DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellant,
v.
J.Q., a Child,
Appellee.
No. 4D14-2565
[November 12, 2015]
Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit,
Broward County; Carlos S. Rebollo, Judge; L.T. Case No. 11-003806DLA.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and James J.
Carney, Sr. Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellant.
Carey Haughwout, Public Defender, and Ellen Griffin, Assistant
Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
CIKLIN, C.J.
The state appeals the trial court’s dismissal of a petition for
delinquency against J.Q., a minor. We agree with the state’s contention
that the trial court erred in sua sponte dismissing the petition prior to an
adjudicatory hearing and we reverse.
We recently addressed a similar dismissal in State v. D.A., 171 So. 3d
229 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015), where we explained:
On appeal, the State argues that the trial court erred in
dismissing the petition based on our holding in [State v.
W.D., 112 So. 3d 702 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013)]. In that case, we
held that section 985.0301(6) “is fairly viewed as authorizing
the court to elect to end its jurisdiction over a child at any
time following the initial adjudicatory hearing—not as
permitting the trial court to use its discretion to terminate
jurisdiction to put an end to the prosecution before the case
ever reaches adjudication on the merits.” Id. at 704
(emphasis added). Furthermore, a trial court is without
authority to sua sponte dismiss a criminal prosecution
“where, as here, no motion to dismiss has been filed.” State
v. C.W., No. 4D14–1320, 2015 WL 3761242, at *1 (Fla. 4th
DCA 2015). By sua sponte dismissing the delinquency
petition, the trial court improperly encroached upon the
State’s discretion to prosecute D.A. See id.
Id. at 230 (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted).
The trial court relied on State v. A.A., 110 So. 3d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA
2013), in dismissing the petition. A.A., however, is distinguishable.
There, the state argued that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to dismiss
a juvenile case where the juvenile had not been served.1 This court
affirmed, holding that jurisdiction attached when the child was detained
and taken into custody. Id. Here, the trial court’s jurisdiction was not in
question.
J.Q. properly and commendably concedes error. We therefore reverse
and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
MAY and FORST, JJ., concur.
* * *
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
1Service of a summons is required where a delinquency petition is filed upon a
child not in detention:
Upon the filing of a petition upon a child who is not detained by
order of the court, the clerk shall issue a summons. The
summons shall require the person on whom it is served to appear
for a hearing at a time and place specified. The time of the
hearing shall not be less than 24 hours after service of the
summons. The summons shall require the custodian to produce
the child at the said time and place. A copy of the delinquency
petition shall be attached to the summons.
Fla. R. Juv. P. 8.040(a)(1).
2