Dean Kenneth Rockmore, Petitioner v. State of Florida, Respondent

Summary

The court approved the result affirming Rockmore’s robbery-with-a-firearm conviction, holding that competent, substantial evidence supported the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal and that the erroneous abandonment instruction was harmless because the evidence did not support an abandonment defense on these facts. The court concluded that Rockmore admitted fleeing with stolen merchandise and that the theft and threatened use of force formed a continuous series of acts. Chief Justice Polston and Justice Pariente, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have ordered a new trial because Rockmore presented evidence supporting abandonment and the victim-awareness requirement was legally erroneous and harmful.