Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog

In Florida, the laws regarding weapons, violence and threats of violence at school have become much more strict over the last several years. Every now and then, there will be a news story of a child getting arrested or suspended for seemingly harmless conduct. In a recent criminal case south of Jacksonville, Florida, a child was arrested after the school principal found a pocket knife with a 3 3/4 inch blade in his pocket. Under Florida law, it is illegal for a student to possess a firearm or any other kind of weapon at school, on the school bus or at any school-sponsored event. A violation of this statute is a felony. The ramifications of a student getting a felony conviction, or adjudication, at a young age for such a violation are obvious.

The question, of course, is: what is considered a weapon? The criminal statute clearly indicates that box cutters and razor blades are not allowed unless otherwise permitted by the school. However, what about pocket knives, which are fairly common possessions of young kids? Florida law does define the term "weapon" by giving some examples of weapons and also says that any knife is a weapon except common pocket knives, blunt table knives and plastic knives. For some reason, in the case cited above, the principal, the police, the state attorney's office and even the judge all thought the child's possession of a 3 3/4 inch pocket knife was serious enough to convict the kid of a felony charge (a conviction is actually referred to as an adjudication when juveniles are involved). Fortunately, the appellate court read the statute and reversed the child's conviction by finding that the 3 3/4 inch pocket knife was a common pocket knife which is not considered a "weapon" under the Florida criminal statute, and the case was dismissed.

Of course, a school has a right to ban such items from school grounds, however possessing a common pocket knife cannot be the basis of a felony crime in Florida.

The 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids the government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. The Florida Constitution has a similar provision. This issue normally arises in death penalty cases. However, the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the issue of whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to life in prison for committing a crime that did not involve a murder.

Two of the cases being reviewed by the USSC are Florida cases- one involved a 13 year old who was convicted of the rape of an elderly woman, and the other involved a 17 year old who was convicted of armed robbery and other related charges. There are 77 prison inmates who have been sentenced to life in prison for crimes that did not involve a homicide. Florida seems to have more than most, if not all, other states. The judges on the Supreme Court can decide to keep the status quo and allow criminal courts in Florida to impose life sentences for juveniles who commit serious but non-homicide crimes, abolish the practice altogether or come up with some middle ground where the judges are required to weigh certain factors before imposing a life sentence in such cases.

The arrest of a child is often a traumatic and distressing experience, both for the youngster and his/her parents. Juvenile criminal activities refer to those perpetrated by anyone under the age of 18. If adjudicated delinquent, the defendant is inducted into a rehabilitation program drawn up by the Florida Department of Children and Families. If your child or someone you know has been taken into custody or accused of a crime by law enforcement officers, here’s what you need to know:

• While law enforcement officers have the right to take your child into custody, they must inform you or the child’s legal guardians.

• A child can be questioned without his/her parents or legal guardians present, but the court has the right to accept the resultant testimony based on whether the accused youngster was aware of his/her constitutional rights.

• Law enforcement officers are well within their rights to detain your child at a county jail for up to 6 hours for the purpose of fingerprinting and photographing if they have reason to believe that he/she has committed a crime. These records must be held separately and away from the public eye, and must be destroyed on orders from the court.

• Your child has the right to be represented by an attorney, just like any adult. The attorney must respect the wishes of your child over yours, in spite of the youngster being a minor. Any communication between your child and his/her attorney is confidential.

• If a juvenile court finds your child adjudicated delinquent with which he has been charged, there are certain circumstances that allow the conviction to be used later in an adult court if your child has been charged with and is tried for further criminal offenses.

• Court hearings of juvenile trials are not always held in camera.

• While juvenile records are kept private and access to them is limited to the child, his/her attorney and his/her parents or guardians, any information that is garnered from court hearings that are open to the public is allowed to be published in the press.

• While most juveniles are tried in juvenile courts, there are some circumstances under which the accused is tried as an adult in an adult criminal court depending on the seriousness of the crime.

• A juvenile accused of a crime cannot be placed in jail unless he/she has been tried and adjudicated delinquent in an adult criminal court or is being transferred to an adult court for the first time. He/she must be held separate from adult inmates, in cells that are not visible or audible to them, at all times.

• A juvenile accused of a crime is usually placed in detention after which the DCF must notify you. A hearing before a judge must be conducted within 24 hours of the detainment. If the court decides that detention must be continued, a trial must begin within the next 21 days.

This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject for the colleges for criminal justice. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24@gmail.com.

The population of juveniles in Jacksonville and throughout Florida continues to increase, however, fortunately, the crime rate among those juveniles in Jacksonville and other areas of Florida are not necessarily matching the population increase. For instance, according to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the juvenile crime rate in Florida has decreased from 87 delinquency referrals per 100 juveniles during fiscal year 2002 - 2003 to 77 delinquency referrals per 100 juveniles in fiscal year 2006 - 2007. Placement of juveniles in residential delinquent treatment facilities decreased from 9035 to 7187 during that same time period.

As far as the crimes committed the most by juveniles in Florida, assault and battery are the number one misdemeanor crimes and burglary is the number one felony crime.

However, the news on crimes committed by juveniles in Florida is not all positive. Serious crimes committed by juveniles has increased approximately 4% between the fiscal year of 2004 - 2005 to the fiscal year of 2006 - 2007. These crimes include murder and manslaughter, armed robbery, burglary, auto theft, aggravated assault and aggravated battery, sex offenses and drug offenses involving marijuana, crack, cocaine and other illegal drugs as well as unauthorized prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Xanax, Percocet and others.

In Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, the number of juveniles who have been charged with violent felony crimes has decreased slightly since fiscal year 2002/2003.