State of Florida v. Lashawn Triplett

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: June 12, 2026
• Docket: 6D2024-1574
• Status: Published

Opinion

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 6D2024-1574 Lower Tribunal No. 2022-CF-003086 _____________________________

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellant,

v.

LASHAWN TRIPLETT,

Appellee. _____________________________

Appeals from the Circuit Court for Orange County. Kevin B. Weiss, Judge.

June 12, 2026

PER CURIAM.

The State of Florida challenges the order granting in part the motion to dismiss

filed by Lashawn Triplett 1 whereby the trial court dismissed the charges of accessory

after the fact to a capital felony and false report to law enforcement authorities

1 The State filed a separate appeal of a substantially similar order regarding the case against Triplett’s co-defendant, Johnny Wesley. See State v. Wesley, No. 6D2024-1651 (Fla. 6th DCA June 12, 2026). This Court granted the State’s motion to have these two cases travel together because Wesley and Triplett are co- defendants, the orders on appeal are substantially similar, and the arguments presented in each case are identical. concerning a capital felony.2 The underlying facts and issues raised by the State in

this appeal are identical to those raised in the case against the co-defendant, Johnny

Wesley, in State v. Wesley, No. 6D2024-1651 (Fla. 6th DCA June 12, 2026).

Adopting the reasoning expressed in our opinion in State v. Wesley, we likewise

affirm in part the final order of dismissal as to the charge of accessory after the fact

to a capital felony, reverse the final order of dismissal in part as to the charge of false

report to law enforcement authorities concerning a capital felony, and remand to the

trial court with directions to reinstate that count in the amended information.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED for further

proceedings.

TRAVER, C.J., and STARGEL and NARDELLA, JJ., concur.

James Uthmeier, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kristen L. Davenport, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.

Blair Allen, Public Defender, and Tosha Cohen, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellee.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

The trial court declined to dismiss a third charge for tampering with physical 2

evidence that Appellees did not challenge and is not a subject of these appeals.