BARTOW -- Although no longer a convicted murderer, Mark Andrew Fowler doesn't appear to be going home any time soon.

Last month, the Lakeland-based 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the 37-year-old Jamaican man and father of three should be set free because prosecutors failed to disprove his claims of self-defense in the fatal shooting of Samuel Dunbar.

A jury had found Fowler, a Lakeland resident, guilty of second-degree murder in the July 22, 2003, shooting on Olive Street in Lakeland.

However, the 2nd DCA ruled that Circuit Judge Roger Alcott should have granted Fowler's request for an acquittal during his November 2004 trial.

On Monday, Fowler went before Alcott, who ordered that the guilty verdict be set aside.

But Fowler remains behind bars because he now faces a charge in federal court of felony possession of a firearm. He will be transferred to federal custody probably this week for his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

In February, Detective Brad Grice of the Lakeland Police Department requested that the U.S. Bureau of The complaint states that Fowler -- who has previous felony convictions for drug possession, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer -- violated the law by possessing the .38-caliber revolver that killed Dunbar and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol also found in his home.

Fowler faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted of the federal charge, said Steve Cole, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

After Monday's brief hearing before Alcott, Assistant Public Defender Howardene Garrett said Fowler knew about the pending federal charge against him and is upset about not being able to go home.

"He is happy about finally being vindicated," she said.

"What he said happened was the truth, and they couldn't disprove it," Garrett said.

During his trial, Fowler testified that he wanted to buy $5 worth of marijuana from Dunbar, 26, who attempted to rob him at gunpoint.

Fowler said he managed to get the .38-caliber revolver away from Dunbar and pulled the trigger when Dunbar charged at him.

In a panic, Fowler said, he fled the scene and threw Dunbar's gun, holster and ski mask into the attic of his Cornelia Avenue apartment.

Prosecutors pointed to Fowler's actions as being evidence of a guilty conscience.

The 2nd DCA's opinion states Fowler did not handle the situation properly, but his actions were ". . . also consistent with someone who exercised poor judgment and panicked."

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