BUDDY L. TAYLOR, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Buddy L. Taylor, a juvenile tried as an adult for burglary, was convicted and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment as a youthful offender. The court reversed and remanded the sentence because the trial court failed to comply with Florida Statutes § 39.111(7)(c) and (d) by not entering written findings of fact and reasons for imposing adult sanctions.
The trial court reversibly erred by failing to enter the required written findings and reasons for imposing adult sanctions. The court cannot find that Taylor intelligently and knowingly waived his right to statutory procedures because he was never questioned in open court regarding his request for youthful offender treatment, and there is no indication he understood his rights.
[1] A trial court commits reversible error by imposing adult sanctions on a juvenile without entering a written order stating the specific findings of fact and reasons for th…
[2] The requirement for a written order detailing findings and reasons for imposing adult sanctions on a juvenile is fundamental error, regardless of whether the juvenile was…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“it is fundamental error for a trial court to impose adult sanctions without making the required written findings pursuant to section 39.111, regardless of whether it was after trial, or upon a nolo plea, or a guilty plea.”
Establishes that failure to comply with § 39.111 written findings requirement is fundamental error in all sentencing contexts for juveniles.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTaylor, a juvenile at the time of the offense, was charged with burglary of a dwelling. He was tried by jury and found guilty. At sentencing, his coun…
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GLICKSTEIN, Judge.
Appellant was charged by information with burglary of a dwelling. A juvenile at the time of the offense, he was tried by a jury and found guilty as charged. During the sentencing hearing appellant’s counsel stated appellant requested treatment as a youthful offender, which request the court granted, sentencing appellant to thirty months’ imprisonment. The record contains neither a sentencing guidelines score-sheet nor a written order setting forth specific findings of fact and reasons for imposing adult sanctions, as delineated in section 39.111(7)(c) and (d), Florida Statutes.
The question here is whether the trial court erred reversibly by failing to enter an order stating the bases for its decision to impose adult sanctions, as required in section 39.111, Florida Statutes (1987). We conclude it did.
In Dixon v. State, 451 So. 2d 485 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 458 So. 2d 274 (Fla.1984), the appellate court initially affirmed judgment and sentence of a juvenile who voluntarily entered into a plea negotiation agreement wherein he pleaded nolo conten-dere and agreed to a sentence not to exceed five years, which is the sentence that was entered. However, on rehearing the court reversed the sentence (but not the conviction), on the ground that under State v. Rhoden, 448 So. 2d 1013 (Fla.1984), as well as Rathbone v. State, 448 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), it is fundamental error for a trial court to impose adult sanctions without making the required written findings pursuant to section 39.111, regardless of whether it was after trial, or upon a nolo plea, or a guilty plea.
It is noteworthy that in Ratkbone the parties agreed that the trial court had erred in not carrying out the section 39.111 procedure, albeit there was a plea agreement. There the defendant’s counsel had told the trial court it must make a determination whether his client should be treated as a juvenile or as an adult. The court acknowledged this should be done, but stated it would be inappropriate to put the appellant under juvenile sanctions because he was now eighteen.
Rhoden suggests it is possible for the defendant to waive the section 39.111 mandate. It appears to us that where waiver has been found to have occurred it was because, in connection with the plea bargain, the defendant was questioned in open court, as is customarily done, to determine whether his plea was intelligent and knowing. If his plea was intelligent and knowing, he had waived the section 39.111 procedure, having intelligently and knowingly agreed to imposition of the particular adult sanctions.
Accordingly, we could not legitimately find that appellant here had intelligently and knowingly waived his right to the application of the statutorily stated criteria in order to determine whether he should be sentenced as other than a juvenile. The record of the sentencing hearing is only two pages. The defendant’s counsel requested that his client be treated as a youthful offender. At no time did the court question the defendant in order to determine whether this was his intelligent and knowing request. The public defender points out in her brief that we cannot tell from the record whether the defendant even knew he had a right to request treatment as a juvenile. Accordingly, we conclude the trial court erred reversibly by failing to apply the statutory criteria and state in writing the facts and reasons prompting treatment of appellant as a youthful offender, and we reverse and remand the sentence only, with directions to proceed in accord with the Juvenile Justice Act.
DOWNEY and DELL, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Lang v. State, 566 So. 2d 1354 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)…cf., Pendarvis v. State, 400 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). 509 So. 2d at 1351. See also Rathbone v. State, 448 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Dixon v. State, 451 So. 2d 485 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 458 So. 2d 274 (Fla.1984). See Taylor v. State 534 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). But see Davis v. State, 528 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. denied, 536 So. 2d 243 (Fla.1988). A juvenile can waive his rights under section 39.111 but such a waiver must be manifest either in the plea agreement or on the record…
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Matrion Croskey v. State, 601 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)…sing adult sanctions which had been imposed without regard to the procedure set forth in section 39.111(6), even though the sentence was entered pursuant to a negotiated plea. Other districts have agreed with this approach. See e.g. Taylor v. State, 534 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988); Dixon v. State, 451 So. 2d 485 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); E.C. v. State, 445 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). The supreme court, in State v. Rhoden, 448 So. 2d 1013, 1016 (Fla.1984), has recognized that juveniles have the right to be t…
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Moreland v. State, 945 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)…the failure of the trial court and defense counsel to advise him that he had the right to seek sentencing as a youthful offender under section 958.04(1), Fla. Stat. See generally Croskey v. State, 601 So. 2d 1826 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992); Taylor v. State, 534 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988). Affirmance of the summary denial of this claim is without prejudice to appellant’s right to refile a timely and verified motion for post conviction relief which alleges whether appellant actually qualified for youthful offender…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Learnhart Rhoden, 448 So. 2d 1013 (Fla. 1984)
- Val Lee Rathbone v. State, 448 So. 2d 85 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)
- Dixon v. State, 451 So. 2d 485 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)