STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
D.V.S., A CHILD, RESPONDENT

Fla. 5th DCA | 1993-05-21
No. 93-4
W. SHARP, and DIAMANTIS, JJ., concur.
617 So. 2d 1162 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1993) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Florida's Department of State sought review of a trial court order appointing a public defender for a juvenile in a delinquency appeal. The appellate court held that the trial court failed to follow statutory procedures for determining indigency, specifically by not obtaining an affidavit from the child's father and not considering the probable expense and burden of defending the case.


Holding

The trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by appointing the public defender without considering all requisite statutory criteria, including the affidavit from the father and the probable expense and burden of defending the case. Non-indigent parents are responsible for furnishing legal services unless they fail or refuse to do so.


Headnotes

[1] A court must consider the probable expense and burden of defending a case when determining a parent's indigency for the purpose of appointing counsel for a minor.

[2] Parents or legal guardians of persons under eighteen are responsible for furnishing necessary legal services and costs incident to delinquency proceedings unless they are…

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Key Quotes

“Non-indigent parents or legal guardians of dependent persons under the age of eighteen years are responsible for furnishing their dependents with the necessary legal services and costs incident to delinquency proceedings. Only where a non-indigent parent fails or refuses to furnish such legal services may a court appoint a public defender.”

Establishes the statutory standard that parents, not the state, bear the responsibility for providing legal services unless they are indigent or refuse to provide assistance.

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Facts & Procedural History

A juvenile respondent was involved in a delinquency proceeding. The juvenile and the juvenile's mother filed affidavits of insolvency for purposes of …

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Opinion of the Court
COBB, Judge.

COBB, Judge.

The state brings this petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the trial court’s order appointing the Office of the Public Defender to represent the juvenile respondent in his appeal from a delinquency disposition. The state asserts that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law by appointing the public defender without the requisite affidavit of indigency of the child’s father and without the requisite determination of probable expenses and burden of defending the case.

Section 39.041(1), Florida Statutes (1991) provides that if a child and his parents or other legal guardian are indigent and unable to employ counsel for the child, the court shall appoint counsel for him pursuant to section 27.52, and that the determination of indigency shall be as provided by sections 27.52 and 27.56. Section 27.52(1) requires one claiming indigency to file an affidavit, and section 27.52(2) lists the information to be included in such an affidavit. According to section 27.52(2)(b), the existence of any of the following shall create a presumption of non-indigency:

1. The defendant has been released on bail in the amount of $5,000 or more.

2. The defendant has no dependents and his gross income exceeds $100 per week; or, if the defendant has dependents, his gross income exceeds $100 per week plus $20 per week for each of the first two dependents of the defendant and $10 per week for each additional dependent.

3. The defendant owns cash in excess of $500.

Further, section 27.52(2)(c) requires the court to consider the following additional circumstances in determining whether a defendant is indigent:

1. The probable expense and burden of defending the case;

2. The ownership of, or equity in, any intangible or tangible personal property or real property or the expectancy of an interest in any such property by the defendant; and

3. The amount of debts owed by defendant or debts that might be incurred by the defendant because of illness or other misfortunes within his family.

Non-indigent parents or legal guardians of dependent persons under the age of eighteen years are responsible for furnishing their dependents with the necessary legal services and costs incident to delinquency proceedings. Only where a non-indigent parent fails or refuses to furnish such legal services may a court appoint a public defender. See § 27.52(2)(d), Fla. Stat. (1991).

In this case, both the juvenile and the juvenile’s mother filed affidavits of insolvency for purposes of appeal. However, there is neither an affidavit from the juvenile’s father nor is there any indication that the juvenile’s father refused to furnish the necessary legal services. The trial court therefore departed from the essential requirements of the law by appointing the public defender without considering all the requisite statutory criteria, including the probable expense and burden of defending the case. Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of certiorari and quash the order appointing the public defender. We remand this cause to the trial court for consideration of all statutory criteria in determining indigency for purposes of appointing the public defender. PETITION GRANTED; ORDER QUASHED; CASÉ REMANDED.

W. SHARP, and DIAMANTIS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. Ladonna Lynn Edge, 621 So. 2d 586 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)
    …ld’s father, and without the requisite determination of probable expenses and burden of defending the case. There is no indication that the child’s father refused to furnish the necessary legal services. Based upon our decision in State v. D.V.S., 617 So. 2d 1162 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993), we grant the petition for writ of certiorari and quash the order appointing the public defender. We remand this cause to the trial court for consideration of all the statutory criteria in determining indigency for purposes of ap…
  • State v. Grubb, 629 So. 2d 325 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
    …ost of [*326] public funds. In both cases, the parent had not been contacted prior to the appointment of the public defender; that is the same circumstance that exists in this case. State v. Edge, 621 So. 2d 586 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993); State v. D.V.S., 617 So. 2d 1162 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). PETITION GRANTED; ORDER QUASHED; REMANDED. DAUKSCH, PETERSON and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.…

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