B. M., A JUVENILE, APPELLANT,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1976-09-28
No. 75-1899
Before PEARSON, HENDRY and NATHAN, JJ.
337 So. 2d 423 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1976) Caution
Cited by 6 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.

Synopsis

A 15-year-old juvenile was adjudicated delinquent based partly on a confession obtained after being held overnight at a police homicide office before transport to Youth Hall. The appellate court reversed and remanded, finding the trial court failed to make an explicit determination of voluntariness and noting the potential violation of Florida's statutory requirement to transport juveniles without unreasonable delay.


Holding

The trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress without making an explicit, unequivocal finding of voluntariness as required by law. The reasonableness of the delay in transporting the juvenile and its effect on his willingness to confess are questions for the trial judge to address when making an explicit determination of voluntariness.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must make a clear and unequivocal determination of the voluntariness of a juvenile's confession.

[2] A juvenile's confession obtained after an unreasonable delay in transporting them to a detention facility may be suppressed.

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

Key Quotes

“when a child is taken into custody, he shall, without unreasonable delay, be delivered to the appropriate intake officer, or if the judge has so ordered, to a detention home or shelter”

Establishes the statutory requirement for handling juveniles in custody distinct from adults

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

The juvenile was arrested at approximately 10:30 p.m. and transported to the Public Safety Department Homicide Office where he remained overnight with…

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
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant, a fifteen year old juvenile, was charged in a petition for delinquency with robbery, use of a firearm during commission of a robbery, two counts of false imprisonment, use of a firearm during commission of false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit robbery. The juvenile was adjudicated delinquent on all counts except false imprisonment and use of a firearm during commission of false imprisonment.

The record reflects that the juvenile was arrested at approximately 10:30 at night, and was transported to the Public Safety Department Homicide Office where he remained throughout the night in the company of two detectives. At approximately 6:30 the next morning, the investigating officer returned to the Homicide Office from interviewing the victims at the hospital, and proceeded to transport the juvenile to Youth Hall. The investigating officer and the juvenile arrived at Youth Hall at approximately 7:00 A. M. At 7:15 A. M., the juvenile was read his rights and interrogated, at which time a formal statement was taken.

At trial, the court denied the juvenile’s motion to suppress the statement he gave at Youth Hall after having spent the night at the Public Safety Department Homicide Office. The statement was admitted into evidence, and the juvenile was adjudicated delinquent.

As points on appeal, the juvenile contends that the court erred in denying the motion to suppress where the confession was the product of unreasonable delay in transporting the juvenile to Youth Hall in violation of Section 39.03(3)(a), Florida Statutes; where the State failed to prove the confession was voluntary and where the court failed to make a clear and unequivocal determination of voluntariness.

Section 39.03(3)(a), Florida Statutes, provides in pertinent part that when a child is taken into custody, he shall, without unreasonable delay, be delivered to the appropriate intake officer, or if the judge has so ordered, to a detention home or shelter. This is a legislative directive to the courts and other law enforcement agencies that juveniles shall be treated differently from other suspected criminals in that they shall not be taken to a police station or jail for interrogation. In Interest of A.J.A., a child, 248 So. 2d 690, 692 (Fla.App.3d 1971). The purpose of the directive is that a juvenile, presumed to be inexperienced in the ways of crime, should not be subjected to the “intimidating influences of an adult police station or jail.” A.J.A., supra.

The record reflects that the juvenile court merely stated that the motion to suppress the confession is denied. This statement does not meet the requirement that the trial judge’s conclusion that the confession is voluntary appear from the record with unmistakable clarity, as provided in McDole v. State, 283 So. 2d 553 (Fla.1973).

Therefore, in order to dispose of the issue of the court’s making an unequivocal and explicit finding of voluntariness, this court will relinquish jurisdiction and remand the case to the trial judge to consider and then rule explicitly on the voluntariness of the defendant’s confession with or without oral argument thereon as the judge shall choose. Promptly after an order is made on the issue of voluntariness, counsel for the juvenile shall file in this court a certified copy of such order. Further proceedings shall be taken by this court on this appeal as indicated or required by the juvenile court’s order making an explicit finding of voluntariness of the confession. See Husk v. State, 305 So. 2d 19 (Fla.App. 1st 1974).

Clearly, the reasonableness of the delay in transporting the juvenile to Youth Hall, and the effect such delay may have had on him insofar as influencing him to confess, are questions for the trier of fact to decide in making his determination of voluntariness.

It is so ordered.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • In the Interest of W. J. N., 350 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)
    …nto custody.” The explicit mandatory language of the former Section 39.03(3) allowed for no delay for any purpose. The confessions in A. J. A. and Roberts were therefore suppressed. Appellant also relies upon the more recent case of B. M. v. State, 337 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), which contains broad language to the effect that the current Section 39.03(3) is a legislative directive to the courts and other law enforcement agencies that juveniles shall be treated differently from other suspected criminals…
  • B. M. v. State, 341 So. 2d 801 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
    …PER CURIAM. In our opinion in this case, reported as B. M. v. State, 337 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1976), we relinquished jurisdiction and remanded the cause to the trial judge to consider and then rule explicitly on the voluntariness of the juvenile’s confession. Pursuant thereto, the trial judge rendered the following finding of v…
  • B. M. V. v. State, 362 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
    …urt a certified copy of such order. Further proceedings shall be taken by this court on this appeal as indicated or required by the juvenile court’s order making an explicit finding of the voluntariness of appellant’s confession. See B. M. v. State, 337 So. 2d 423 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976); and Husk v. State, 305 So. 2d 19 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974). It is so ordered.…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw