Toneille Blair Gomez v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledJune 11, 2021
Docket2D19-4239
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
TONEILLE BLAIR GOMEZ,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D19-4239
June 11, 2021
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Nick
Nazaretian, Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Megan Olson, Assistant
Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Lindsay D.
Turner, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
NORTHCUTT, Judge.
At the State's behest, the circuit court revoked Toneille
Gomez's community control for her failure to attend a Narcotics
Anonymous (NA) meeting. But the terms of Gomez's community
control did not require her attendance at the meeting. We therefore
reverse the order revoking community control.
The violation at issue concerned condition (16) of the
community control portion of the order placing Gomez on
community control and drug offender probation. This condition
stated: "You will remain confined to your approved residence except
for one half hour before and after your approved employment,
public service work, or any other special activities approved by your
officer." The State alleged that Gomez violated this condition by
being away from her approved NA meeting on March 20, 2019, and
the court found that Gomez's failure to attend the meeting was a
willful violation of the condition.
Gomez now argues for the first time on appeal that, in fact,
this condition did not require her to attend NA meetings. She is
correct. Condition (16) directed Gomez to "remain confined to [her]
approved residence" unless she was attending work, community
service, or some other activity approved by her officer. Nowhere in
this condition was there any language declaring that Gomez must
attend these activities. Rather, the condition provided that these
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activities were the only places other than her home that she was
allowed to be. In other words, it was a list of permitted activities
rather than a list of mandated activities. See Bell v. State, 313 So.
3d 841, 843 (Fla. 2d DCA 2021) (holding that condition (16)
authorizes but does not require an offender to attend an approved
activity).
Thus, notwithstanding Gomez's failure to preserve this
argument below, it was fundamental error to revoke Gomez's
community control for missing a meeting that her community
control conditions did not require her to attend. See Odom v. State,
15 So. 3d 672, 678 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009) (holding that it is
fundamental error to revoke probation based on the failure to
perform an act that the conditions of probation do not require). We
therefore reverse the revocation order and remand for the circuit
court to reinstate Gomez's community control.
Reversed and remanded.
BLACK and SMITH, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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