E. H. N., A CHILD, PETITIONER,
v.
HONORABLE BEN C. WILLIS AS CIRCUIT JUDGE OF THE SECOND JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA, IN AND FOR GADSDEN COUNTY, FLORIDA, RESPONDENT
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
A minor was charged with four felonies while serving a sentence from a prior felony conviction in adult court. The court held that each new criminal charge requires a separate waiver and certification by the juvenile division, regardless of prior adult court jurisdiction, and that a prior waiver does not automatically place a child in continuing adult status for new charges.
The adult division lacks jurisdiction to try the minor as an adult on the four felonies because the juvenile division has not waived jurisdiction and certified those specific charges. A prior waiver and certification applies only to the case certified and does not extend to new criminal charges; each new charge requires a separate juvenile waiver and certification.
[1] A child cannot be tried as an adult on a criminal charge unless the juvenile division has first waived jurisdiction and certified the case for trial as though the child w…
[2] A prior waiver of jurisdiction by the juvenile division for one criminal charge does not automatically subject a child to adult court jurisdiction for subsequent criminal…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Unless charged by indictment with a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment, a child must be initially charged by a delinquency petition.”
Establishes that the four felony charges should have been brought as delinquency petitions in juvenile division, not directly in adult division
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe minor was initially charged with two felonies by separate informations, then charged with two additional felonies by a single information. At the …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Waiver Of Juvenile Jurisdiction cases and more on FLexlaw
MILLS, Judge.
By Suggestion for Writ of Prohibition, the minor contends that the adult division of the circuit court is without jurisdiction to try him as an adult on four felony charges because the juvenile division of the circuit court has not waived jurisdiction and certified the cases to the adult division for trial. We agree.
The minor was charged by separate infor-mations with two felonies. Thereafter, he was charged by a single information with two additional felonies. He moved to dismiss the informations because the juvenile division had not waived jurisdiction and certified the cases to the adult division. The adult division denied the motion to dismiss because at the time the four felonies were committed the minor was serving a sentence based on a prior felony conviction in the adult division following a waiver and certification by the juvenile division. The adult division was of the opinion that this action placed the minor in adult status under that part of Section 39.02(5)(a), Florida Statutes (1975), which provides that after entry of an order of waiver, “thereafter the child shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the appropriate court as if the child were an adult”. Further, the adult division was of the opinion that the quoted part of Section 39.02(5)(a) was particularly applicable to this case because the four felonies arose from or were closely connected with the incarceration arising out of the prior felony conviction.
Unless charged by indictment with a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment, a child must be initially charged by a delinquency petition. A. D. T., a minor v. State, 318 So. 2d 478 (Fla.lst DCA 1975). The four charges against the minor were not punishable by death or life imprisonment.
Section 39.02(5)(a) provides:
“If the judge finds, after a waiver hearing as provided in s. 39.09, that any child who is fourteen years of age or older and who, if an adult, would be charged with a violation of Florida law should be tried as an adult, the judge may enter an order waiving jurisdiction and certifying the case for trial as if the child were an adult, and thereafter the child shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the appropriate court as if the child were an adult.”
Under this statute, it is the case that is certified for trial as if the child were an adult. The case is the one pending before the juvenile division in which the child is charged with being delinquent by reason of an alleged violation of the law. This statute transforms the child into an adult for the sole purpose of dealing with the alleged violation pending in the juvenile division and no other. The words “and thereafter the child shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the appropriate court as if the child were an adult”, mean nothing more than that after the case is certified for trial as if the child were an adult he is thereafter to be dealt with as an adult with respect to the alleged violation certified for trial.
Therefore, a child cannot be tried as an adult on a criminal charge unless the juvenile division has first waived jurisdiction and certified the case for trial as though the child were an adult. This is necessary as to a new criminal charge although the juvenile division has previously waived jurisdiction as to an earlier criminal charge and certified the case for trial as though the child were an adult.
The Writ of Prohibition is made permanent.
McCORD, C. J., and BOYER, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
State v. N. B., 360 So. 2d 162 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)…So. 2d 609 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975). If, however, the child is not indicted for a capital or life felony, the juvenile division shall exercise jurisdiction over the child until he has been appropriately certified to the adult division. E.H.N. v. Willis, 350 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). The fact that more than 90 days 1 had expired from the date appellees were taken into custody for the offenses charged prior to the return of the indictments did not preclude the adult division from exercising jurisdiction. The…
-
Johnson v. State, 379 So. 2d 704 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)…the juvenile was charged with a different offense (second degree murder) by an information. In that circumstance the law does not provide for the juvenile to be treated as an adult . . [emphasis of the court] In a similar case, E. H. N. v. Willis, 350 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), the Florida First District Court of Appeal held that a juvenile could not be tried by an adult court for alleged crimes committed while incarcerated for a prior violation of law for which jurisdiction had been transferred to the…
-
Robidoux v. Honorable Thomas M. Coker, 383 So. 2d 719 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980)…o. 2d 704 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Whidden v. State, 374 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979); In Interest of S. E. B., 365 So. 2d 451 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Ringel v. State, 352 So. 2d 88 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), aff’d. 366 So. 2d 758 (Fla.1978); E. H. N. v. Willis, 350 So. 2d 829 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977); A. D. T. v. State, 318 So. 2d 478 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975). In E. H. N. v. Willis, supra, a minor was charged by a single information with two [*721] felonies and thereafter charged by a single information with two more felonies.1 A…
Authorities Cited
- A. D. T. v. State, 318 So. 2d 478 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975)