STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER,
v.
DWAYNE J. MILLER, RESPONDENT

Fla. 1st DCA | 1992-01-17
No. 91-3665
ERVIN and BARFIELD, JJ., concur., BOOTH, J., dissents.
592 So. 2d 1200 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1992)

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Synopsis

Florida sought to overturn a circuit court's decision allowing a juvenile charged with armed robbery to be held at a juvenile facility (Criswell House) rather than the county jail pending trial as an adult. The First District Court of Appeal denied the State's petition for certiorari, holding that a trial judge had jurisdiction to modify the conditions of pre-trial release and that placement in a juvenile facility was permissible under Florida law.


Holding

The trial court had jurisdiction to reconsider the terms of pre-trial release, and placement of a juvenile in a juvenile commitment facility as a condition of pre-trial release was legally permissible when the juvenile was involuntarily transferred under section 39.022(5)(a) and uncontradicted evidence supported such placement.


Headnotes

[1] A circuit judge has jurisdiction to consider a motion for pre-trial release conditions even after an order of involuntary waiver and transfer to the felony division.

[2] A trial court may authorize pre-trial release by placing a defendant in the custody of a designated organization agreeing to supervise them.

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Key Quotes

“The original order, by its express terms, contemplates review of the terms of the defendant's pre-trial release by a felony division judge.”

Establishes that the circuit court had jurisdiction to reconsider pre-trial custody conditions

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Facts & Procedural History

Dwayne Miller, a juvenile, was charged with two counts of armed robbery with a firearm. A circuit court entered an involuntary waiver order transferri…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Dwayne Miller was charged with two counts of armed robbery with a firearm and an order of involuntary waiver was entered pursuant to sections 39.022(5)(a) and 39.052(2), Florida Statutes (Supp.1990). Under the terms of this order Miller’s case was transferred to the felony division of the circuit court where he will be tried as an adult. The order provides in pertinent part:

The child shall be held by the Sheriff of this County until he is released under bond or otherwise, to be set by the felony division judge, conditioned upon his appearance to answer the State of Florida on the foregoing charge.

Miller then filed a motion in the circuit court seeking transfer from the Leon County jail to the Criswell House, a juvenile commitment facility. A different circuit judge considered the motion and, after hearing evidence from the director and staff of Criswell House, granted it. The State now seeks to have that decision reviewed by this court by petitioning for a writ of certiorari.

Petitioner argues first that the second circuit judge did not have jurisdiction to, in effect, overturn the decision of the first circuit judge who committed Miller to custody of the Sheriff. We disagree. The original order, by its express terms, contemplates review of the terms of the defendant’s pre-trial release by a felony division judge. Even if the order did not contain such language, further consideration of the matter by a circuit judge would not run afoul of jurisdictional principles. Cf. State ex rel. Scaldeferri v. Sandstrom, 285 So. 2d 409 (Fla.1973).

The petitioner also argues that referral of a juvenile who will be tried as an adult to a juvenile facility prior to trial is unauthorized, relying primarily on Postell v. State, 383 So. 2d 1159 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). Postell is distinguishable from the instant case, however, as there the defendant had been indicted and was subject to the terms of section 39.02(5)(c)l., Florida Statutes (Supp.1978) (now § 39.022(5)(c)l. (Supp.1990)), which provides that such a juvenile shall be “tried and handled in every respect as if he were an adult.” Miller, by contrast, was involuntarily transferred to the felony division and an information was filed against him. Section 39.022(5)(a), Florida Statutes (Supp.1990), provides that “[t]he child shall thereafter be subject to prosecution, trial, and sentencing as if the child were an adult_” We find the difference in the language of these two statutory sections significant and believe that the legislature intended to allow more dis cretion in fixing terms of pre-trial release of a juvenile who is involuntarily transferred than one who is indicted. Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.131(b)(l)(iv) authorizes pre-trial release by “placing the defendant in custody of a designated person or organization agreeing to supervise him.” Where, as here, a trial court has heard uncontradicted evidence that placement in a juvenile facility is appropriate, we find no legal obstacle to the trial court making that the condition of pre-trial release in these circumstances. Accordingly, the petition for writ of certiorari is

DENIED.

ERVIN and BARFIELD, JJ., concur. BOOTH, J., dissents.


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