SC10-1791 – State Of Florida v. Robert N. Sturdivant

State: Florida

Docket No: SC10-1791

Case Date: 02/23/2012

Preview:Supreme Court of Florida
____________ No. SC10-1791 ____________ STATE OF FLORIDA, Petitioner, vs. ROBERT N. STURDIVANT, Respondent. [February 23, 2012] PARIENTE, J. The issue in this case is whether the merger doctrine precludes a first-degree felony-murder conviction predicated on a single act of aggravated child abuse that caused the childs death. In Sturdivant v. State, 35 Fla. L. Weekly D1993 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 7, 2010), the First District Court of Appeal certified to this Court a question as one of great public importance, asking whether this Courts decision in Brooks v. State, 918 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 2005), precludes a felony-murder conviction in such a situation, notwithstanding the language of the felony-murder statute.1

1. Specifically, the First District asked:

We rephrase the certified question as follows: DOES THE MERGER DOCTRINE PRECLUDE A FELONYMURDER CONVICTION UNDER SECTION 782.04(1)(a)2., FLORIDA STATUTES (2007), THAT IS PREDICATED UPON A SINGLE ACT OF AGGRAVATED CHILD ABUSE THAT CAUSED THE CHILDS DEATH? Based upon legislative intent as evidenced by the plain language of the felonymurder statute, we hold that the merger doctrine does not preclude a felony-murder conviction predicated upon a single act of aggravated child abuse that caused the childs death. Accordingly, we answer the rephrased certified question in the negative, recede from Brooks to the extent that it holds to the contrary, and quash the First Districts decision below. FACTS AND BACKGROUND The felony-murder statute in Florida provides that first-degree murder includes: "The unlawful killing of a human being . . . [w]hen committed by a person engaged in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any . . . [a]ggravated child abuse . . . ."

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