Opinion ID: 1878922
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Felony Murder and Armed Robbery

Text: The State contends that even if the evidence did not support premeditated murder, the evidence does support Gore's conviction based upon a felony murder theory. We agree. Robbery is the taking of money or other property which may be the subject of larceny from the person or custody of another when in the course of the taking there is the use of force, violence, assault, or putting in fear. § 812.13(1), Fla.Stat. (1989). Property that is the subject of the taking need not be in the actual physical possession or immediate presence of the person who was robbed. See Jones v. State, 652 So.2d 346, 350 (Fla.1995). Property is taken from the person or custody of another' if it is sufficiently under the victim's control so that the victim could have prevented the taking if she had not been subjected to the violence or intimidation by the robber. Id. Under section 812.13(3)(b), Florida Statutes (1989), the violence or intimidation may occur prior to, contemporaneously with, or subsequent to the taking of the property so long as both the act of violence or intimidation and the taking constitute a continuous series of acts or events. See Jones, 652 So.2d at 349. The taking of property after a murder, however, does not constitute robbery if the motive for the murder was not the taking of property. See Mahn v. State, 714 So.2d 391, 397 (Fla.1998) (citing Knowles v. State, 632 So.2d 62, 66 (Fla.1993), Clark v. State, 609 So.2d 513, 515 (Fla.1992), and Parker v. State, 458 So.2d 750, 754 (Fla. 1984)). We hold that there is competent substantial evidence to support the finding that Gore committed murder during the commission of a robbery. In the present case, Novick was last seen alive driving her Corvette from the Redlands Tavern, accompanied by Gore, who admitted to being with Novick at the bar that evening. Hours later, Gore was seen driving the Corvette, without Novick, telling others that the car was on loan from his girlfriend. After wrecking the car, he abandoned it and stated that it was stolen. Inside the vehicle, police recovered Novick's personal property and a power of attorney executed by Gore. The day after Gore wrecked the car, Gore gave a friend the keys to the vehicle and told another friend that the police were after him. Novick's body was found several days later, naked and abandoned in a remote area, within a few blocks from where Gore had attacked Tina Coralis and from where Gore previously had been staying. The evidence also revealed that when Gore took Novick's Corvette, he did not have a car of his own. Gore's prior convictions established a pattern of attacking women in order to gain their property and use their cars. In each of these prior instances, Gore attempted to murder or actually murdered women, stole their personal possessions and cars, and left the bodies in remote areas. In sum, there is competent substantial evidence supporting Gore's conviction for armed robbery. Therefore, we hold that the trial court did not err in denying Gore's motion for a judgment of acquittal on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery.