State v. Sturdivant

The issue in this case is whether the merger doctrine precludes a first-degree felony-murder conviction predicated on a single act of aggravated child abuse that caused the child’s death. In Sturdivant v. State, 84 So.3d 1044 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010), the First District Court of Appeal certified to this Court a question as one of great public importance, asking whether this Court’s decision in Brooks v. State, 918 So.2d 181 (Fla.2005), precludes a felony-murder conviction in such a situation, notwithstanding the language of the felony-murder statute.1

We rephrase the certified question as follows: *436B…