State v. Thomas

In State v. Thomas, 487 So. 2d 1043 (Fla. 1986), the defendant shot a woman four times in her bedroom. Id. at 1044. While the defendant was reloading his gun, the victim managed to get outside her trailer, and the defendant followed her and shot her again. The victim's son attempted to intervene, but Thomas fired his gun at the son. He then shot the woman twice more. Thomas was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault, and the trial judge imposed consecutive sentences of thirty years of imprisonment for the attempted first-degree murder count and five years for the aggravated assault count. The court further imposed consecutive three-year mandatory minimum sentences for each offense. The Court upheld the sentences and distinguished the holding in Palmer because Thomas involved "two separate and distinct offenses involving two separate and distinct victims." Id.