Alcazar v. State
In a habeas challenge to pretrial detention, the Third DCA majority held that a defendant who solicited an undercover 'hitman,' provided the victim's personal information, paid for surveillance, identified a murder location, and made a down payment on the killing committed sufficient overt acts to support a charge of attempted first-degree murder, distinguishing the court's own precedent in Arias v. State. Judge Emas dissented, arguing the panel was bound by Arias and Robinson and that the facts here (like those in Arias) established only solicitation, not the overt act required for attempt, and that only the en banc court or Florida Supreme Court could revisit that precedent.
Key facts
- Defendant Alcazar solicited an undercover officer posing as a hitman to murder a victim, providing the victim's personal information, paying for surveillance, identifying a murder location, and making a down payment on the killing.
- Alcazar was charged with attempted first-degree murder and challenged his pretrial detention by habeas petition, arguing the facts established only solicitation, not the overt act required for attempt.
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Why it matters
This opinion addresses a recurring and often difficult line-drawing problem in murder-for-hire and other solicitation-based attempt prosecutions: when does solicitation cross into attempt? The majority's application… — full analysis with a trial
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