MELVIN DUANE MILLS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1982-12-15
No. 80-136
LETTS, C.J., and HERSEY, J., concur.
424 So. 2d 866 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1982) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Melvin Mills appealed his conviction for robbery and attempted burglary after being transferred from juvenile court to criminal court. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded, finding the juvenile court judge failed to make written findings on all required statutory criteria for transfer and the criminal court failed to obtain a mandatory presentence investigation report before sentencing.


Holding

The court held that the omission of findings regarding Item 5 of the transfer criteria requires remand to the juvenile judge to consider that item and enter written findings; that the failure to obtain a presentence investigation report before sentencing a minor requires remand for resentencing; and that the $2 cost assessment was improper and must be reversed.


Headnotes

[1] A juvenile court judge must make written findings of fact regarding all statutory criteria when transferring a minor from juvenile to adult court.

[2] Failure to make written findings of fact for all statutory criteria for transfer from juvenile to adult court requires remand for consideration of the omitted criteria.

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Key Quotes

“because of the provisions of Section 39.09(2)(e), Florida Statutes (1979), compliance with which we hold to be mandatory, the omission of a finding as to Item 5 of subsection C requires that we remand the cause to the juvenile division judge so he may consider that item”

Establishes that written findings on all statutory criteria for transfer are mandatory, not discretionary

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Facts & Procedural History

Mills pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted burglary of a conveyance. A juvenile court judge held a hearing and entered a written order transferring…

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Opinion of the Court
DOWNEY, Judge.

DOWNEY, Judge.

Melvin D. Mills pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted burglary of a conveyance. In this appeal from the ensuing judgment and sentence Mills contends the juvenile court judge erred in failing to make written findings of fact regarding all of the criteria listed in Section 39.09(2)(c), Florida Statutes (1979), for transfer of a minor from the juvenile division of the circuit court to the criminal division of the circuit court for criminal prosecution, and that the criminal division of the circuit court to which appellant was transferred erred in (a) failing to obtain a presentence investigation report pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.710, and (b) assessing costs against appellant.

After a hearing mandated by Section 39.09(2)(c), the judge of the juvenile division entered a written order setting forth numerous reasons why appellant was being transferred to the criminal division for prosecution. In doing so the judge set forth findings of fact with respect to seven of the eight criteria which he is mandated to consider in determining whether a child should be transferred to adult court. However, because of the provisions of Section 39.09(2)(e), Florida Statutes (1979),1 compliance with which we hold to be mandatory, the omission of a finding as to Item 5 of subsection C requires that we remand the cause to the juvenile division judge so he may consider that item. Woods v. State, 369 So. 2d 632 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979).

The criminal division judge who received appellant’s guilty plea and sentenced appellant failed to obtain a presentence report from the Probation and Parole Commission pursuant to the mandate of Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.710.2 Appellant was under 18 years of age and therefore a presentence investigation and report was required before sentence could be imposed. It thus appears that this feature of the case should also be remanded to the criminal division judge so he may obtain a presentence report, pursuant to Rule 3.710 and thereafter resentence appellant. De Oca v. State, 326 So. 2d 453 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973).3

In addition, we reverse the $2 cost assessment, which appellee concedes was improper. See Cox v. State, 334 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 1976). Accordingly, the sentence appealed from is vacated and the cause is remanded to the circuit court with directions that the juvenile division judge consider Item 5 of Section 39.09(2)(c), Florida Statutes (1979), and enter a written order regarding that item in accordance with Section 39.09(2)(e), Florida Statutes (1979), and that the criminal division judge obtain a presentence investigation and then resentence appellant, eliminating therefrom any assessment of costs.

LETTS, C.J., and HERSEY, J., concur. . Any decision to transfer for criminal prosecution shall be in writing and shall include consideration of, and findings of fact with respect to, each of the foregoing criteria. The court shall render an order including a specific finding of fact and the reasons for a decision to impose adult sanctions. The order shall be reviewable on appeal pursuant to s. 39.14 and the Florida Appellate Rules.

. The trial court did receive a predisposition report from the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services which contained a great deal of information about appellant. However, Rule 3.710 requires a Presentence Investigation Report prepared by the parole and probation commission for use by the trial judge in sentencing.

.Pursuant to the dictates of De Oca, the failure to obtain a presentence report before sentencing requires a remand for resentencing. This is not a situation where the defendant complains that the sentencing judge did not comply with the provisions of Section 39.111(6), Florida Statutes (1979). Were it such a situation, then the holding in Jones v. State, 418 So. 2d 1256 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), would govern the outcome of the sentencing question.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Kazakoff v. State, 642 So. 2d 596 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)
    …2)(e), Florida Statutes (1977). In upholding the conviction, the court simply reversed the transfer order and remanded for the trial court to enter another order detailing the reasons supporting a waiver of juvenile jurisdiction. In Mills v. State, 424 So. 2d 866 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), the appellant, after being transferred for prosecution as an adult, entered negotiated pleas to two felony offenses and was sentenced without the benefit of a pre-sentence investigation as required by Florida Rule of Criminal Pr…
  • Lurry v. State, 424 So. 2d 868 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
    …DOWNEY, Judge. On authority of Woods v. State, 369 So. 2d 632 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979), and Mills v. State, 424 So. 2d 866 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982), we hereby vacate the sentence in this cause and remand the cause to the juvenile division of the circuit court for that division’s entry of a transfer order setting forth the findings of fact with respect to the eight criteria c…

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