STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
STEVEN BRADSHAW, APPELLEE
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The trial court erred by transferring an adult defendant's case to the juvenile division, as statutes only allow transfer of minors to adult court, not vice versa.
An adult defendant, charged with possession of recently stolen property, was found by the trial court to have the mentality of a 10-year-old. The tria…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant, 23 years of age, was charged with possession of recently stolen property by the state attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. At the arraignment appellant pled not guilty to the charge. After extensive and lengthy inquiry the trial court entered an order determining that appellant had the mentality of a 10-year old and transferring the case to the juvenile division of the circuit court.
Finding no authority, either statutory, rule or case law, to support the ruling, we hold that the trial court’s action constitutes reversible error. Under Section 39.02, Florida Statutes, and the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure the circuit court has jurisdiction to either treat a person under 18 years of age as a juvenile or transfer the child for criminal prosecution. The statute does not, however, authorize the court to treat a person over 18 years of age as a juvenile.
We fully recognize and appreciate precisely the deep concern of the trial court in this difficult and sensitive matter; however, to affirm this ruling would require this court to legislate which is not the function of the judiciary.
Accordingly, the order appealed is reversed with directions that appellant be tried as an adult.
REVERSED.
BOARDMAN, Acting C. J., GRIMES, J., and SCHWARTZ, ALAN R., Associate Judge, concur.
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Bradshaw v. State, 353 So. 2d 188 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)…rt for disposition. Upon appeal by the state this court reversed, noting that Section 39.02, Florida Statutes (1973), and the Rules of Juvenile Procedure do not authorize trial of a person over eighteen years of age as a juvenile. State v. Bradshaw, 337 So. 2d 1032 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). Thereafter appellant filed: (1) Notice of Intention to Rely Upon the Defense of Diminished Mental Capacity; and (2) Motion to have the Court Appoint a Psychologist to Evaluate Appellant’s Mental Condition. The trial court struck…