State of Florida, Petitioner v. Christopher Douglas Weeks, Respondent

Summary

The court held that it could resolve the case through statutory construction without deciding whether the felon-in-possession statute was unconstitutionally vague. Applying ejusdem generis, noscitur a sociis, and the rule of lenity, it construed a permissible replica of an antique firearm by reference principally to the firearm's ignition or firing system, and concluded that the attached scope did not remove the rifle from the statutory exception. The court approved reversal of the conviction and vacatur of the sentence, disapproved the contrary decision, and receded from inconsistent prior statutory interpretation. Justice Lewis, dissenting, would have held that the modern scope prevented the rifle from being a replica and would have reinstated the conviction; Justice Canady, concurring, emphasized that the rule of lenity required disregarding accessories not addressed by the statute.