State Department of Juvenile Justice v. S.M.

131 So. 3d 780, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 887, 2013 WL 6500879, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 2686
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedDecember 12, 2013
DocketNo. SC12-1405
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 131 So. 3d 780 (State Department of Juvenile Justice v. S.M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Department of Juvenile Justice v. S.M., 131 So. 3d 780, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 887, 2013 WL 6500879, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 2686 (Fla. 2013).

Opinion

CANADY, J.

In this case, we consider the provisions of Florida law governing the detention of juveniles prior to adjudicatory hearings. Specifically, we address whether a district court of appeal may grant a juvenile’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus seeking release from pre-adjudicatory hearing detention without reviewing the juvenile’s risk assessment instrument (RAI) and whether a juvenile with a risk assessment score of zero may be placed in home detention when it is alleged that the juvenile has violated probation.

We have for review the decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in S.M. v. State, 91 So.3d 175 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012), which granted S.M.’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Despite not being provided with a copy of S.M.’s RAI, the Fourth District reasoned that “[bjecause S.M.’s RAI score was zero, the [trial] court erred in placing her in home detention.” Id. at 176. The Fourth District’s decision expressly and directly conflicts with R.J.L. v. State, 22 So.3d 130 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009), B.L.G. v. State, 928 So.2d 461 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), and T.D.S. v. State, 922 So.2d 346 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), in which the Fifth District Court of Appeal concluded that a juvenile may be placed in home detention with a risk assessment score of zero. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.

[782]*782Because the RAI is necessary to establish entitlement to relief, we conclude that a district court may not grant a juvenile’s pre-adjudicatory petition for a writ of ha-beas corpus when the court is not presented with the juvenile’s RAI. We further conclude that a juvenile may be placed in home detention with a risk assessment score of zero when the juvenile qualifies for home detention under the specific terms of the form RAI, as did S.M. due to her status as an alleged probation violator. Accordingly, we quash the decision of the Fourth District.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 11, 2012, S.M. was arrested at school after allegedly punching another minor female. S.M. was on probation at the time of her arrest. S.M. was initially charged with aggravated battery on a victim who S.M. knew or should have known was pregnant under section 784.045(l)(b), Florida Statutes (2011).

On May 14, 2012, the trial court held a detention hearing at which S.M. challenged whether the State had probable cause to charge S.M. with aggravated battery on a victim who S.M. knew or should have known was pregnant. The trial court gave the State twenty-four hours to establish probable cause for the aggravated battery charge. On May 15, 2012, the trial court resumed the detention hearing. During the May 15 portion of the hearing, S.M. and the State disputed S.M.’s score on section III of the RAI. Eventually, they stipulated that S.M.’s risk assessment score should be zero. However, they disagreed about whether S.M. could be placed in home detention — instead of being released — with a score of zero. The trial court placed S.M. in home detention with electronic monitoring.

On May 17, 2012, S.M. filed with the Fourth District a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, in which she challenged the trial court’s home detention order. S.M. argued that because her risk assessment score was zero, the trial court could not place her in home detention. S.M., 91 So.3d at 175. S.M. did not submit a copy of her RAI with her habeas petition. Instead, the appendices to S.M.’s habeas petition included a copy of the trial court’s detention order, the trial court’s provisional order appointing the public defender, and transcripts from S.M.’s detention hearings on May 14 and 15, 2012. The State argued that the petitioner was required to submit the RAI in order for the district court to properly consider the petition. The Fourth District disagreed. A copy of S.M.’s RAI subsequently became a part of the record before the Fourth District when the State attached the RAI to its motion for rehearing.

The Fourth District relied on section 985.255(3)(a), Florida Statutes (2011), for the proposition that except for situations involving subsection (l)(d) — relating to domestic violence — or (l)(e) — relating to possessing or discharging a firearm on school property — of the statute, the determination of whether or not continued detention of a juvenile is necessary is based on the juvenile’s RAI score. S.M., 91 So.3d at 175-76. It explained that section 985.255(l)(h), Florida Statutes (2011), which addresses juveniles who are charged with violating probation, does not require that the trial court impose home detention. S.M., 91 So.3d at 176. As a result, the Fourth District concluded that “[bjecause S.M.’s RAI score was zero, the court erred in placing her in home detention.” Id.

The State and the Department of Juvenile Justice (hereinafter referred to collectively as “the State”) petitioned this Court for review, alleging express and direct conflict with R.J.L., B.L.G., and T.D.S. In R.J.L., B.L.G., and T.D.S., the trial judge [783]*783placed the juvenile in secure detention for violating probation even though the juvenile’s risk assessment score was zero. R.J.L., 22 So.3d at 131; B.L.G., 928 So.2d at 461; T.D.S., 922 So.2d at 347. In each case, the Fifth District held that the juvenile must be released from secure detention and instead placed in home detention. R.J.L., 22 So.3d at 131; B.L.G., 928 So.2d at 461; T.D.S., 922 So.2d at 347. This Court granted review.

On January 9, 2013, the Second District issued J.L.T. v. Department of Juvenile Justice, 104 So.3d 1257 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013), in which it certified conflict with the Fourth District’s decision in the instant case and the First District’s decision in T.K.B. v. Durham, 63 So.3d 60 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011), on the issue of whether a juvenile may be placed in home detention with a risk assessment score of zero. In J.L.T., six juveniles were place in home detention for violating the terms of their probation or conditional release (three violated probation and three violated conditional release) even though they had risk assessment scores of zero. J.L.T., 104 So.3d at 1258-59. In that case, the Second District concluded:

Because the juveniles here were alleged to have violated the conditions of their probation or conditional release supervision, the probation officers properly concluded that home detention was appropriate under subsection II.J of the RAI in spite of a risk assessment score of zero points. At the detention hearings, the juvenile court judge properly continued their detentions under section 985.255(l)(h), which provides for continuing the child’s placement in home detention care if the child is alleged to have violated probation or conditional release. Because it was within the court’s discretion to determine that continued home detention was necessary in these circumstances, habeas relief was not warranted and we denied the petition.

Id. at 1259. The Second District explained that the Fourth District’s analysis in S.M. was “incomplete” because

the RAI also allows for certain exceptions under which the juvenile may be detained regardless of the total risk assessment score, which is only one aspect of the instrument. Thus, section 985.255(1) presupposes the existence of a qualifying risk assessment instrument, not just a qualifying score, before a court may continue detention.

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Bluebook (online)
131 So. 3d 780, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 887, 2013 WL 6500879, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 2686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-department-of-juvenile-justice-v-sm-fla-2013.