State Supreme Court Hears Appeal On 10-30-Life Gun Law
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — Arguing that a judge misinterpreted the state's 10-20-life gun law when he sentenced client to 80 years in prison for firing a single shot, the man's attorney has gone to the Florida Supreme Court to appeal the ruling.
Jonathan Kaplan said requiring stacked mandatory sentences from a single incident was not the intent of the law. He argued that the high court should give judges the discretion to allow concurrent sentences.
Kaplan represents Ronald Williams, who was convicted of four counts of aggravated assault, after pointing his gun at four gay men at a neighbor's Palm Beach County home then firing into the air. No one was injured. Each count requires a mandatory minimum 20-year sentence.
The judge who sentenced him believed that he was required by law to impose consecutive sentences.
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