A.B., a Child v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledNovember 3, 2021
Docket1D21-0136
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D21-136
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A.B., A Child,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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On appeal from the Circuit Court for Baker County.
Gloria R. Walker, Judge.
November 3, 2021
PER CURIAM.
Appellant, a juvenile, appeals his commitment to non-secure
detention after the trial court rejected the Department of Juvenile
Justice’s recommendation of probation. We find no error in the
trial court rejecting the probation recommendation and
adjudicating Appellant delinquent. See C.H. v. State, 322 So. 3d
202, 204 (Fla. 1st DCA 2021) (“The trial court’s rejection of the
Department’s probation recommendation is not a determination of
restrictiveness level and requires no special reasoning pursuant to
E.A.R. [v. State, 4 So. 3d 614 (Fla. 2009)].”). We conclude, however,
that the trial court erred in ordering a commitment program for
Appellant without first requesting a multidisciplinary assessment
and follow-up predisposition report from the Department as to its
recommended commitment level. See K.L.L. v. State, 224 So. 3d
918, 918 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017) (holding that the trial court, which
rejected the Department’s recommendation of probation, erred in
committing the appellant without first requesting a commitment
level recommendation from the Department and affirming the
portion of the disposition order adjudicating the appellant
delinquent, but reversing the non-secure residential commitment
and remanding to the trial court for further proceedings); B.K.A. v.
State, 122 So. 3d 928, 930–31 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) (holding that
although the trial court, which rejected the Department’s
probation recommendation and committed the appellant, did not
violate the requirements set forth in E.A.R. given that the
Department did not recommend a restrictiveness level, it did err
in ordering a level of commitment without requesting a further
multidisciplinary assessment and follow-up predisposition report);
A.G. v. State, 123 So. 3d 700, 700–01 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) (same);
see also F.L.P. v. State, 292 So. 3d 791, 795 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)
(“[T]he trial court erred by not requesting that the DJJ submit an
additional [predisposition report] to determine the restrictiveness
level for Appellant’s commitment. . . . Here, the PDR did not
provide an alternate commitment recommendation, so the trial
court did not have the benefit of a multidisciplinary assessment
and DJJ recommendation to determine the appropriate level of
commitment for Appellant.”).
Accordingly, we affirm the disposition order as to the
adjudication of delinquency, but reverse the order as to the
commitment and remand for further proceedings consistent with
this opinion.
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED for
further proceedings.
LEWIS, ROBERTS, and RAY, JJ., concur.
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Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
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Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and Megan Lynne Long,
Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Heather Flanagan Ross,
Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
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