Michael Anthony Way v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledFebruary 12, 2020
Docket2D17-4369
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
MICHAEL ANTHONY WAY, )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D17-4369
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
)
Opinion filed February 12, 2020.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for
Hillsborough County; Nick Nazaretian,
Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and
Richard J. Sanders, Assistant Public
Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney
General, Tallahassee, and Jeffrey H. Siegal,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for
Appellee.
KELLY, Judge.
Michael Anthony Way appeals his judgment and sentence for aggravated
battery with a deadly weapon. He pleaded guilty to the charge following the denial of
his dispositive motion to dismiss based on section 776.032, Florida Statutes (2017),
Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. Way argues that he is entitled to a new immunity
hearing because the trial court erred in failing to apply the 2017 amendment to the
statute, which shifts the burden of proof from the defendant to the State. Based on the
recent decision in Love v. State, No. SC18-747, 2019 WL 6906479 (Fla. Dec. 19, 2019),
we reverse.
In Love, the supreme court held that "[s]ection 776.032(4) is a procedural
change in the law and applies to all Stand Your Ground immunity hearings conducted
on or after the statute's effective date." Id. at *11. Because Way's pretrial hearing took
place after the effective date of section 776.032(4), it should have been conducted
under the new standard. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings
consistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
BLACK and SLEET JJ., Concur.
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