Paul v. Jenne

728 So. 2d 1167, 1999 WL 104585
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 3, 1999
Docket99-295
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 728 So. 2d 1167 (Paul v. Jenne) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Paul v. Jenne, 728 So. 2d 1167, 1999 WL 104585 (Fla. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

728 So.2d 1167 (1999)

Jean David PAUL, Petitioner,
v.
Ken JENNE, as Sheriff of Broward County, Florida, and State of Florida, Respondents.

No. 99-295.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

March 3, 1999.

Alan H. Schreiber, Public Defender, and Diane M. Cuddihy, Chief Assistant Public Defender, Ft. Lauderdale, for petitioner.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Leslie T. Campbell, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for respondents.

TAYLOR, J.

Petitioner Jean David Paul's bond on pending charges of attempted second degree murder was revoked following his arrest for various firearm and drug offenses. He filed this petition for writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the court erred in refusing to set a new bond. For the reasons stated below, we agree and grant the writ.

On June 11, 1998, the state filed an information charging petitioner with attempted second degree murder for the May 22, 1998 shooting of Ricardo Guerrier. Petitioner was released on a $25,000 bond. Approximately six months later, petitioner, while out on bond, was arrested for carrying two concealed firearms, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia. The state moved to revoke the petitioner's bond on the original charge and detain him without bond pending trial.

At the hearing on the state's motion to revoke bond, the arresting officer testified that he observed petitioner and four companions smoking marijuana behind a Pembroke Pines movie theater. The group left the area and entered a vehicle. When officers approached the vehicle, petitioner was seated in the driver's seat. As petitioner stepped from the vehicle, several plastic baggies containing marijuana dropped to the ground. A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed a .38 caliber handgun, with the serial number removed, under the driver's seat and a loaded 9 mm handgun in a bookbag behind the front passenger seat. Petitioner admitted to the arresting officer that the guns belonged to him. He explained that he was previously involved in a shooting incident and that he was carrying guns for protection in case the victim of the shooting decided to retaliate. Additionally, petitioner admitted that he was smoking marijuana just before his arrest.

Petitioner testified at the bond revocation hearing. He acknowledged telling the police that the firearms belonged to him, but testified that he did so to protect the true owners, his brother and a friend. He also denied *1168 telling the police that he purchased the firearms for protection from the victim of an earlier shooting. He said he only told the police that he was on bond for another offense and did not want to be re-arrested. The trial judge commented upon the petitioner's low credibility after noting several contradictions in his testimony at the hearing.

Petitioner's father testified that petitioner is an obedient and respectful son, but acknowledged that petitioner gets "wild" when he is out with certain friends. He requested the court to set new bond conditions and expressed confidence in his ability to supervise petitioner if house arrest were ordered.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the state urged the court to revoke petitioner's bond because petitioner was charged with a "dangerous crime" and committed additional serious criminal offenses while out on bond. These circumstances, the state argued, demonstrated that the petitioner posed a threat of harm to the community and that he should be detained without bond. After first finding that petitioner violated pretrial release conditions by not refraining from criminal activity, the court next considered petitioner's application to be admitted to bail pursuant to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.131(h) and (b). Then, following procedures established by decisional law in this district,[1] the court evaluated the state's proof of the need for pretrial detention under section 907.041(4)(b), Florida Statutes. The court revoked petitioner's bond and remanded him into custody without bond upon concluding that petitioner posed a threat of harm to the community in that: (1) he was presently charged with a dangerous crime; (2) there was a substantial probability that he committed the crime; (3) the factual circumstances of the crime indicated a disregard for the safety of the community; and (4) there were no conditions of release reasonably sufficient to protect the community from the risk of physical harm to persons. Additionally, the court found that petitioner had been convicted of a dangerous crime, i.e., burglary of a dwelling, within ten years of his arrest on the current charge.

In Merdian v. Cochran, 654 So.2d 573 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995), we recognized that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.131(g)(1) authorizes a trial court to direct the arrest and commitment of a defendant at large on bail when, as occurred here, the defendant breaches a condition of the bond. We decided in Merdian, however, that if recommitment is ordered, the court must reconsider bail and conditions of release pursuant to Rule 3.131(h) and (b).[2] We went a step further in Metzger v. Cochran, 694 So.2d 842, 843 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997), to clarify that a refusal "to impose any conditions of release thereafter constitutes pretrial detention, the need for which the State must prove, § 907.041(4)(f), beyond a reasonable doubt."

Under section 907.041(4)(b) of the statute, the court may order pretrial detention if it finds that any of four enumerated conditions is met. In this case, both parties concede that only the condition in section 907.041(4)(b)4.b. applies. This subsection allows pretrial detention if the court finds that a person accused of committing a dangerous crime[3] "poses the threat of harm to the community" and has a prior conviction "of a dangerous crime within the 10 years immediately preceding the date of his arrest for the crime presently charged."

*1169 Petitioner contends that the state fell short in meeting its burden of proof for pretrial detention under Florida Statute 907.04. He argues that the trial court erred in finding that the petitioner's prior juvenile delinquency adjudication for burglary of a dwelling constitutes a prior conviction for a dangerous crime. Relying on Moody v. Campbell, 713 So.2d 1032 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998), he points out that a juvenile disposition is not included in the definition of a prior "conviction" for purposes of section 907.041(4)(b)4.b.

In Moody, the First District Court of Appeal stated:

Although this appears to be a question of first impression, the courts have found in analogous situations that a juvenile delinquency adjudication is not a "conviction." For example, in J.B.M. v. State,[ 560 So.2d 347 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)] the court held that a juvenile who committed a delinquent act that would be a felony if committed by an adult did not, when subsequently found to be in possession of a firearm, violate section 790.23(1), Florida Statutes. In general, juvenile delinquency proceedings are neither wholly criminal nor civil in nature. State v. Boatman, 329 So.2d 309, 312 (Fla.1976). For that reason some of the procedural safeguards of adult proceedings, such as the right to a trial by jury, are not applicable in juvenile proceedings. Id. By contrast, the legislature has, in other contexts, spoken to the effect of prior juvenile convictions. See, e.g., §§ 921.0011(5), Fla. Stat. (1997)(sentencing guidelines); 90.610(1)(b)(evidence).

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Bluebook (online)
728 So. 2d 1167, 1999 WL 104585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/paul-v-jenne-fladistctapp-1999.