Florida had become " 'curiouser and curiouser.’ ” Carawan v. State, 495 So. 2d 239, 240 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986) (quoting from L. Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Vol. II (1865)).…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Baker, 456 So. 2d 419 (Fla. 1984)
- State v. Hegstrom, 401 So. 2d 1343 (Fla. 1981)
- State v. Rivers, 401 So. 2d 1343 (Fla. 1981)
- Mills v. State, 476 So. 2d 172 (Fla. 1985)
- Green v. State, 475 So. 2d 235 (Fla. 1985)
- State v. Jules Boivin, 487 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 1986)