Case Name: Shawn ARTHUR, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1998-09-18
Citations: 717 So. 2d 193
Docket Number: No. 97-3390
Parties: Shawn ARTHUR, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Judges: DAUKSCH, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 717
Pages: 193–196

Head Matter:
Shawn ARTHUR, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 97-3390.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Sept. 18, 1998.
J. Stephen Alexander, St. Augustine, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee,and Steven J. Guardiano, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.

Opinion:
PETERSON, Judge.
Shawn Arthur appeals his conviction and sentence for aggravated assault, section 784.021(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1995). He alleges that the trial court improperly denied his request for a standard jury instruction on self-defense, to wit: instruction 3.04(e), justifiable use of non-deadly force. We agree, vacate the conviction and sentence, and remand for a new trial.
Arthur and his girlfriend, Ericha Schmidtt, were in a pool hall with some friends, drinking beer, when an argument erupted between the two. The manager asked them to leave and in compliance Arthur grabbed Ericha by the arm and took her in tow. Some of the bar patrons thought that Arthur's treatment of Ericha was overly physical and began to make comments which in turn drew obscenities from Arthur.
One patron was particularly disturbed by Arthur's actions and unleashed a verbal assault on him indicating that she had been physically abused in the past and that he was not going to abuse Ericha. She followed him and Ericha from inside the hall to the parking lot where Arthur's pickup truck was parked. As the verbal exchange continued it drew spectators from inside the hall. Witnesses' descriptions of what happened next differs. Arthur claimed that the matter got out of hand because of the patron upset with Arthur and that the crowd in the bar, armed with cue sticks and bottles of beer, followed her outside into the parking lot. He testified that he was in fear that the crowd would attack him and his truck and that all he wanted to do was leave. He reached in his truck for a stick in order to protect himself and found an old loaded shotgun that he had forgotten about behind the seat. He claims he displayed the shotgun without pointing it at anyone, which caused the crowd to disperse. As he and Ericha were departing in the truck, the police arrived and arrested him. Ericha's testimony echoed Arthur's account.
The victim's account is different. The victim claimed that the crowd was few in number, that he did not notice any potential weapons in their hands and that they all stayed at the doorway of the pool hall. Only the patron mentioned by Arthur as provoking the confrontation, and himself, were next to Arthur's truck. The victim claimed that Arthur pointed the shotgun at him.
Arthur's theory of defense was that he wanted to protect himself from the crowd that had formed against him and who were impeding his escape from the parking lot. Accordingly, he requested the self-defense instruction to be read to the jury, but the request was denied. The denial was error.
The law regarding whether or not to instruct the jury on a particular defense theory is well settled. "Where there is any evidence introduced at trial which supports the theory of the defense, a defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed on the law applicable to his theory of defense when he so requests." Bryant v. State, 412 So.2d 347, 350 (Fla.1982) (citing Motley v. State, 155 Fla. 545, 20 So.2d 798 (1945)). A defendant is entitled to an instruction on his theory of defense "however flimsy" the evidence is which supports that theory, Vazquez v. State, 518 So.2d 1348, 1350 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987), or however "weak or improbable his testimony may have been" Holley v. State, 423 So.2d 562, 564 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). It is for the jury, not the court, to determine what weight to give the defendant's evidence. Vazquez, supra.
In the instant case, Arthur clearly introduced sufficient evidence to support the instruction on the justifiable use of non-deadly force. The state charged Arthur with aggravated assault, alleging that he had pointed his shotgun at the victim. Arthur and his girlfriend told a different story, however. Arthur denied ever having pointed the shotgun at the victim as an individual but admitted threatening a crowd with the gun. Arthur further testified that he had no fear of the victim as an individual but that he was afraid of the crowd that was gathering around him, his girlfriend, and his truck immediately prior to his display of the shotgun. Having introduced evidence that he only used non-deadly force in the face of a fear of imminent bodily harm, Arthur was entitled to a jury instruction that his actions were legal under those circumstances. By denying the requested instruction, the trial court essentially removed from the province of the jury the factual question of whether Arthur only used the gun to make the crowd disperse so that he and his girlfriend could leave the parking lot in his truck.
The state contends that this particular argument was not raised below and therefore is waived on appeal. Upon review of the record, it appears that defense counsel at least attempted to argue that the instruction was appropriate based on the fact that the state had originally alleged that three individuals were around the defendant when he displayed the gun. The trial court seems to have understood defense counsel's admittedly vague argument that, because the state had originally included two other victims, at least a small crowd was present to sufficiently frighten Arthur into displaying a gun. This argument, therefore, was not waived and Arthur is entitled to raise it here on appeal. Additionally, it appears further argument on this issue would have been pointless. State v. Heathcoat, 442 So.2d 955, 957 (Fla.1983).
REVERSED.
DAUKSCH, J., concurs.
HARRIS, J., dissents, with opinion.