G. A. K., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court reversed a delinquency adjudication for petit theft because the state failed to prove the juvenile possessed the stolen property, relying only on a paper bag with the juvenile's name found at a detention center without corroborating evidence.
Evidence was insufficient to support an adjudication of delinquency for petit theft where the state failed to prove possession of the stolen property.
[1] Possession of recently stolen property, standing alone without corroborating evidence of the defendant's connection to the theft, is insufficient to support a conviction…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the state based its case upon the principle that one unexplainably in possession of recently stolen property may be successfully prosecuted for larceny. However, the state failed to show G.A.K. possessed the subject property.”
The court explaining why the state's theory of prosecution failed in this case.
G.A.K., a juvenile, was detained at a juvenile detention center as a runaway. Detective Kelly suspected G.A.K. was involved in a larceny and found sto…
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PER CURIAM.
G.A.K. appeals an adjudication of delinquency for petit theft.
We hold that the evidence was insufficient to support the adjudication. After reviewing the record, we find it apparent that the state based its case upon the principle that one unexplainably in possession of recently stolen property may be successfully prosecuted for larceny.
However, the state failed to show G.A.K. possessed the subject property. At the time the property was discovered, G.A.K. was restrained at the juvenile detention center as a runaway. Detective Kelly, suspecting that G.A.K. was involved in the larceny, went to the center and asked to see all items taken from appellant. Kelly found the stolen property inside a paper bag with G.A.K.’s name on it. This is the extent of the evidence showing possession. No intake officer testified.
Additionally, the case for reversal becomes most compel ling considering that the inventory sheet failed to list the items purportedly taken. The assistant supervisor of the juvenile detention center testified that all items taken from a juvenile are listed on an inventory sheet. He examined the inventory sheet in this case and stated that he would assume that when G.A.K. signed the envelope acknowledging its contents, it apparently did not contain the stolen property.
Reversed and remanded with instructions to discharge appellant.
MILLS, C. J., and McCORD and BOOTH, JJ., concur.