STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
J.Q., A CHILD, APPELLEE
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The State appeals the trial court's sua sponte dismissal of a delinquency petition against a minor. The court reverses, holding that trial courts lack authority to dismiss a delinquency petition on their own motion without a filed motion to dismiss, as doing so improperly encroaches on the State's prosecution discretion.
A trial court is without authority to sua sponte dismiss a delinquency petition where no motion to dismiss has been filed. Section 985.0301(6) authorizes courts to end jurisdiction only after the initial adjudicatory hearing, not before the case reaches adjudication on the merits.
[1] A trial court may not sua sponte dismiss a petition for delinquency prior to an adjudicatory hearing.
[2] A trial court is without authority to sua sponte dismiss a prosecution where no motion to dismiss has been filed.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“is fairly viewed as authorizing the court to elect, to end its jurisdiction over a child at any time following the initial adjudicatory hearing — not as permitting the trial court to use its discretion to terminate jurisdiction to put an end to the prosecution before the case ever reaches adjudication on the merits.”
Establishes that trial courts can only end jurisdiction after adjudication, not before, distinguishing the scope of their authority
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA delinquency petition was filed against J.Q., a minor. The trial court dismissed the petition sua sponte (on its own motion) prior to an adjudicatory…
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The state appeals the trial court’s dismissal of a petition for delinquency against J.Q., a minor. We agree with the state’s contention that the trial court erred in sua sponte dismissing the petition prior to an adjudicatory hearing and we reverse.
We recently addressed a similar dismissal in State v. D.A., 171 So.3d 229 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015), where we explained:
On appeal, the State argues that the trial court erred in dismissing the petition based on our holding in [State v. W.D., 112 So.3d 702 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) ]. In that case, we held that section 985.0301(6) “is fairly viewed as authorizing the court to elect, to end its jurisdiction over a child at any time following the initial adjudicatory hearing — hot'as permitting the trial court to use its discretion to terminate jurisdiction to put an end to the prosecution before' the case ever reaches adjudication on the merits.” Id. at 704 (emphasis added). Furthermore, a trial court is without authority to sua sponte dismiss a criminal prosecution “where, as here, no motion to dismiss has been filed.” State v. C.W., No. 4D14-1320 [166 So.3d. 950, 950], 2015 WL 3761242, at *1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015). By sua sponte dismissing the delinquency petition, the trial court improperly encroached upon the State’s discretion to prosecute D.A. See id.
Id, at 230 (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted).
The trial court relied on State v. A.A., 110 So.3d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013), in dismissing the petition. A.A., however, is distinguishable. There, the state argued that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to dismiss a juvenile case where thé juvenile had not been Served.1 This court affirmed, holding that jurisdiction attached when the child was detained and taken into custody. Id. Here, the trial court’s jurisdiction was not in'question.
J.Q. .properly and commeridably concedes error. We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.-
MÁY and FORST, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State v. W.D., 112 So. 3d 702 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
- State v. C.W., 166 So. 3d 950 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)
- Cromarty v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 110 So. 3d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
- State v. A.A., 110 So. 3d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)
- State v. D.A., 171 So. 3d 229 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)