D.L.B. v. State, No. 96-01814

CourtCourt of Appeal of Florida (US)
Writing for the CourtCAMPBELL
Citation707 So.2d 844
Parties23 Fla. L. Weekly D592 D.L.B., a child, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
Decision Date27 February 1998
Docket NumberNo. 96-01814

Page 844

707 So.2d 844
23 Fla. L. Weekly D592
D.L.B., a child, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.
No. 96-01814.
District Court of Appeal of Florida,
Second District.
Feb. 27, 1998.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Robert H. Dickinson, Jr., Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Susan D. Dunlevy, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

CAMPBELL, Acting Chief Judge.

Appellant, a juvenile who was found to be delinquent under the affray statute (§ 870.01(1), Fla. Stat. (1995)), challenges the statute as unconstitutionally vague. He also maintains that the court erred by failing to conduct his delinquency disposition hearing properly, by imposing an indefinite term of community control and by imposing a fine after orally announcing that a fine would not be imposed. While we conclude that the affray statute is not impermissibly vague and that the delinquency disposition hearing was not properly conducted, we also conclude that the sentence imposed must be clarified and the $50 fine must be stricken.

Florida has adopted the common law meaning of affray, which is that affray is fighting in a public place to the terror of the people. See O.A. v. State, 312 So.2d 202 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). See also D.J. v. State, 651 So.2d 1255 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). In order to overcome a void-for-vagueness challenge, a criminal statute must define the offense "with sufficient definiteness that ordinary

Page 845

people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement." See Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 1858, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983). Given the fact that readily available dictionaries define "affray" as a public fight or brawl, we conclude that the term "affray" is defined with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited. Moreover, we can conceive of no manner in which the affray statute would be arbitrarily or discriminatorily enforced due to the definition of the term "affray." We conclude that the affray statute is not impermissibly vague.

The statute provides that, before committing the juvenile, the court must consider the restrictiveness level recommended by the Department. Here, after the court rejected the Department's community control recommendation, it proceeded to impose a level six restrictiveness commitment, despite...

To continue reading

Request your trial
12 practice notes
  • State v. EDP, No. 92345.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • October 8, 1998
    ...level recommended by the department. Id. (emphasis added). The Second District Court of Appeal addressed this issue in D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998), wherein the trial court rejected the DJJ's community control recommendation and imposed a level-six restrictiveness commi......
  • C.M. v. State, Case No. 2D16–5068
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • January 5, 2018
    ...State, 312 So.2d 202, 203 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975) (quoting Carnley v. State, 88 Fla. 281, 102 So. 333, 334 (1924) ); accord D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844, 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Therefore, "an affray by fighting ... necessarily includes assault and battery." O.A., 312 So.2d at 203 (q......
  • State v. JPC, No. 93,444.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • March 18, 1999
    ...Respondent. PER CURIAM. We have for review J.P.C. v. State, 712 So.2d 1229 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), based on conflict with D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. We quash J.P.C. pled nolo contendere to a charge of throwing a deadl......
  • J.B. v. State, No. 97-3028
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • August 21, 1998
    ...State, 683 So.2d 576 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). We decline to follow those cases and choose to follow the ruling and logic in D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. granted, 717 So.2d 530 (Fla.1998) wherein the court We disagree, however, with the First District's interpretation of th......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
12 cases
  • State v. EDP, No. 92345.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • October 8, 1998
    ...level recommended by the department. Id. (emphasis added). The Second District Court of Appeal addressed this issue in D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998), wherein the trial court rejected the DJJ's community control recommendation and imposed a level-six restrictiveness commi......
  • C.M. v. State, Case No. 2D16–5068
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • January 5, 2018
    ...State, 312 So.2d 202, 203 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975) (quoting Carnley v. State, 88 Fla. 281, 102 So. 333, 334 (1924) ); accord D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844, 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). Therefore, "an affray by fighting ... necessarily includes assault and battery." O.A., 312 So.2d at 203 (q......
  • State v. JPC, No. 93,444.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • March 18, 1999
    ...Respondent. PER CURIAM. We have for review J.P.C. v. State, 712 So.2d 1229 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), based on conflict with D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. We quash J.P.C. pled nolo contendere to a charge of throwing a deadl......
  • J.B. v. State, No. 97-3028
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • August 21, 1998
    ...State, 683 So.2d 576 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). We decline to follow those cases and choose to follow the ruling and logic in D.L.B. v. State, 707 So.2d 844 (Fla. 2d DCA), rev. granted, 717 So.2d 530 (Fla.1998) wherein the court We disagree, however, with the First District's interpretation of th......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT