DC v. StateDC v. State
This case presents a perfect example of a disturbing societal proclivity toward settling all disputes through resort to a severely overburdened judicial system. In summary, we are asked to review a juvenile court order finding that the defendant, a 13 year old boy, committed the crime of battery when he engaged in a brief scuffle with the alleged victim, an 8 1/2 year old boy. The scuffle, in which neither boy was hurt, began when the defendant tossed a forkfull of ravioli in the direction of the victim and ended a minute or two later with the defendant holding the victim in a loose headlock for several seconds. In between the ravioli and the headlock, various forms of shoving and name calling occurred. We shudder to think what would happen to the wheels of justice if every such childhood scuffle resulted in criminal prosecution. Such matters are best handled on a personal and informal basis, not through the expensive, time-consuming judicial process.
As a result of the above-described “fight,” a complaint was filed in juvenile court on March 22, 1982, charging the defendant with battery. As the following chronology demonstrates, this complaint triggered a chain of events which evidences the inappropriateness of injecting the judicial process into common childhood squabbles.
On March 30, 1982, the complaint was referred to an intake counselor at the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. Pursuant to
On April 6, 1982, defendant signed a “Waiver of Rights” form authorizing his
On April 21, defendant appeared before the juvenile judge and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges made in the Petition for Delinquency. An adjudicatory hearing was held on April 29 in the Alachua County Courthouse to determine whether defendant had committed the offense of battery and should be adjudicated a delinquent. Witnesses at the hearing consisted of the defendant, the victim, a neighbor who witnessed the incident, and a 14 year old boy who was with the defendant and the victim at the time of the incident.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge called the victim and the defendant up to the bench and said:
Judge (speaking to defendant): You‘re obviously guilty of the offense of battery. You, thirteen, fourteen year old eighthgrader, 125 pounds, picking on a thirdgrader... . I want a pre-dispositional report to find out what should happen to you in the case, but you owe him an apology.
Defendant: Sorry.
Victim: Accept.
Judge: Wanna shake hands?
Judge (speaking to victim): I gotta give you credit kid, you came back fighting. You‘re spunky.
Judge (speaking to defendant): Next time you want to get into a ravioli thing, get somebody [your own size].
On May 5, 1982, a predisposition report was prepared by the intake counselor at HRS who had originally reviewed defendant‘s case. His findings are summed up as follows:
The court is faced with a young man who has never been in trouble before. The court has determined that a battery does indeed exist. However, I can‘t help but reflect upon the circumstances of this alleged battery. The victim was not injured. There were no blows exchanged. The parents of the victim refused to discuss the incident with the alleged perpetrator and his parents. I had hoped initially that judicial involvement could be avoided in this case. However, since judicial disposition is at hand I would recommend, as I did initially, that [the defendant] be referred to the [community arbitration program] with withheld adjudication for arbitration purposes. I would hope that resolution of this matter would be quickly found.
Based upon this report, the judge entered an order on May 12 finding that the defendant committed the offense of battery, withholding adjudication of delinquency, and referring the defendant and the victim to the community arbitration program. The order also required the parents of both the defendant and the victim to attend the arbitration sessions.2 On June 11, defendant filed a notice of appeal to this Court.
The defendant raises basically two points on appeal. His first argument is that the criminal count of battery, as described in
The defendant‘s second point on appeal is that he acted in self-defense. There is competent and substantial evidence to show that the defendant was the aggressor; therefore, this point is without merit.
Although the trial judge correctly found that the defendant committed the offense of battery, he disposed of the case in a manner not authorized by law. As discussed earlier,
1. Dismiss the case upon a finding that the defendant has not committed a delinquent act;
2. Enter adjudication of delinquency; or
3. Withhold adjudication of delinquency and impose upon defendant community-based sanctions in a community control program.
In the present case, the trial judge found that the defendant committed the offense of battery, withheld adjudication of delinquency, and referred the defendant to a community arbitration program. This is not a statutorily authorized disposition of the case. In addition, it conflicts with the judgment and discretion of the State Attorney, who decided against arbitration, and it imposes upon the parties the burden of retrying the case.
Pursuant to
[P]rovide a system by which children who commit certain minor offenses may be dealt with in a speedy and informal manner at the community or neighborhood level, in an attempt to reduce the ever-increasing instances of juvenile crime and permit the judicial system to deal effectively with cases which are more serious in nature.
The entire arbitration procedure is designed as a substitute for the actual trial of a juvenile on a criminal charge, not as a means for disposing of an already-completed delinquency trial.
We are sympathetic with the trial judge‘s desire to dispose of this matter by arbitration. Arbitration, not a judicial trial, was
BOOTH and LARRY G. SMITH, JJ., concur.
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
ZEHMER, Judge.
On motion for rehearing, the state contends that our statement in footnote 3 to the opinion filed June 9, 1983, erroneously implies that we have jurisdiction to review the state‘s exercise of prosecutorial discretion. We intended no such intimation, one way or the other. The intent of our statement in that footnote was simply to point out that the propriety of the state attorney‘s exercise of such discretion in this case was not properly before us for review. The other matters raised in the motion for rehearing warrant no further discussion.
The motion for rehearing is DENIED.
BOOTH and LARRY G. SMITH, JJ., concur.