Opinion ID: 1900698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: separate convictions and sentences for murder and robbery

Text: The indictment for first degree murder alleged premeditated and felony murder in the alternative. The jury verdict form did not specify on which theory the jury based its finding of guilt. Griffin argues that the conviction rests on the felony murder theory. However, we find that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have concluded that the murder was premeditated and that the separate conviction and sentence for the robbery were therefore proper. The record shows that Griffin's accomplice, Stokes, was in the store when the shooting occurred. Stokes testified that he did not see the shots fired. He had turned his back to leave the store moments before the first shot, turned and saw the clerk falling, then turned again to leave when he heard the second shot. There is no indication in the record that the clerk precipitated an accidental or reflexive shooting which would support a felony murder theory. We have held that: Premeditation can be shown by circumstantial evidence. Premeditation is a fully-formed conscious purpose to kill, which exists in the mind of the perpetrator for a sufficient length of time to permit of reflection, and in pursuance of which an act of killing ensues. Premeditation does not have to be contemplated for any particular period of time before the act, and may occur a moment before the act. Evidence from which premeditation may be inferred includes such matters as the nature of the weapon used, the presence or absence of adequate provocation, previous difficulties between the parties, the manner in which the homicide was committed and the nature and manner of the wounds inflicted. It must exist for such time before the homicide as will enable the accused to be conscious of the nature of the deed he is about to commit and the probable result to flow from it insofar as the life of his victim is concerned. Sireci v. State, 399 So.2d 964, 967 (Fla. 1981) (citations deleted), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 984, 102 S.Ct. 2257, 72 L.Ed.2d 862 (1982). We find that Griffin used a particularly lethal gun, a 9mm automatic with jacketed bullets having a high penetrating ability; that there was an absence of provocation on the part of the victim (Stokes testified he heard and saw nothing unusual prior to the first shot, and the victim in fact cooperated with the robbery, taking off and giving to Stokes a gold neck chain Stokes had been unable to pull off); and that the wounds, one lethal, the other less serious, were inflicted at close range and thus unlikely to have struck the victim unintentionally. This is sufficient to support a finding of premeditation. Cf. Menendez v. State, 419 So.2d 312 (Fla. 1982) (presumption of felony murder when there was no witness to see or hear the actual shooting in a store robbery, thus no evidence of provocation or lack thereof by the victim). Because the murder verdict is supportable on a premeditated murder theory, the robbery conviction and sentence are proper. Squires v. State, 450 So.2d 208 (Fla. 1984); Teffeteller v. State, 439 So.2d 840 (Fla. 1983), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S.Ct. 1430, 79 L.Ed.2d 754 (1984).