L.R. v. State

• Decision Date: 19 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2D05-5505.,2D05-5505.
• Citation: 948 So.2d 827
• Parties: L.R., Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

948 So.2d 827 L.R., Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee. No. 2D05-5505. District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. January 19, 2007.

[948 So.2d 828]

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Timothy J. Ferreri, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.

Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Richard M. Fishkin, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM.

L.R., a sixteen-year-old public high school student, appeals her adjudication of delinquency based on a finding that she battered a law enforcement officer in violation of sections 784.07 and 784.03, Florida Statutes (2003). She also contends that the trial court erred in committing her to a residential facility despite the recommendation of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) that adjudication be withheld and that she be put on indefinite probation. We affirm the adjudication of delinquency but reverse the commitment, concluding that the trial court's reasons for disregarding the DJJ's recommendation are insufficient.

The charge of battery on a law enforcement officer was based on events surrounding an altercation at L.R.'s high school during the school day. While classes were in session, L.R. was part of a loud disturbance in the hallway of the school that the school resource officer, a uniformed policeman, was attempting to quell. When the officer tried to calm her and lead her away to his office for further investigation, she claimed he was harassing her, cursed at him, and kicked and hit him in the chest. L.R. contends that this charge should have been dismissed upon her motion because the State failed to present a prima facie case that the officer was in the lawful execution of his legal duty when he tried to lead her away, which caused her to resist.

948 So.2d 829

L.R. correctly contends that an element of the offense for which she was charged is that the officer be in the lawful execution of a legal duty. See Tillman v. State, 934 So.2d 1263, 1270 (Fla.2006) (noting that "because the Legislature has placed the element of lawful execution of a legal duty in both sections 784.07(2) and 843.01, proof that the officer was acting lawfully is necessary in a prosecution for crimes committed under either statute that occur outside an arrest scenario"). The facts adduced at the adjudicatory hearing provided substantial, competent evidence that the school resource officer was acting both lawfully and in accordance with a legal duty. A school is a place of learning and it is within an officer's legal duty, as here, to quell a disturbance. The record establishes that the officer was using appropriate force to carry out his duties when L.R. began unlawfully to batter him. The trial court correctly denied the motion for discharge on this ground.

The trial court was not, however, correct in disregarding the DJJ's recommendation that L.R. be placed on probation. In committing L.R. to a residential facility, the court failed to state a sufficient reason to justify its departure. Before...