Title: State v. Grinage

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

656 So. 2d 457 (1995)
STATE of Florida, Petitioner,
v.
Harold Leonard GRINAGE, Respondent.
No. 84318.

Supreme Court of Florida.
May 18, 1995.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Wesley Heidt, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for petitioner.
James B. Gibson, Public Defender and Brynn Newton, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for respondent.
SHAW, Justice.
We have for review the following questions certified to be of great public importance:
Grinage v. State, 641 So. 2d 1362, 1367 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.
The defendant, Harold L. Grinage, was found guilty of attempted first-degree felony murder of a law enforcement officer and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon. The facts, as determined by the district court, are:
Grinage, 641 So. 2d  at 1363. The district court reversed the attempted felony murder charge, affirmed the attempted robbery conviction, and certified the above questions.
The core issue is whether the crime of attempted felony murder, a crime first pronounced in Amlotte v. State, 456 So. 2d 448 (Fla. 1984), exists under Florida law. In light of recent case law, this question must be answered in the negative. This Court now recognizes that the "legal fictions required to support the intent for felony murder are simply too great." State v. Gray, 654 So. 2d 552, 554 (Fla. 1995). To this extent, we have now receded from Amlotte. Id. In sum, the State of Florida no longer recognizes the crime of attempted felony murder. This finding is applicable to all cases pending on direct review or not yet final at the time of the Gray opinion. Id. at 554.
Turning to the instant case, we find the district court's decision to be in accord with Gray. We accordingly approve the district court's reversal of Grinage's attempted felony murder conviction.
It is so ordered.
GRIMES, C.J., and OVERTON, KOGAN, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.