J.A.S. v. State

Full title: J.A.S., a child, Appellant, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District

Date published: Dec 22, 1999

746 So. 2d 1225 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1999)

Opinion

No. 99-1297.

Opinion filed December 22, 1999.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Martin County; Robert R. Makemson, Judge; L.T. No. 99-4-CJA.

Richard L. Jorandby, Public Defender, and Cherry Grant, Assistant Public Defender, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Daniel P. Hyndman, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

J.A.S., a sixteen year old, was arrested for battery and taken to a detention center where the public defender was appointed to represent her. At her arraignment she signed a form indicating an intention to waive her right to counsel, which the court allowed her to do, and she then pled guilty.

The problem is that the court did not follow Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.165(a), which requires the court to advise appellant of her right to counsel, making "a thorough inquiry into the child's comprehension of that offer and the capacity to make that choice intelligently andunderstandingly." Failure to comply constitutes fundamental error. J.O. v. State, 717 So.2d 185 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998); accord M.A.F. v. State, No. 98-2992 (Fla. 2d DCA Oct. 22, 1999). We therefore reverse.

POLEN, KLEIN and STEVENSON, JJ., concur.