J.M.P., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2010-09-15
No. 4D09-3783
TAYLOR and MAY, JJ., concur.
43 So. 3d 189 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2010) Caution
Cited by 8 cases

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.


Holding

The court held that the State failed to present sufficient evidence that the BB gun was a deadly weapon, as required by the statute.


Headnotes

[1] A BB gun is not a firearm under Florida law.

[2] For a BB gun to be considered an "other weapon" prohibited by statute, it must be proven to be a deadly weapon.

Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

J.M.P. was charged with violating a statute prohibiting weapons on school property after bringing a BB gun to school. The BB gun was not loaded, and n…

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.

Opinion of the Court
STEVENSON, J.

STEVENSON, J.

J.M.P. was charged in a petition for delinquency with violating section 790.115(2), Florida Statutes (2008) (“[possessing or discharging weapons or firearms at a school-sponsored event or on school property prohibited”), because she brought a BB gun to school. The trial court found J.M.P. guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but we reverse because the State failed to present evidence that the BB gun at issue fit within the parameters of the statute with which J.M.P. was charged.

Section 790.115 is directed at preventing visitors, students and other unauthorized persons from bringing weapons or firearms onto school property. The term “weapon” is distinctly defined in the statute. Section 790.115(2)(a) provides, in pertinent part, that “[a] person shall not possess any firearm, electric weapon or device, destructive device, or other weapon as defined in s. 790.001(13), including a razor blade or box cutter, ... on the property of any school.”1 Because a BB gun is not a firearm, electric weapon or destructive device, it is relegated to the category of “other weapon” as defined in section 790.001(13). A “weapon” is defined in section 790.001(13) as “any dirk, knife, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical weapon or device, or other deadly weapon.” § 790.001(13), Fla. Stat. (2008) (emphasis added). Again, since a BB gun is not enumerated, in order to be prohibited under section 790.115(2), the subsection charged, it must be a deadly weapon. See Hutchinson v. State, 816 So.2d 1186, 1187 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (reversing conviction for robbery with a weapon, to wit a starter pistol, because the starter pistol did not fall within the definition of weapon supplied in section 790.001(13), unless the pistol was considered deadly, and there was no evidence to support such a finding); Mitchell v. State, 698 So.2d 555, 559-60 (Fla. 2d DCA) (holding that a BB gun is not a “firearm” and, thus, falls within chapter 790’s definition of *191weapon only if it is an “other deadly weapon”), approved, 703 So.2d 1062 (Fla.1997).

“A ‘deadly weapon’ has generally been defined to be one likely to produce death or great bodily injury.” Dale v. State, 703 So.2d 1045, 1047 (Fla.1997). Our supreme court has held that a BB or pellet gun can be a deadly weapon, and whether it is a deadly weapon is a question of fact for a jury. Id. In Dale, the appellant entered a store, pretending to buy bread. When the clerk opened the register, Dale said he had a gun and revealed to the clerk a black object underneath his shirt. Id. at 1046. Dale was arrested shortly thereafter, and the police recovered a gas-operated BB or pellet gun, which was in working order but without BBs, pellets, or a gas cartridge. Id. Our supreme court concluded that there was sufficient evidence to support Dale’s conviction for armed robbery with a deadly weapon, explaining that

Of key importance is the fact that the jury had an opportunity to view the weapon first-hand. Further, Officer Stone testified concerning the circumstances under which the gun was found and the condition it was in when found, and Investigator Corder showed the jury in detail how the gun operated. The fact that the gun was recovered without BBs, pellets, or gas cartridge is not dispositive.

Id. at 1047.

In the instant case, the school principal testified that she recovered a BB gun from J.M.P. at the elementary school. An officer testified that the BB gun was not loaded. There was no testimony explaining how to operate the gun or what type of injury the gun might inflict. We hold that, pursuant to our supreme court’s analysis in Dale, the evidence in the instant case is insufficient to demonstrate that J.M.P. possessed a deadly weapon. See E.S. v. State, 886 So.2d 311, 312 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004) (reversing conviction for carrying concealed weapon, a BB gun, because the only evidence of gun’s ability to injure was officer’s testimony that it was “ ‘capable of inflicting injury ... [if] properly operated,’ ” and that testimony alone faded to support a factual determination that the BB gun in question was “ ‘likely to produce death or great bodily injury’ ”). Thus, we find that the trial court erred in denying J.M.P.’s motions for judgment of dismissal and reverse.2

Reversed.

TAYLOR and MAY, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • K.C. v. State, 49 So. 3d 841 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
    …eapon as defined in s. 790.001(13) ... on the property of any school.” A BB gun is not one of the enumerated items; thus, to fall within the scope of the statute it must qualify as an “other weapon as defined in s. 790.001(13).” See J.M.P. v. State, 43 So. 3d 189, 190 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). Section 790.001(13) defines a “weapon” as “any dirk, knife, metallic knuckles, slungshot, billie, tear gas gun, chemical weapon or device, or other deadly weapon.” Since a BB gun is not one of the items enumerated in sectio…
  • Miller v. State, 253 So. 3d 752 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018)
  • J.T. v. State, 47 So. 3d 934 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
    …of section 790.115(2). Moreover, J.T. himself admitted to the officer that he had fired the gun. Therefore, this too supported a finding that the BB gun was capable of producing great bodily harm. We distinguish our recent case of J.M.P. v. State, 43 So. 3d 189 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). There, the juvenile was also charged with a violation of section 790.115(2) by bringing a BB gun to school. The opinion does not mention that the BB gun was placed in evidence. The court held that the state’s evidence was insuff…

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw