SHAWN WALKER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Shawn Walker, a juvenile who pleaded nolo contendere to drug charges, was sentenced as an adult without the trial court making specific statutory findings required under Florida law. The court reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that a juvenile must knowingly and intelligently waive the right to have the trial court consider enumerated criteria before imposing adult sanctions.
The court held that waiver by a juvenile of the right to statutory findings before being sentenced as an adult must be knowing, intelligent, and manifest on the record. Because there was no indication in the plea agreement or court transcripts that Walker knowingly and intelligently waived this right, the sentences were reversed and remanded for resentencing, with adult sanctions permissible if the trial court complies with the statute.
[1] A juvenile must be sentenced as an adult only after the trial court makes specific findings on the statutory criteria, unless the juvenile knowingly and intelligently wai…
[2] A plea agreement for adult sanctions does not, in itself, constitute a knowing and intelligent waiver of a juvenile's right to have the statutory criteria considered.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“waiver by a juvenile of his right to findings under section 39.059(7)(c)(l)-(6) before being sentenced as an adult must be knowing, intelligent and manifest on the record”
Establishes the standard for valid waiver of statutory protections for juveniles
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWalker was 17 years old when he committed three counts of selling cocaine within 1000 feet of a school. He pled nolo contendere in exchange for a guid…
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PER CURIAM.
Shawn Walker, a juvenile at the time his crimes were committed, has appealed from the imposition of adult sanctions in the absence of specific findings by the trial court on the criteria set forth in section 39.059(7)(c)(1H6), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1990). We reverse and remand for resentencing.
Walker was charged with three counts of selling cocaine within 1000 feet of a school, committed when he was 17 years old. He pled nolo contendere to the charges in exchange for a guidelines sentence and concurrent minimum mandatory terms. The written plea form did not address his juvenile status. The trial court accepted the plea after the appropriate colloquy, and noted that a pre-disposition report would be required before sentencing, as set forth in section 39.059(7)(a). This is the only indication in the record that the trial court was aware of Walker’s juvenile status. Walker was thereafter sentenced on each count as an adult, within the guidelines.
Walker argues that he must be resen-tenced based on the trial court’s imposition of an adult sentence without making specific findings under the criteria set forth in section 39.059(7)(c)(l)-(6), Florida Statutes. He points out that he did not waive the issue by failing to object, Hill v. State, 596 So. 2d 1210 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), and further maintains that the plea agreement does not constitute a waiver of his right to the findings, in that it does not reflect a knowing and intelligent waiver of that right. Croskey v. State, 601 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992) (a plea for an adult sentence does not indicate in and of itself that the juvenile was making a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to findings under section 39.059(7), F.S.).
This court recently reaffirmed the principle that waiver by a juvenile of his right to findings under section 39.059(7)(c)(l)-(6) before being sentenced as an adult must be knowing, intelligent and manifest on the record. Hill v. State, 596 So. 2d 1210, 1211 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Although Hill did not involve a plea agreement, Croskey v. State, 601 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992), squarely addressed the issue of whether, in the absence of such a knowing and intelligent waiver, it is reversible error for a trial court to impose adult sanctions upon a juvenile without making the required statutory findings, even though sanctions were imposed pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement which omitted any reference to the foregoing statute. Croskey at 1326.
The Croskey court acknowledged that a juvenile could waive his well-established right to consideration by the trial court of the enumerated criteria, so long as the waiver was knowingly and intelligently made. As to whether a plea agreement for adult sanctions could constitute such a waiver, the court noted the possibility that “a juvenile could enter a negotiated plea in exchange for an adult sentence without being aware that he has the right to have his suitability for such sanctions considered under chapter 39.” Croskey at 1327-28. Finding no indication in the record that Croskey intelligently and knowingly waived his right to be considered under chapter 39, the court reversed the sentences and remanded. Resentencing as an adult was permitted, if there were bases for the required findings and if the trial court complied with the statute.
Similarly, in the instant case, there is no indication in the plea agreement, or in transcripts of the plea and sentencing proceedings, that Walker knowingly and intelligently waived his right to be considered under the statute. We therefore reverse and remand for resentencing, Croskey, and as in that ease, permit reimposition of adult sanctions if deemed appropriate upon compliance with the statute.
Reversed and remanded for resentencing.
JOANOS, C.J., and WOLF and KAHN, JJ., concur.
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Cited By
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Felice John Veach v. State, 614 So. 2d 680 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993)…ver of the right to the findings, it is reversible error to sentence a juvenile as an adult, even in the absence of objection and even though sanctions were imposed pursuant to a negotiated plea omitting any reference to Chapter 39. Walker v. State, 605 So. 2d 1341, 1341-42 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Failure to follow the provisions of section 39.059(7)(c) in sentencing a juvenile as an adult requires remand for resentenc-ing, regardless of objection. State v. Rhoden, 448 So. 2d 1013, 1016 (Fla.1984). While a juven…
Authorities Cited
- Matrion Croskey v. State, 601 So. 2d 1326 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992)
- Hill v. State, 596 So. 2d 1210 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)