D. L. J. v. State of Florida
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledAugust 18, 2021
Docket2D19-4526
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
D.L.J.,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D19-4526
August 18, 2021
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Alissa
McKee Ellison, Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Blair Allen, Assistant
Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Michael S.
Roscoe, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
NORTHCUTT, Judge.
D.L.J. appeals his adjudication of delinquency and the
imposition of certain costs and fees. We affirm the adjudication
without comment but see error in two of the three cost and fee
issues.
D.L.J. first asserts that the trial court erred by imposing the
statutory minimum $100 public defender fee without informing him
that he had the right to contest the amount of the fee. See
ยง 938.29(1)(a), (5), Fla. Stat. (2019); see also Newton v. State, 262
So. 3d 849, 850 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018) (holding that the trial court
must notify a defendant of the right to contest the fee even when
the court imposes the statutory minimum and the defendant can
gain nothing by challenging it). However, the Florida Supreme
Court recently held that "[w]hen imposing the statutory minimum,
the trial court need not announce the imposition of the public
defender's fee or inform the defendant of a right to contest the fee."
State v. J.A.R., 46 Fla. L. Weekly S157, S158 (Fla. June 3, 2021).
Therefore, D.L.J. is not entitled to relief on this issue.
D.L.J. also contests the imposition of a $100 cost of
prosecution, pointing out that the State did not specifically request
it at sentencing. See ยง 938.27(1), Fla. Stat. (2019) ("In all criminal
and violation-of-probation or community-control cases, convicted
persons are liable for payment of the costs of prosecution, including
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investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies, by fire
departments for arson investigations, and by investigations of the
Department of Financial Services or the Office of Financial
Regulation of the Financial Services Commission, if requested by
such agencies." (emphasis added)).
The State maintains that only the listed agencies, not the
State Attorney's Office (SAO), must make an express request, but
our court has held that the requirement applies to the SAO as well.
See Vandawalker v. State, 310 So. 3d 483 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020);
Davis v. State, 286 So. 3d 898, 899 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019); Mercado v.
State, 304 So. 3d 786 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). Thus, this cost was
imposed in error and must be stricken.
Last, D.L.J. complains that his $115 Crimes Compensation
Trust Fund (CCTF) fee exceeds the statutory maximum. The State
concedes error on this point, and we agree that the fee must be
reduced. See ยง 938.03(1), Fla. Stat. (2019) ("Any person . . . being
. . . adjudicated delinquent for[] any felony, misdemeanor,
delinquent act, or criminal traffic offense under the laws of this
state . . . shall pay as an additional cost in the case, in addition and
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prior to any other cost required to be imposed by law, the sum of
$50." (emphasis added)).
Accordingly, we affirm the adjudication of delinquency and the
imposition of the public defender fee but remand for the
prosecution cost to be stricken and for the CCTF fee to be reduced
to $50.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
VILLANTI and LABRIT, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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