Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2019

J.R., A CHILD v. STATE OF FLORIDA

J.R., A CHILD v. STATE OF FLORIDA
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided August 28, 2019

J.R., A CHILD v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Opinion

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FOURTH DISTRICT J.R., a child, Petitioner, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Respondent.

No. 4D19-1538 [August 28, 2019] Petition for writ of prohibition to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Stacy Ross, Judge; L.T. Case No. 15-2015DL10A.

Howard Finkelstein, Public Defender, and Lisa S. Lawlor, Assistant Public Defender, Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Georgina Jimenez- Orosa, Senior Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We grant the petition for writ of prohibition because the circuit court lost jurisdiction over the petitioner, who turned 20 years old on May 13, 2019. Petitioner was sentenced without the comprehensive evaluation required by section 985.185(1), Florida Statutes (2018). Once his sentence was reversed, he was no longer “committed to the department” within the meaning of section 985.0301(5). Therefore, the circuit court was bound by section 985.0301(5)(a), which states that the court retains jurisdiction “until the child reaches 19 years of age.” To rule otherwise, would be to add words to the plain language of the statute.

LEVINE, C.J., WARNER and GROSS, JJ., concur.

* * * Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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