BARTOW -- A Lakeland appellate court has ruled that Mark Andrew Fowler should be set free because prosecutors failed to disprove his claims of self-defense in a fatal shooting in 2003.

A jury convicted Fowler in November 2004 of second-degree murder in the death of Samuel Dunbar, 26. Fowler was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison.

But the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled on Feb. 10 that Circuit Judge Roger Alcott should have granted Fowler's request for an acquittal during his trial.

The court's 11-page opinion states that prosecutors offered "no understandable theory of evidence" that contradicts Fowler's explanation of self-defense.

Judge Morris Silberman wrote the opinion on behalf of a threejudge panel, which also consisted of judges Craig C. Vallanti and Douglas A. Wallace.

The court has ordered that the case be sent back to Alcott for discharge.

Assistant Public Defender Pete Mills, who represented Fowler at trial, said he was pleased with the DCA's opinion and felt the court had a firm grasp of the facts in the case.

"Mr. Fowler's main concern after gaining his freedom is taking care of his family," Mills said.

The Florida Department of Corrections lists Fowler -- a 37-year-old Jamaican man and father of three -- as being held at Everglades Correctional Institution.

Wayne Durden, an assistant state attorney, said the State Attorney's Office in Bartow is reviewing its possible options in the case.

Steven Bolotin, an assistant public defender who handled Fowler's appeal, said prosecutors can request a hearing in the case.

Although originally charged with first-degree murder, Alcott reduced Fowler's charge to second-degree murder, finding that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to support that Fowler thought out or planned Dunbar's death.

Silberman noted in the opinion that there were no eyewitnesses to the evening shooting that took place July 22, 2003, on Olive Street in Lakeland.

During his trial, Fowler told jurors that he shot Dunbar during a drug deal gone wrong. Fowler said he was pedaling his bicycle along, looking to buy $5 worth of marijuana.

Although he didn't know Dunbar, Fowler said he was willing to buy some drugs from him.

But during a brief conversation, Fowler testified that Dunbar got a strange look on his face. "My heart got a feeling in it like something wasn't right," he said.

Fowler said Dunbar pointed a .38-caliber revolver at Fowler and threatened to shoot if he didn't hand over his watch and money. The handgun was concealed in a black ski mask with the barrel poking out of a hole, he said.

When a motorist passing by distracted Dunbar, Fowler said he used a backhanded strike to knock away Dunbar's hands and then took away the gun.

When Dunbar charged at him, Fowler said he fired.

A medical examiner reported that Dunbar died from a single gunshot wound to the forehead, which was fired from a distance of at least 3 to 31/2 feet.

Bolotin, the assistant public defender who handled the appeal, said physical evidence in the case -- including "contact" bloodstains on Fowler's shirt and the path of the fatal bullet -- supported Fowler's account of Dunbar charging at him.

During closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney Cass Castillo told jurors that Fowler's actions after the shooting illustrated he had a guilty conscience that kept him from reporting the incident to the police.

Castillo said Fowler fled the scene, threw the gun, holster and mask into the attic of his Cornelia Avenue apartment and slammed the door shut on officers who came to his door.

Silberman wrote that fleeing can be evidence of a guilty conscience, but it doesn't conflict with Fowler's testimony that he was "panicked, scared, and not using good judgment."

"We agree that Fowler did not handle the situation properly," Silberman wrote. "Although his actions could show consciousness of guilt, his actions are also consistent with someone who exercised poor judgment and panicked."

Jason Geary can be reached at 863-533-9079.