5D07-2462 X.R. v. State

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State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D07-2462

Case Date: 03/03/2008

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JANUARY TERM 2008

X. R., A CHILD, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. ________________________________/ Opinion filed March 7, 2008 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, Morgan Reinman, Judge. James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Rose M. Levering, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. Bill McCollum, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Douglas T. Squire, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. Case No. 5D07-2462

PER CURIAM. X.R., a juvenile, appeals from an order holding him in contempt of court in a delinquency matter. He argues that the juvenile court lacked authority under Florida law to hold him in contempt of court for his failure to comply with a behavior order which was entered in connection with his pre-trial release. X.R. was charged by delinquency petition with possession of not more than 20 grams of cannabis in violation of sections 893.03 and 893.13, Florida Statutes. X.R.

appeared with his grandmother at arraignment.

Counsel was appointed, a drug

evaluation was ordered and the case was set for docket sounding. During the hearing, the grandmother stated that X.R. would not voluntarily go for drug evaluation and stated, "I've tried everything." The prosecutor asked if X.R. had been placed on a behavior order stating, "Apparently we have a grandmother, I believe, who needs some help." In response to an inquiry from the court, the grandmother requested that the court enter a behavior order. The following then transpired: THE COURT: Okay, there's one - - there's a copy of one in front of you. What that is, is it requires: He attend school, no suspensions, tardies or absences. That he live with you, his legal guardian. That he be respectful to you, no profanity. That he have no new law violations. That he attend all court appearances. That he not associate with any co-defendants, victims, or anyone not approved by you. And that I do impose a curfew of 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. And if he violates that, do not call the police, you call the number on there which is our juvenile court coordinator, and she'll address it. If there's a violation, we do address those each Wednesday after detentions. I could sentence him for up to five days of secure detention for the first violation. For the second violation, I could sentence him to up to fifteen days in secured detention. Okay. I'm going to go ahead and enter one of those at this time for [X.R.]. I'll do it. Defense counsel objected to entry of the behavior order. Thereafter, an affidavit for order to show cause for behavior order violation was filed and a show cause order was issued with the hearing set for June 27, 2007. The

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affidavit alleged that X.R. failed to attend summer school sessions, violated the curfew and was disrespectful to his grandmother. X.R. failed to appear on June 27, 2007 and the court ordered he be taken into custody. He was, and the show cause hearing was held on the following day, June 28, 2007. The grandmother testified that X.R. failed to attend school all week and never abided by the 7:00 p.m. curfew, instead returning home at 11:30 p.m. or 12:30 a.m. When deputies went to get X.R. after he failed to appear, they were told he was next door and he was found hiding in the bed of a pickup truck. He told deputies he was not X.R. but a neighbor confirmed his identity. X.R. testified and claimed he had completed school and no longer had to attend. He claimed he got home late from work but the grandmother knew nothing about any job. She said he had no job and asked her for money on a daily basis. We need not address the precise point raised by X.R. because the record supports the sanction of contempt in this case, specifically due to X.R's disobedience of the show cause order. The juvenile court had subject matter jurisdiction over X.R. who was charged with a delinquent act. See

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