Ronald Guy Bishop, Appellant, appeals the revocation of his probation. Some, but not all, of the trial court’s findings supporting the revocation were improper. The trial court reversibly erred in finding that Appellant violated his probation by possessing a folding knife that was deemed a common pocketknife and a butcher knife that was not mentioned in the charging document. We affirm the remaining findings without discussion. We cannot discern from the record before us whether the trial court would have revoked Appellant’s probation in the absence of the improper findings. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
See Whidden v. State,
Appellant was sentenced to probation after pleading nolo contendere to aggra
At the VOP hearing, the State produced evidence that Appellant was in possession of two different knives. One knife, the “Buck hunting knife,” was a folding knife with a three and one-half inch blade. The other knife was a butcher knife. One of Appellant’s neighbors testified that Appellant had pulled the butcher knife out of his car, shown it to her, and made threatening statements regarding what he intended to do to his probation officer with it. Appellant’s probation officer testified that he had instructed Appellant not to carry a pocketknife, as it would be considered a weapon.
At the end of the VOP hearing, defense counsel argued that the folding knife could not be considered a weapon because it was a common pocketknife. The trial court made the following pronouncement:
I’m finding that [Appellant] is in violation of his probation in multiple ways.
One, there is no way around the [butcher] knife. If it had been in the kitchen, that would have been different. Carrying it in your car ... turns it into a weapon. The folding knife — ... I agree with [defense counsel] under the law — would not be a weapon but for the specific instruction of his probation officer that you cannot carry that. Once he’s on probation and given a lawful instruction and he violates it, that puts him in violation of his probation.
The written Order of Revocation of Probation does not specify the terms and conditions that Appellant violated. 1 It merely provides that Appellant violated his probation. However, the parties’ arguments assume that the trial court found that the State proved each of the violations alleged in the VOP affidavit. We agree with the parties’ interpretation of the trial court’s oral findings. Based on these findings, the court re-sentenced Appellant to two years in prison with credit for time served, followed by two years of community control and then one year of probation. This appeal followed.
Appellant argues that, by finding him in violation for carrying a common pocketknife, the trial court erroneously allowed his probation officer to add a condition to his probation. The State concedes error on this point, and we agree. The term “weapon” is not defined in Appellant’s conditions of probation. Therefore, the trial court properly looked to Chapter 790, Florida Statutes, and the relevant case law to determine whether the folding knife at issue in this case was a weapon. Under section 790.001(13), Florida Statutes (2007), a “common pocketknife” is not a weapon. In
L.B. v. State,
A probation officer has no authority to impose additional conditions of probation, even if the court has ordered the probationer to follow all instructions the officer may give.
Paterson v. State,
Next, Appellant argues that there was a lack of competent, substantial evidence to support the finding that the butcher knife was a weapon. This argument is without merit.
See State v. Walthour,
In summary, we hold that the trial court reversibly erred in finding that Appellant violated his probation by carrying the folding knife and the butcher knife but that it did not reversibly err in the remaining findings. Because the error with regard to the butcher knife concerns a deficiency in the charging document, we note that our reversal on this matter is without prejudice to the State’s right to refile an appropriate affidavit concerning that charge.
See Perkins,
Notes
. Although the lack of specific written findings is not an issue in this appeal, we note, as we did in
Perkins v. State,
. The supreme court later clarified that holding, explaining that a pocketknife with a blade
