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In Florida criminal cases, the law generally prohibits the prosecution from introducing evidence that the defendant previously committed crimes or other bad acts in order to establish guilt for the charged offense. As discussed in a recent Florida ruling issued in a gun crime case, such evidence can be offered for other reasons, such as demonstrating intent. If you are charged with a weapons offense, it is prudent to consult a Clearwater gun crime defense lawyer about your options.

Factual and Procedural Setting

It is alleged that the defendant was charged and convicted of knowingly possessing a firearm as a felon in violation of federal law. The events leading to his arrest occurred in February 2020, when Miami police officers responded to the sound of gunshots. As the officers neared the source of the shooting, they observed a silver car speeding away, leading to a high-speed chase through city streets. The vehicle drove recklessly, running red lights and stop signs before ultimately crashing. Inside the car, the officers found the defendant in the backseat. Firearms and ammunition were recovered from the vehicle’s rear floorboard. The car belonged to the defendant’s mother.

Reportedly, investigators linked the gunfire to a nearby apartment complex, where a man had been shot in the head. Spent cartridge casings from the scene matched the firearms found in the vehicle. Surveillance footage from the apartment complex also showed gunshots being fired from the back of a car resembling the silver car. Forensic analysis revealed gunshot residue on the defendant’s left hand. Before trial, the government filed a motion to introduce evidence of the defendant’s prior felony convictions for firearm possession in 2011 and 2014 to demonstrate his knowledge and intent. The defendant sought to exclude this evidence but was unsuccessful, and he was subsequently convicted. He then appealed.

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Florida’s laws criminalize various activities involving a gun, and the prosecution of gun crimes in Florida often hinges on what it means to “possess a firearm,” a determination that isn’t as obvious as it might seem. In fact, a Florida appeals court recently ruled that “possession” of a firearm might not be the same thing under two different Florida laws.

The defendant was the passenger of a Cadillac that crashed into a police vehicle. The driver fled the scene, but the passenger remained in the vehicle. The Longwood Police Department conducted a search of the Cadillac and discovered a loaded handgun on the passenger side floorboard and cocaine in the vehicle’s center console. As a result of the search, the passenger was charged with two gun crimes:  (i) trafficking in cocaine while armed with a firearm, known as armed trafficking, and (ii) possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, known as felon-in-possession.At trial, the jury determined that the defendant “carried” a firearm in furtherance of the armed trafficking crime; however, the jury also found that the defendant did not “actually possess a firearm,” which would have led to a further enhancement. The judge then dismissed the severed felon-in-possession charge because additional prosecution of that charge was barred by collateral estoppel, a doctrine that forecloses the further consideration of a previously determined fact that was necessarily determined in the defendant’s favor; it is not sufficient that the fact might have been determined by the first trial.

The appeals court examined whether the jury’s determination that the defendant did not “actually possess” a firearm in the armed trafficking case necessarily determined that he also did not possess the firearm for the purposes of the felon-in-possession charge. The court placed itself in the mindset of the jurors and suggested that while the firearm was readily available in the vehicle’s center console, the defendant did not have the firearm on his person or have ready access to it with the intent to use it during the trafficking offense. The court determined that this did not necessarily determine that the defendant did not “possess” a firearm to dismiss the felon-in-possession charge.

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