LARRY CRANDALL ROBERTS
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
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Larry Crandall Roberts was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm following a nonjury trial. He appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in rejecting his statutory and common law affirmative defenses of citizen's arrest for detaining two unarmed individuals with a shotgun. The appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding that while Roberts had probable cause to effect an arrest, competent substantial evidence supported the trial court's finding that he did not act reasonably in his detention attempt.
The court affirmed the convictions, holding that although Roberts had probable cause to effect a citizen's arrest, the trial court properly rejected his affirmative defense because competent substantial evidence showed he did not act in a reasonable manner when attempting to detain the two individuals.
[1] The availability of a citizen's arrest affirmative defense depends not only on the existence of probable cause but also on whether the arrest was effected in a reasonable…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRoberts attempted to detain two unarmed individuals, including a minor, whom he believed had committed a felony. He used a shotgun during the detentio…
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January 31, 2019 PER CURIAM. Larry Crandall Roberts appeals his judgments and sentences for two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm following a nonjury trial. Roberts’s sole argument on appeal is that the trial court erred in rejecting both his statutory1 and common law affirmative defenses2 of citizen’s arrest regarding his use of a 1 See § 810.09(2)(c), Fla. Stat. (2013).
shotgun while attempting to detain two unarmed individuals,3 whom he believed had committed a felony.
A detailed recitation of the facts is unnecessary to our resolution. While we agree with Roberts that he initially had probable cause to effect a citizen’s arrest, the State presented evidence at trial contradicting Roberts’s affirmative defense by showing that he did not act in a reasonable manner when he attempted to detain the two individuals. This factual dispute regarding the affirmative defense was resolved by the trier of fact adversely to Roberts, and the record contains competent substantial evidence supporting his convictions.
AFFIRMED. EVANDER, LAMBERT, and EISNAUGLE, Associate Judges,4 concur. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331.
_____________________________ Luke Newman of Luke Newman, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant. Ashley B. Moody, Attorney General, and Steven E. Woods, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.