T.W., A CHILD, PETITIONER,
v.
KEN JENNE, AS SHERIFF FOR BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENTS
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A 15-year-old child who misrepresented his age as 18 to secure adult bond sought habeas corpus relief and juvenile court treatment after being arrested for cocaine possession and resisting arrest. The court granted the writ, distinguishing the case from prior precedent because the juvenile sought correction of his age misrepresentation early in proceedings before receiving any sentencing benefit from adult treatment.
The court granted the writ of habeas corpus, holding that the juvenile did not unalterably waive his right to juvenile treatment at this early stage of proceedings, distinguishing the case from prior precedent where juveniles had received favorable sentences as adults before attempting to reclaim juvenile status.
[1] A juvenile who misrepresents their age to obtain a more lenient adult sentence may be estopped from later challenging that sentence on the grounds of being a juvenile.
[2] A juvenile's misrepresentation of age to secure a desired bond, in combination with failing to disclose their true age to obtain a favorable adult sentence, may constitut…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“lying about his age in order to secure a desired bond, in combination with failing to disclose his true age at the plea conference in order to obtain a favorable sentence of probation, amounted to a waiver of his right to be treated as a juvenile”
The court's holding in Williams v. State, which established the estoppel doctrine for juveniles who obtain sentencing benefits as adults
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceT.W. was 15 years old when arrested for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and resisting arrest without violence. He represented himself as …
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KLEIN, J.
Petitioner seeks a writ of habeas corpus as he is now being held without bond in the Broward County jail. At the time of his arrest for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and resisting arrest without violence he was fifteen years old but represented that he was eighteen. He did so in order to be immediately released on bond because otherwise he could have been retained in juvenile detention up to twenty-one days.
As he anticipated, he was released on bond, but was rearrested for failing to appear at his arraignment and jailed without bond. He then filed an emergency motion for the court to determine that he was a juvenile and for subsequent treatment as a juvenile. The trial court denied the motion.
The state relies on Williams v. State, 754 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) in which a juvenile lied about his age, failed to disclose it at his plea conference, and obtained a favorable sentence of probation. After violating his probation, he was sentenced to 364 days in jail. The defendant’s mother then told his lawyer he was only sixteen years old, and his lawyer moved to vacate the conviction and sentence. At the hearing on the motion to vacate the defendant explained that he misrepresented his age in order to bond out as an adult rather than being held as a juvenile. The trial court denied the motion, and we affirmed, holding that lying about his age in order to secure a desired bond, in combination with failing to disclose his true age at the plea conference in order to obtain a favorable sentence of probation, amounted to a waiver of his right to be treated as a juvenile.
Williams relied on Smith v. State, 345 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977), in which the court held that a juvenile who lied about her age in order to receive a more lenient adult sentence of probation was estopped from later challenging that sentence on the ground that she was a juvenile. We distinguished Whittington v. State, 543 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), in which the juvenile lied about his age because in that case there was no indication that the juvenile’s treatment as an adult benefitted him with a more lenient sentence.
The present case is distinguishable from Williams because petitioner is attempting to correct his misrepresented age early in the proceedings, rather than after receiving the benefit of a more lenient sentence as an adult than he might have received as a juvenile. As the court noted in Whit-tington, the juvenile justice statutes grant juveniles the right to be treated differently from adults. We conclude that, at this stage of the proceedings, petitioner did not unalterably waive that right and grant the writ.
POLEN, C.J., and MAY, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Ordonez v. State, 862 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)…, the court held that the juveniles had waived their right to be treated as juveniles when they failed to object to being tried as adults in the trial court and raised the issue for the first time only on appeal. On the other hand, in T.W. v. Jenne, 826 So. 2d 536 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002), the court held that when the juvenile raised the issue of his minority early in the proceedings and before receiving the benefit of a more lenient sentence, he had not waived his right to be treated as a juvenile. In this case,…
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Brown v. State, 263 So. 3d 48 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)…d in this case. Other cases have held that the right to be treated as a juvenile is not waived provided it is brought to the trial court’s attention, even belatedly. See Miller v. State, 702 So. 2d 617, 618 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997); T.W. v. Jenne, 826 So. 2d 536, 538 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); Turner v. State, 769 So. 2d 1108, 1109 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). In Miller, the defendant appealed his conviction and sentence on two counts of sexual battery on a minor and five counts of lewd assault. 702 So. 2d at 618.…
Authorities Cited
- Gulf Mach. Co. & Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Avant, 345 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)
- Smith v. State, 345 So. 2d 1080 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Williams v. State, 754 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
- Whittington v. State, 543 So. 2d 317 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)