Coates v. State

Summary

The court held that simultaneous possession of multiple firearms by a convicted felon constitutes only one offense under the applicable statute because the statute criminalizes the general possession of firearms, not possession of each firearm separately. It therefore reversed the intermediate appellate judgment, vacated the four convictions and sentences, and remanded for conviction and resentencing on one count. The court also concluded that the statute was unambiguous, so the rule of lenity was not needed to resolve the issue.