S.B., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the State failed to prove the juvenile knew of the officers' intent to detain him, which is a required element for resisting an officer without violence.
[1] To convict a defendant of resisting an officer without violence, the State must prove the officer was engaged in a lawful duty and the defendant's actions constituted obs…
[2] Flight alone is insufficient to establish the crime of resisting an officer without violence.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTwo officers observed juveniles appearing to scan an apartment complex and approach a car. When the juveniles noticed the officers, they fled. The off…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Judgment Of Dismissal cases and more on FLexlaw
S.B., the defendant below, appeals from the trial court’s finding of guilt and withholding of adjudication as to one charge of resisting an officer without violence. He argues that the trial court should have granted his motion for judgment of dismissal because the State presented no evidence that he knew of the officers’ intent to detain him. We agree and reverse.
In a Petition for Delinquency, the State charged S.B. with resisting an officer without violence. The evidence presented by the State at the hearing on the Petition was that, on the night of the incident, two officers observed two juveniles, one of whom was S.B., walking though a small apartment complex. One of the officers testified that what drew his attention to the juveniles is that they were looking around and appeared to be scanning. At that point, according to that officer, he saw them walk over to a car. The officer further testified that he tried to shut his car door quietly, but apparently the juveniles heard the door close and they looked up and took off running. The second officer testified that when the juveniles saw him and his partner, they “did a one eighty and took flight on foot.” The first officer also testified that he followed the juveniles, who did not see him in pursuit. Finally, he explained that he subsequently found the juveniles, who were taken into custody.
After the State rested, S.B. moved for a judgment of dismissal, arguing that the State did not meet its burden to prove the case of resisting an officer without violence. The trial court denied the motion. The defense rested and renewed its motion for judgment of dismissal. Following the hearing, the trial court entered an order finding S.B. guilty. The trial court withheld adjudication and placed S.B. on juvenile probation. This appeal follows.
S.B. argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of dismissal because the officers did not issue an order for him to stop and, thus, there was no evidence that he knew of the officers’ intent to detain him. We agree.
Because the standard of review that applies to motions for judgment of dismissal in a juvenile case is the same standard that applies to motions for judgment of acquittal in an adult criminal case, the juvenile court’s ruling is reviewed de novo. A.L.J. v. State, 12 So.3d 873, 874 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); J.P. v. State, 855 So.2d 1262, 1264 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). When moving for a judgment of acquittal, a defendant admits both the facts adduced, as well as every conclusion favorable to the State that a finder of fact could fairly and reasonably infer from the evidence. Ackon v. State, 14 So.3d 1146, 1148 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (quoting Maglio v. State, 918 So.2d 369, 374 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)). Evi-*970denee is sufficient to sustain a conviction if a rational trier of fact could find the existence of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the State. Horne v. State, 997 So.2d 1262, 1264 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009).
The applicable statute, section 848.02, Florida Statutes (2008), provides as follows:
Whoever shall resist, obstruct, or oppose any officer ... in the lawful execution of any legal duty, without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
In order to support a conviction for obstruction without violence, “the State must prove: (1) the officer was engaged in the lawful execution of a legal duty; and (2) the defendant’s action, by his words, conduct, or a combination thereof, constituted obstruction or resistance of that lawful duty.” C.E.L. v. State, 24 So.3d 1181, 1185-86 (Fla.2009). Flight, standing alone, is not sufficient to form the basis of a charge for resisting without violence and, thus, the act of flight alone is not a criminal offense. Id. at 1186. “To be guilty of unlawfully resisting an officer, an individual who flees must know of the officer’s intent to detain him ....” Id. (citing H.H. v. State, 775 So.2d 397, 398 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)) (emphasis added).
Here, like the defendants in Clark v. State, 976 So.2d 1225 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), and Parker v. State, 18 So.3d 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008), although S.B. fled upon seeing the officers, there was no command to stop by the officers at the time S.B. began to flee. Also, one of the officers testified that he did not think that S.B. even knew he was being pursued. Thus, although the evidence may reflect that S.B. was aware that he had caught the officers’ attention when he began to flee, it does not prove that he had knowledge that the officers intended to detain him. Accordingly, the State failed to prove every element of the crime, and the trial court should have granted the motion for judgment of dismissal.
Reversed and remanded for entry of judgment of dismissal.
GROSS, C.J., POLEN and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Janiel Molina Perez v. State, 138 So. 3d 1098 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)…B. v. State, 36 So. 3d 784, 788 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (holding that the trial court erred in finding the appellant guilty of resisting an officer without violence because there was no evidence that the appellant heard any order to stop); S.B. v. State, 31 So. 3d 968, 970 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (holding that the State failed to prove every element of the offense of resisting an officer where, although the appellant fled upon seeing the officers, there was no command to stop by the officers at the time the appellant…
-
Hughes v. State, 132 So. 3d 933 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)…chased after the individuals. These circumstances were sufficient to put appellant and his companion on notice that the police wished them to stop. This is unlike the situation in O.B. v. State, 36 So. 3d 784 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010), and S.B. v. State, 31 So. 3d 968 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), relied on by the majority, where there was no assertion of authority directed to any particular individual prior to the individual fleeing. I would affirm.…1 / 2
-
Brown v. State, 199 So. 3d 1010 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)…ether an officer was after him in particular. The State therefore failed to prove the second requirement, that an individual who flees must know of the officer’s intent to detain him.”) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); S.B. v. State, 31 So. 3d 968, 970 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (“[Although S.B. fled upon seeing the officers, there was no command to stop by the officers at the time S.B. began to flee. Also, one of the officers testified that he did not think that [*1013] S.B. even knew he was being…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (12 total)
- C.E.L. v. State, 24 So. 3d 1181 (Fla. 2009)
- J.P. v. State, 855 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)
- Carlo Pierre v. State, 775 So. 2d 397 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)
- Wheeler v. State, 918 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)
- Maglio v. State, 918 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
- Kerrick Levarr Parker v. State, 18 So. 3d 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
- Garcia v. State, 18 So. 3d 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
- Emannuel Clark v. State, 976 So. 2d 1225 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)
- A.L.J. v. State, 12 So. 3d 873 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)
- Ackon v. State, 14 So. 3d 1146 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)