NW v. State

• Decision Date: 07 September 2000
• Docket Number: No. SC95882.,SC95882.
• Parties: N.W., a child, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

767 So.2d 446

N.W., a child, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC95882.

Supreme Court of Florida.

September 7, 2000.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Brad Permar, Assistant Public Defender, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Bartow, Florida, for Petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Robert J. Krauss, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Angela D. McCravy and Diana K. Bock, Assistant Attorneys General, Tampa, Florida, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review N.W. v. State, 736 So.2d 710 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999), based on certified conflict with G.R.A. v. State, 688 So.2d 1027 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997), on the issue of whether the time limitations imposed by section 39.054(1), Florida Statutes (1995), relating to juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent, are, or should be, equally applicable to juveniles who have had adjudication withheld. We have jurisdiction. See Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons detailed below, we conclude that the time limitations set forth in section 39.054(1) are only applicable upon adjudication. While the result of this statutory application may seem questionable on occasion, the statutory words are clear. Thus, we approve the Second District's decision in N.W. and disapprove the Fifth District's decision in G.R.A.

FACTS

On November 12, 1996, the State of Florida filed a petition charging N.W. with disruption of a school function, in violation of section 877.13, Florida Statutes (1995), a second-degree misdemeanor. N.W. waived his right to counsel and entered a guilty plea on December 13, 1996. He was ordered to abide by the rules and curfew established by his parents; attend school on a daily basis; remain on the honor roll; and write a letter of apology to the principal.¹ At that time, adjudication was withheld.

Subsequent to this disposition, N.W. was before the court on several charges of indirect criminal contempt stemming from alleged violations of the terms and conditions imposed in connection with the original charge. The first instance was on April 15, 1997, when N.W. pled guilty to contempt of court, and the juvenile judge placed him in secure detention for five days. Less than one month later, on May 6, 1997, the court again found N.W. in contempt of court for violating the terms of his disposition order, and ordered him to secure detention for fifteen days. Yet again, on May 28, 1997, N.W. pled guilty to contempt of court, and was ordered to fifteen days in secure detention. On this occasion, however, he was adjudicated delinquent through an order dated June 2, 1997. At the disposition hearing on June 11, 1997, N.W. was ordered to remain on community control for a period of six months.

On August 26, 1997, a formal petition alleging a violation of community control was filed. The court placed N.W. in secure detention on September 1, 1997. The next day, at the detention hearing, after admitting guilt, he was found in contempt of court and sentenced to fifteen days' secure detention. At that time, an assistant public defender raised the issue of whether the court had jurisdiction to enter a disposition on this violation. Defense counsel argued that the six months of community control imposed on June 11, 1997, necessarily related back to the original charge addressed on December 13, 1996, and extended only into June of 1997. Thus, counsel reasoned that the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to dispose of the August 26, 1997 petition. Counsel's argument was premised on section 39.054(1)(a)1, which limits the time period of supervision or community service program to a maximum of six months for a child adjudicated delinquent of a second-degree misdemeanor. The State, on the other hand, maintained that the six-month limitation period commenced in June of 1997, when N.W. was adjudicated delinquent, and, therefore, the court retained jurisdiction over the juvenile until December of 1997. The juvenile court judge reserved ruling to review the case law and released N.W. from secure detention. At a second status check a few days later, N.W's attorney filed a motion to dismiss based on lack of jurisdiction. After conducting a hearing, the judge denied the motion and ordered N.W. to remain on community control until December of 1997. N.W. sought review of this determination.

On appeal, the Second District affirmed the lower court's ruling. In so doing, the court relied on its own decision in M.G. v. State, 696 So.2d 1340 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997), and the Fourth District's decision in M.B. v. State, 693 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Both of these cases stand for the proposition that the limitations on supervision set forth in section 39.054(1)(a)1 apply only to juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent. In the present case, the district court reasoned that because N.W. was not adjudicated delinquent until June of 1997, the six-month limitation on his supervision did not expire until December of 1997. Thus, the district court concluded that the trial court properly exercised jurisdiction over the August 26, 1997, petition alleging a violation of community control.

Nonetheless, the Second District echoed the trial court in noting that its decision was in conflict with G.R.A., 688 So.2d at 1028 (finding that even when adjudication is withheld, the court should not be able to impose a penalty that is more harsh than that permitted if the juvenile were adjudicated delinquent or were an adult offender). As a result, the Second District certified conflict with the Fifth District's decision in G.R.A.²

ANALYSIS

The juvenile delinquency proceedings below were governed by chapter 39 of the Florida Statutes.³ Under the pertinent statutes, when a court finds that a juvenile has committed a delinquent act it may proceed to either: (1) withhold adjudication pursuant to section 39.053(2);⁴ or (2) adjudicate the juvenile delinquent and proceed under section 39.054(1).⁵

Section 39.054 provides in pertinent part:

39.054 Powers of disposition.

(1) The court that has jurisdiction of an adjudicated delinquent child may...:

(a) Place the child in a community control program....

1.... If supervision or a program of community service is ordered by the court, the duration of such supervision or program ... may not exceed the term for which sentence could be imposed if the child were committed for the offense, except that the duration of such supervision or program for an offense that is a misdemeanor of the second degree, or is equivalent to a misdemeanor of the second degree, may be for a period not to exceed 6 months....

. . . .

(4) Any commitment of a delinquent child to the Department of Juvenile Justice must be for an indeterminate period of time, which may include temporary release, but the time may not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment that an adult may serve for the same offense.

(Emphasis supplied.) Thus, reading these two subsections together, an adjudicated juvenile may not be placed under supervision for a period longer than the period for which an adult could be imprisoned if found guilty of the same offense. The further limitation provides that if the offense is a second-degree misdemeanor, as in the present case, the period of supervision may not exceed six months.⁶

Section 39.054(1) could not be written more clearly. It doubtlessly delineates the powers of disposition to be followed by a "court that has jurisdiction of an adjudicated delinquent child." (Emphasis supplied.) See also T.R. v. State, 677 So.2d 270, 271 (Fla.1996)

(noting that section 39.054(1) "empowers the trial court to determine an appropriate sanction and rehabilitative program for the adjudicated delinquent child"). Moreover, nothing in the legislative history of this section suggests an intent that it govern instances where adjudication is withheld. Despite the clear wording of section 39.054(1), Florida case law is split on the issue of whether that section also applies to juveniles who have received a withhold of adjudication.

In M.B., the trial judge found M.B. guilty of battery, withheld adjudication, and placed him on community control for an indeterminate period of time. On appeal, M.B. argued that an indeterminate period of community control exceeded the maximum term permitted under section 39.054(1)(a)1. The Fourth District upheld the indeterminate period of community control. See 693 So.2d at 1067. In so doing, it reasoned that sections 39.054(1) and 39.054(4) "are applicable only when the court is dealing with a child who has been adjudicated delinquent.... [T]hus, the restrictions relating to commitment or comparisons to adult sanctions are not involved." Id. at 1066-67; accord M.G., 696 So.2d at 1341

.

In a similar manner, the Fifth District at one point also recognized the distinction that section 39.054(1) only applies to juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent. For example, in D.V.S. v. State, 632 So.2d 221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994), just as in N.W., a juvenile was found guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor. The court withheld adjudication and placed D.V.S. on community control for six months. D.V.S. challenged his six-month community control disposition, arguing that under section 39.054(1)(a)1 and section 39.054(4), the maximum period of time he could be placed on community control was sixty days (i.e., the maximum period of imprisonment that an adult could serve for the same offense).⁷ The district court proceeded to make the specific distinction that section 39.054(1) "applies only when the court is dealing with `an adjudicated delinquent child.' Since D.V.S. was non-adjudicated, the provisions of 39.053 are applicable and the restrictions relating to `commitment' or comparisons with adult sanction are not involved." Id. at 222 (citation omitted). As a result, it upheld the six-month term of community control under section 39.053. See id.

In G.R.A., however, the Fifth District receded from D.V.S. G.R.A. was found guilty of a second-degree...