Keith Allyn REIMEL, Appellant/Cross-Appellee,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
*17 James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Daniel J. Schafer, Asst. Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for appellant/cross-appellee.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and W. Brian Bayly, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for appellee/cross-appellant.
DANIEL, Judge.
Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for second degree murder, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and carrying a concealed firearm.[1] The state cross-appeals the sentence imposed contending that it is an invalid departure from the sentencing guidelines.
Perry Kelley died from a gunshot wound inflicted by the defendant. The witnesses' accounts vary, but apparently the defendant was backing his car out at the Brass Rail Saloon parking lot when the victim approached, yelling about a beer bottle thrown by one of the defendant's passengers. The defendant stopped his car, the victim stepped up to the driver's side and the two exchanged words. The victim then reached through the window, striking the defendant once and the defendant shot the victim. More than one witness testified that the car's motor was running and the car was not blocked from exiting the parking lot during the confrontation.
The trial court's order reciting its reasoning for a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines included the following:
Ultimately, the court departed because of the underlying facts in this case, the legal synopsis being: (1) that the facts in this case indicated that the single shot fired was almost an immediate response to a hostile act of the victim, and the time frame between the act of the victim and act of the defendant was so short as *18 to mitigate the factors in this case.[2]
We have examined the record and find ample, competent, substantial evidence supporting the jury verdict. The degree of homicide and the intent with which the act in question was committed are typically dependent upon the circumstances of the case and are questions of fact to be resolved by the jury. See Larsen v. State,
Lethal self defense was not established as a matter of law in this case. Both real necessity for taking a life and a situation causing a reasonably prudent person to believe that danger is imminent must be demonstrated in order to justify homicide as self-defense. See Pressley v. State,
A jury question is presented when the evidence is reasonably susceptible of two views, either that the defendant's action in shooting was justifiable self-defense or that such action evinced a depraved mind without proper regard for the life of the victim. See McCauley v. State,
However, we agree with the state's contention that the trial court erred by departing one cell downward from the sentencing guidelines. Clear and convincing reasons are required for departure from sentencing guidelines. State v. Mischler,
The final judgment of conviction is accordingly affirmed, but the sentence under review is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to resentence defendant within the sentencing guidelines.
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.
COBB and COWART, JJ. concur.
NOTES
Notes
[1] We express no opinion as to double jeopardy as the matter has not been presented for review. See Burton v. State,
[2] There were no other reasons even though this was numbered (1).
[3] As to the applicability of the 1988 guidelines amendments, see Miller v. Florida, ___ U.S. ___,
