IN THE INTEREST OF M. M., A JUVENILE
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The court affirmed the juvenile's delinquency adjudication, holding that the circumstantial evidence, when evaluated for credibility, sufficiently excluded reasonable hypotheses of innocence and met the constitutional standard of proof required in juvenile delinquency cases.
Circumstantial evidence that completely excludes reasonable hypotheses of innocence and is found credible by the trial court satisfies the standard of proof required in juvenile delinquency adjudications.
[1] In juvenile delinquency proceedings, circumstantial evidence is sufficient to support an adjudication if the evidence completely excludes reasonable hypotheses of innocen…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA juvenile was adjudicated delinquent based on testimony from a complaining witness. The juvenile offered an explanation for the alleged conduct, whic…
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This is an appeal from an order of the circuit court, juvenile-family division, which adjudicated the appellant child a delinquent and committed him to the Division of Youth Services, State of Florida. The single point raised on appeal urges that the trial court erred in finding the appellant a delinquent because the evidence was circumstantial and did not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. See Brown v. State, 127 Fla. 225, 172 So. 921 (1937); Wilkerson v. State, Fla.App.1970, 232 So.2d 217. We have reviewed the record in the light of the arguments presented and find that the evidence of the complaining witness completely excluded the hypothesis of innocence relied upon by the appellant. The question before the court was purely one of the credibility of the witnesses. The court recognized the issue and stated in the record that the juvenile’s explanation was incredible in view of the testimony received.
In order to obviate any doubt as to the standard of proof applied in this case by this court, we add that we have reviewed the record in the light of the holding of the Supreme Court of Florida in State v. V. D. B, Fla. 1972, 270 So.2d 6, and find the proof submitted to be sufficient under the test there applied.
Affirmed.
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Citator
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Watts v. State, 283 So. 2d 863 (Fla. 1973)…Certiorari denied. 277 So. 2d 565. CARLTON, C. J., and ROBERTS, ADKINS and BOYD, JJ,, concur. ERVIN, McCAIN and DEKLE, JJ., dissent.…
Authorities Cited
- Wilkerson v. State, 232 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970)
- Fayete Brown v. State, 127 Fla. 225 (Fla. 1937)
- State v. In the Interest of V. D. B., 270 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 1972)