X.S. v. State
Decision Date | 08 February 2023 |
Docket Number | 2D21-2712 |
Parties | X.S., Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. |
Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Lawrence M Lefler, Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Caroline Joan S. Picart Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and David Campbell Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
X.S appeals the disposition order adjudicating him a delinquent minor in possession of a firearm. See § 790.22(3), Fla. Stat. (2020). We have jurisdiction. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.030(b)(1)(A), 9.145(b)(1). Because the State failed to establish the corpus delicti of the offense, the trial court erred in denying X.S.'s motion for judgment of dismissal. Accordingly, we reverse.[1]
Late one evening, Tampa police officer Martin Pollak went to a hotel "in reference to a warrant investigation." X.S. was at the scene. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant. Thereafter, according to Officer Pollak, "[law enforcement] continued the investigation." While standing near a Toyota Camry, Officer Pollak saw a black pistol box under the rear passenger seat. He entered the car, opened the box, and discovered a Glock 23 .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol.
Officer Toni Clark testified that she arrived at the scene "to pick up [X.S.]." She knew him to be sixteen years old. While Officer Clark detained X.S., she heard him tell his mother, who was standing nearby, X.S. objected on corpus delicti grounds to Officer Clark's testimony. The trial court overruled the objection.
At the close of the State's case, X.S. moved for a judgment of dismissal, again arguing that, absent his statements to his mother, the State failed to establish the corpus delicti of the crime. More specifically, X.S. argued that the State failed to present prima facie evidence that he possessed the gun. The trial court denied the motion and found X.S. delinquent.
We review the denial of a motion for judgment of dismissal de novo. E.A.B. v. State, 851 So.2d 308, 310 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). "A conclusion that an act of delinquency was committed is to be sustained where viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, a rational trier of fact could find that the elements of the delinquent act have been established beyond a reasonable doubt." K.H. v. State, 265 So.3d 684, 686-87 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (citing E.A.B., 851 So.2d at 310). When the State fails to establish a prima facie case, dismissal is required. See Fla. R. Juv. P. 8.110(f). Also, "[w]e review for an abuse of discretion the [trial] court's determination that the evidence sufficiently established corpus delicti to admit [the juvenile]'s confession." T.C.C. v. State, 292 So.3d 549, 551 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020); N.G.S. v. State, 272 So.3d 830, 832 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019).
As a fundamental legal principle, no person can be found guilty of a crime until the State establishes that a crime occurred. State v. Allen, 335 So.2d 823, 825 (Fla. 1976). The corpus delicti[2] rule ensures that criminal responsibility is properly assigned. See id. (); S.H. v. State, 264 So.3d 1042, 1045-46 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019) ( .
A.P. v. State, 250 So.3d 799, 801 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). So then, "[w]hile the corpus delicti may not be established solely by a confession, 'confessions and admissions may be considered in connection with other evidence to establish it.'" Baxter v. State, 586 So.2d 1196, 1200 (Fla. 1991) (quoting Hodges v. State, 176 So.2d 91, 92 (Fla. 1965)). "It is sufficient if the corroboration supports the essential facts admitted sufficiently to justify [the fact-finder's] inference of their truth." Id. (quoting Opper v. United States, 384 U.S. 84, 93 (1954)).
The State petitioned to have X.S. declared delinquent for violating section 790.22(3), which prohibits a minor from possessing a firearm, subject to several enumerated exceptions not applicable here. Id. (). To establish the corpus delicti for this offense, the State had to adduce evidence, apart from X.S.'s statements, that he possessed the firearm recovered by Officer Pollak. Cf. M.P. v. State, 682 So.2d 79, 82 (Fla. 1996) ( ).
"All possession crimes may be either actual or constructive." Sundin v. State, 27 So.3d 675, 676 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (citing Chicone v. State, 684 So.2d 736, 738 n.2 (Fla. 1996), superseded by statute on other grounds, ch. 2002-258, § 1, Laws of Fla.); N.G.S., 272 So.3d at 835 (). We see no evidence that X.S. actually possessed the firearm.
Thus, the State had to establish that X.S. constructively possessed the firearm. "[T]o prove constructive possession of a firearm the State must produce evidence establishing that 'the defendant had knowledge of the presence of the gun and the ability to exercise control over it.'" A.P., 250 So.2d at 802 (quoting Creamer v. State, 605 So.2d 541, 542 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)).
In A.P., 250 So.2d at 802, However, "proximity to contraband in a jointly occupied car is not sufficient to sustain a conviction based on constructive possession." Id. We reversed the order adjudicating A.P. delinquent, observing that "the only independent proof remaining to support any of the inferences necessary to establish constructive possession [wa]s A.P.'s admission." Id.
Here, the State's evidence is no more compelling. For one thing, we know little about the car in which Officer Pollak found the firearm. The State presented no evidence that X.S. owned the car, or, at least, had control over it. In fact, we see no evidence that X.S. was ever in the car. Apparently, law enforcement officers arrested X.S. near the car. But this fact cannot establish the corpus delicti. See N.G.S., 272 So.3d at 835 (). Quite simply, nothing links X.S. to the car. See Harrison v. State, 483 So.2d 757, 758 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) ( ). The State failed to show that any crime occurred. Cf. State v. Walton, 42 So.3d 902, 906-07 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (the defendant's identity as the driver may become a necessary part of the corpus delicti where, absent proof that the defendant was the driver, the evidence does not establish a crime occurred) that in a DUI case .
The State urges us to apply the corroboration rule. See United States v. Shunk, 881 F.2d 917, 919 (10th Cir. 1989) (" . We have previously avoided this route. A.P., 250 So.3d at 802-03. Moreover, "we are not free to ignore the fact that the Florida Supreme Court has rejected th[is] option on more than one occasion." Id.
The State argues further that X.S.'s statements are admissible as they "arose out of the res gestae, which are the 'circumstances, facts[,] and declarations which grow out of the main fact and serve to illustrate its character, and which are spontaneous and contemporaneous with the main fact as to exclude the idea of deliberation or fabrication.'" State v. Adams, 683 So.2d 517, 518-519 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996). "These [anachronistic common law] components are [now]...
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