IN THE INTEREST OF B.W., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The court held that the evidence was insufficient to support a delinquency adjudication for robbery based on aiding and abetting.
Appellant was found driving a car containing youths and stolen beer shortly after a convenience store robbery. The State relied on this to prove aidin…
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WIGGINTON, Judge.
Appellant appeals an order adjudicating him delinquent and placing him on community control after he was found guilty of robbery under the theory of aiding and abetting pursuant to Section 77.011, Florida Statutes. Finding the evidence insufficient to support the determination of guilt, we reverse.
As stated in C.P.P. v. State, 479 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), to convict a defendant as an aider and abettor, the State must show that he
... (1) assisted the actual perpetrators by doing or saying something that caused, encouraged, assisted, or incited the perpetrators to actually commit the crime; and (2) intended to participate in the crime. Howard v. State, 473 So. 2d 841 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Horton v. State, 442 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). “Where the State relies on circumstantial evidence to establish the accused’s assistance and intent to participate, it is necessary to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence.” J.W. v. State, 467 So. 2d 796, 797 (Fla.3d DCA 1985).
See also Croft v. State, 528 So. 2d 1279 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988).
In the instant case, the State merely showed that, a short time after three youths robbed a convenience store of a case of beer, appellant was apprehended as the driver of the car containing the youths and the beer. Although perhaps appellant could have been successfully prosecuted for other crimes, such as possession of alcohol by a minor or an accessory after the fact, an adjudication of delinquency based on the charge of aiding and abetting a robbery, pursuant to 777.011, Florida Statutes, was error in light of the cases cited herein.
REVERSED.
BOOTH AND BARFIELD, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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A.B.G. v. State, 586 So. 2d 445 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)…t turned [*447] away from the store manager and walked back into the lobby. Where,as here, the state relies on circumstantial evidence to prove the accused’s guilt, it is necessary to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. B.W. v. State, 546 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). In determining whether a case is sufficient to be submitted to the trier of fact, [i]t is the trial judge’s proper task to review the evidence to determine the presence or absence of competent evidence from which the jury could…
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T.B. v. State, 732 So. 2d 1163 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)…841 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). Such assistance can consist of “doing or saying something that caused, encouraged, assisted or incited the perpetrators to actually commit the crime.” C.P.P. v. State, 479 So. 2d 858, 859 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); B.W. v. State, 546 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). At the adjudicatory hearing, the State’s first witness, Latifah Shareef, testified that she used to date T.B.’s brother, Ven-derrick McCray, who fathered her daughter. Latifah had known 15-year-old T.B. for five and one-half ye…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- J.W. v. State, 467 So. 2d 796 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
- Install, Inc. v. Bussey, 479 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Turner v. State, 442 So. 2d 1064 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)
- Howard v. State, 473 So. 2d 841 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)
- Albert "Buddy" Croft v. State, 528 So. 2d 1279 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)