B.M., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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B.M., a juvenile, was held in direct criminal contempt and sentenced to 450 days in jail for profane utterances and disrespectful gestures directed at a judge. The appellate court affirmed the contempt finding but reversed and remanded regarding the sentence, holding that B.M.'s conduct constituted a single continuous outburst rather than three separate contemptuous acts.
The court affirmed the contempt adjudication and the trial court's procedure was proper despite not formally reciting all Rule 3.830 requirements. However, the court reversed the sentence, holding that B.M.'s conduct constituted a single continuous contemptuous outburst rather than three separate acts, and remanded for resentencing to the original 90 days.
[1] A trial court may hold a defendant in direct criminal contempt for uttering obscenities and disrespectful gestures in the courtroom.
[2] A defendant's awareness of the accusations and the reasons for a contempt adjudication may satisfy procedural requirements even if the judge does not explicitly recite ea…
Previewing 2 of 5 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“A step-by-step recitation of each provision of the subject procedural rule is not requisite upon the trial judge. The record of the proceeding when taken in its totality is the scale upon which fundamental rights must be weighed.”
Establishes that strict compliance with Rule 3.830 procedures is not required if the record as a whole shows fundamental fairness.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAfter a trial court ordered that accusations against B.M. be tried in the adult division, B.M. muttered two obscenities. When the judge announced a 90…
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FRANK, Judge.
The juvenile appellant, B.M., has appealed from an order holding him in direct criminal contempt. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The conduct giving rise to the contempt charges occurred at the conclusion of a proceeding in which the trial court ordered that accusations against B.M. should be tried in the adult division. After the court’s pronouncement and the calling of the next case, B.M. muttered two obscenities which inspired the trial court then and there to find B.M. guilty of contempt and immediately sentence him to ninety days in jail. B.M. reacted by sticking his tongue out at the judge, an event which occasioned the following dialogue:
THE COURT: All right. We will make it a hundred and twenty days for sticking your tongue out.
THE DEFENDANT: Make it five hundred days.
THE COURT: All right. Make it five hundred.
The trial court then found that B.M. had committed two additional contemptuous acts and sentenced him to a total of 450 days.
B.M. first challenges the court’s failure to follow the procedural dictates of Rule 3.830, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, which requires the judge, prior to a contempt adjudication, to inform the defendant of the accusation against him, to inquire whether he has cause to show why he should not be guilty of contempt, and to allow him to present evidence of mitigating circumstances. The contention has a hollow ring. B.M. cannot claim that he was not fully cognizant of the accusations against him and the reasons for the judge’s announcement that he was to be held in contempt. The transcript of the proceeding supports the judge’s action. We adhere to the principle enunciated in Saunders v. State, 319 So. 2d 118, 124 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975), in which a defendant was held in contempt for a similar outburst of profanity: “A step-by-step recitation of each provision of the subject procedural rule is not requisite upon the trial judge. The record of the proceeding when taken in its totality is the scale upon which fundamental rights must be weighed.”
Although we find no fault in the procedure that led to B.M.’s punishment, it is our view that the judge erroneously adjudicated him guilty of three separate instances of contumacious behavior. The events evolved in a manner strikingly similar to those in Butler v. State, 330 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). In Butler the defendant was charged with six separate counts of contempt for using profanity and threatening to assault the judge. We concluded that “[t]he six ‘contempts’ were not individual acts but were a single outburst by the appellant that was interrupted only by the court interjecting itself long enough to inform the appellant that he had committed yet another act of contempt.” 330 So. 2d at 245. The transcript before us reveals that B.M. and the judge engaged in a continuous episode of sparring, during which B.M. conducted himself in a profane and disrespectful manner. By contrast, we emphasized in Tenorio v. State, 462 So. 2d 880, 881 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985), that “four temporally distinct episodes of contumacious conduct occurred” at various locations within the courtroom, thus giving rise to four separate contempt adjudications. Here, however, the judge should have held B.M. guilty of but one act of contempt. The enlarged sentence must be vacated upon remand and the punishment imposed upon B.M. confined to the original sentence of 90 days. This finding renders moot any issue arising from B.M.’s contention that the judge’s written order did not comport with the oral sentencing pronouncements.
Accordingly, this matter is remanded for the entry of an order consistent with this opinion.
RYDER, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Cited By (12 total)
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T.D.L. v. Chinault, 570 So. 2d 1335 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990)…2d DCA 1987); Rathbone v. State, 448 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). We have found one recent case which suggests, by silence, that an underage contemnor may be sentenced as an adult without the findings required by section 39.111(7). B.M. v. State, 523 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). However, the contemptuous episode occurred directly after that juvenile defendant had been waived to adult court. The issue whether the trial court should have justified by separate order its adult jail sentence does not appear t…
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Walker v. State, 559 So. 2d 1164 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…mption of correctness. In re Weinstein, 518 So. 2d 1370 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). We also note that technical deviations from rule 3.830, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, may be excused upon consideration of the totality of the record. B.M. v. State, 523 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). Nevertheless, this record reflects that the appellant was not given an opportunity to consult with a lawyer or to defend herself. She was not informed of the charge, nor was she given an opportunity to show cause or to present ev…
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Swain v. State, 226 So. 3d 250 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)…sanction), receded from on other grounds in Gibbs v. State, 676 So. 2d 1001 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). We find the interaction between Appellant and the trial court in this instance to be materially indistinguishable from that described in B.M. v. State, 523 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988). In B.M., the defendant and the judge “engaged in a continuous episode of sparring,” as compared with the defendant committing “temporally distinct episodes of contumacious conduct.” Id. at 1186 (quoting Tenorio v. State, 462 So.…
Previewing 3 of 12 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Penson v. State, 319 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
- Saunders v. State, 319 So. 2d 118 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)
- Dannie Lee Butler v. State, 330 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
- Nestor Tenorio v. State, 462 So. 2d 880 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)