C.M.H., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that a trial court must conduct a rigorous analysis before departing from the Department of Juvenile Justice's dispositional recommendation, and simply parroting DJJ information is insufficient.
[1] A trial court departing from the Department of Juvenile Justice's recommendation must articulate an understanding of the characteristics of opposing restrictiveness level…
[2] Simply regurgitating information from the Department of Juvenile Justice's assessment does not establish legally sufficient reasons for disregarding its recommended dispo…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA juvenile pled nolo contendere to grand theft, and the trial court adjudicated him delinquent, committing him to a program but suspending the sentenc…
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In this juvenile case, C.M.H. pled nolo contendere to one count of grand theft. The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) recommended that C.M.H. be placed on probation. The trial court adjudicated C.M.H. delinquent and committed him to a moderate-risk program, but suspended the sentence and placed him on probation. We reverse.
In E.A.R. v. State, 4 So.3d 614 (Fla.2009), the Florida Supreme Court announced a new, more rigorous analysis that a trial court must conduct before departing from DJJ’s recommendation. As the court explained in E.A.R.:
The only rational or logical means through which the juvenile court may provide “reasons” that explain, support, and justify why one restrictiveness level is more appropriate than another — and thereby rationalize a departure disposition — is for the court to:
(1) Articulate an understanding of the respective characteristics of the opposing restrictiveness levels including (but not limited to) the type of child that each restrictiveness level is designed to serve, the potential “lengths of stay” associated with each level, and the divergent treatment programs and services' available to the juvenile at these levels; and
(2) Then logically and persuasively explain why, in light of these differing characteristics, one level is better suited to serving both the rehabilitative needs of the juvenile — in the least restrictive setting — and maintaining the ability of the State to protect the public from further acts of delinquency.
Simply listing “reasons” that are totally unconnected to this analysis does not explain why one restrictiveness level is better suited for providing the juvenile offender “the most appropriate disposi-tional services in the least restrictive available setting.” § 985.03(21), Fla. Stat. (2007) (emphasis supplied); see also §§ 985.03(44)(a)-(e), 985.433(7)(a)-(b), Fla. Stat. (2007). The failure to connect departure “reasons” to the juvenile court’s ultimate statutory duty during a disposition hearing completely un*680dermines the Legislature’s carefully crafted statutory scheme. These “reasons” must “establish by a preponderance of the evidence why the court is disregarding the assessment of the child and the restrictiveness level recommended by the [DJJ].” § 985.43S(7)(b), Fla. Stat. (2007) (emphasis supplied). Simply regurgitating information provided by, and contained within, the DJJ’s comprehensive assessment and PDR does not establish acceptable statutory reasons as to why the court is “disregarding” these documents and the DJJ’s recommended disposition. Rather, such parroting merely communicates that the court concurs with the DJJ’s assessment and PDR but then, for some unexplained, unarticulated “reason,” has imposed a judicially recrafted disposition. We conclude that simply parroting is insufficient to justify departure and that, instead, the juvenile court’s stated “reasons,” must provide a legally sufficient foundation for “disregarding” the DJJ’s professional assessment and PDR by identifying significant information that the DJJ has overlooked, failed to sufficiently consider, or misconstrued with regard to the child’s programmatic, rehabilitative needs along with the risks that the unrehabilitated child poses to the public. These are suitable means of insuring fulfillment of the Legislature’s comprehensive scheme and its stated intent that the juvenile courts of this state exercise appropriate discretion with the ultimate aim of providing the juvenile offender the most appropriate disposi-tional services in the least restrictive available setting.
Id. at 638. The trial court did not engage in the appropriate analysis of determining why this disposition was better suited to serving the rehabilitative needs of C.M.H., in the least restrictive setting, and protecting the public from further acts of delinquency. See also Dep’t of Juvenile Justice v. K.B., 784 So.2d 556, 557 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). Accordingly, we reverse and remand to provide the trial court an opportunity to enter an order in compliance with E.A.R., or, if the trial court cannot, impose the probation recommended by the DJJ. See M.K. v. State, 4 So.3d 1271 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (reversing and remanding to provide trial court an opportunity to enter an order in compliance with E.A.R. where trial court failed to conduct proper analysis in departing from the DJJ’s recommendation); M.J.S. v. State, 6 So.3d 1268 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (same).
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
KAHN, BENTON, and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (12 total)
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M.H. v. State, 69 So. 3d 325 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)…no easy task and will take time and consideration. However, when reversing the type of error that occurred, this court has allowed the trial court an opportunity to amend the disposition order to add the necessary information. See C.M.H. v. State, 25 So. 3d 678 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). Specifically, in a case similar to the underlying one, this court reversed the trial court’s deviation from DJJ’s recommendation of probation finding C.M.H. posed a threat to the public and required incarceration. In reversing,…
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B.L.R. v. State, 74 So. 3d 173 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)…ired by E.A.R to support the maximum-risk commitment or, if such findings cannot be made, enter a new order committing Appellant to a high-risk facility as recommended by DJJ. See C.C.T. v. State, 53 So. 3d 1149 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011); C.M.H. v. State, 25 So. 3d 678 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). REVERSED and REMANDED with directions. LEWIS and WETHERELL, JJ., concur; WOLF, J., dissenting. * The requisite findings cannot be inferred from the statutory definitions of high-risk and maximum-risk because there appear to…
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K.M.H. v. State, 91 So. 3d 262 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012)…upon the particular needs of K.M.H., we are constrained to reverse. On remand, the trial court will be provided an opportunity to enter a written order in compliance with section 985.441(2)(d), Florida Statutes, if it can do so. Cf. C.M.H. v. State, 25 So. 3d 678, 680 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (reversing and remanding “to provide the trial court an opportunity to enter an order in compliance with E.A.R., or, if the trial court cannot, impose the probation recommended by the DJJ”). REVERSED and REMANDED. PADOVANO…
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
- E.A.R. v. State, 4 So. 3d 614 (Fla. 2009)
- M.J.S. v. State, 6 So. 3d 1268 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)
- Lamont Asberry v. State, 4 So. 3d 1271 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)
- Dep't OF Juv. Just. v. K.B., 784 So. 2d 556 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)