IN THE INTEREST OF WARREN MARSHALL

Fla. 2d DCA | 1968-10-09
No. 68-80
HOBSON and MANN, JJ., concur.
214 So. 2d 486 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1968) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Warren Marshall appealed his juvenile court adjudication as a delinquent child for allegedly participating in a robbery of an elderly man. The court affirmed the adjudication, holding that sufficient evidence supported the finding based on witness identifications.


Holding

The court held that the juvenile court had sufficient, competent evidence to sustain the allegations against Marshall. The appellate court's scope of review is limited to determining whether the juvenile judge misinterpreted the legal effect of the evidence or departed from essential legal requirements, not to substituting its judgment for that of the trial court.


Key Quotes

“the scope of review is limited to a determination of the question whether he misinterpreted the legal effect of the evidence as a whole or whether in some fashion he departed from the essential requirements of the law”

Establishes the limited standard of appellate review in juvenile court cases, deferring to the trial judge's factual findings and credibility determinations.

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Facts & Procedural History

On October 16, 1967, three youths approached 76-year-old Fortunato Costa in the early morning hours, took his watch, and knocked him to the ground. Co…

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Opinion of the Court
PIERCE, Acting Chief Judge.

PIERCE, Acting Chief Judge.

This case is an appeal from the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of Hills-borough County, which Court after hearing adjudicated the minor, Warren Marshall, to be a delinquent child.

The sole point made here is that the evidence before the Juvenile Court Judge was insufficient to identify the minor as being the perpetrator of the offense charged.

Petition was filed in said Court pursuant to F.S. Section 39.05, F.S.A., charging the minor, Marshall, with being a delinquent as defined therein, based upon the allegation that Marshall and two other juveniles forcibly took a watch from one Fortunato Costa, and followed this up by knocking him to the ground. Costa was a 76 year old retiree, and testified that during the early hours of October 16, 1967, three Negro youths approached him, took his watch, and pushed or knocked him to the ground. Costa made a conditional identification of Marshall as one of the three boys and particularly the one who took his watch, but a disinterested witness, Albert Werner, made positive identification. The eminent Juvenile Court Judge was the trier of the facts and evidently believed these witnesses because he found the truth of the allegations of the petition.

F.S. Section 39.14, F.S.A., prescribing procedure on appeals from Juvenile Courts to District Courts of Appeal, says in subsection 7 thereof that the appellate Court “shall decide only whether a lawful order has been entered by the juvenile court, and shall not substitute its judgment for that of the juvenile court in discretionary mat' ters.”

While the strict rule of sub-paragraph 7 is of course not binding upon the District Courts of Appeal in the exercise of their jurisdiction under Article 5, § 5, of the Constitution, F.S.A., the Supreme Court, in Noeling v. State, Fla.1956, 87 So.2d 593, has laid down a very salutary mandate for the appellate. Courts to be governed by in considering cases appealed from Juvenile Courts under F.S. Chapter 39 F.S.A. In Noeling, it was held:

“We therefore hold that in reviewing the order of the Juvenile Judge in mat*488ters of this nature, the scope of review is limited to a determination of the question whether he misinterpreted the legal effect of the evidence as a whole or whether in some fashion he departed from the essential requirements of the law. This has consistently been our position in probate matters and we feel that the rule is equally applicable in reviewing orders of Juvenile Courts under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. For the analogous rule, see In re Thompson’s Estate, Fla.1955, 84 So.2d 911; and In re Zimmerman’s Estate, Fla.1956, 84 So.2d 560, and cases there cited. See also 5 Fla.Jur. ‘Certiorari’ Sections 29 and 31.”

The above holding in Noeling was in effect followed by the 3rd District Court in Zaun v. State, Fla.App.1962, 135 So.2d 866.

Tested by the aforesaid rule, we hold that the Juvenile Court here had sufficient, competent evidence before it to sustain the allegations of the petition which constituted the basis for the hearing. This being so, the order appealed from is accordingly affirmed.

Affirmed.

HOBSON and MANN, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • In the Interest of J. F. G. (15), 240 So. 2d 495 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)
    …the evidence contained in the file and find that the evidence is legally sufficient to support the violation of probation and supervision. Section 39.14(6) Fla.Stat., F.S.A.; Zaun v. State, Fla.App.1962, 135 So. 2d 866; In Re Marshall, Fla.App.1968, 214 So. 2d 486. The second point presented urges that improper evidence was considered by the trial judge in that the court took into consideration the adjudication which was entered on the 29th day of December 1969 and which was set aside. This conclusion is dra…
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