NOT
FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF
FILED, DETERMINED
Appeal
from the Circuit Court for Manatee County; Lon Arend, Judge.
Howard
L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender, and Timothy J. Ferreri,
Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Ashley
Moody, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Cerese Crawford
Taylor, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for
Appellee.
Atkinson, Judge.
L.C.
appeals the trial court's disposition order adjudicating
him delinquent and placing him on probation for committing
the delinquent act of making a false report concerning the
use of a firearm in a violent manner. See §
790.163(1), Fla. Stat. (2018). He argues that the trial court
erred in denying his motion for judgment of dismissal because
his conduct did not amount to a violation of the statute.
Because he did not make a false report, we reverse.
On
February 21, 2018, L.C. and three other students sat at a
table at their middle school discussing a gun threat that had
occurred at another middle school and caused ninety percent
of the students to be absent. They also discussed how the
students who did attend school that day had to get their bags
checked. L.C. said that he gets his bag checked almost every
morning because he brings lighters and knives to school.
After one of the students asked L.C. why, he responded that
he hates the school, does not like his teachers, and
"wanted to kill them and shoot the school." He then
pointed out four students sitting at a table nearby that he
wanted to kill. While L.C. "said that he was going to
kill somebody," he did not say "he was going to
kill somebody right at that moment," "right then
and there."
Two of
the students reported the incident to the school
administration and filled out affidavits describing what L.C.
had said. After a deputy sheriff resource officer spoke with
the students who were present during the incident, he
interviewed L.C. after reading him his
Miranda[1] rights. L.C. admitted to pointing at other
students that he had said he would kill, but he said he was
only joking. L.C. denied saying that he hated his teachers.
He only said that he disliked them and did not say anything
about harming them. Because the officer was concerned about
L.C. having a weapon, he searched his backpack and found
nothing. He also searched L.C.'s home but did not find
any weapon that L.C. would have access to.
The
State filed a petition alleging that L.C. committed the
delinquent act of making a false report concerning the use of
firearms in a violent manner. Defense counsel filed a motion
for judgment of dismissal, arguing that the State failed to
prove that L.C. made a false report. The trial court denied
the motion, adjudicated L.C. delinquent, and placed him on
probation.
The
denial of a motion for judgment of dismissal in a delinquency
proceeding is reviewed de novo. B.M. v. State, 212
So.3d 526, 528 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (citing G.T.J. v.
State, 994 So.2d 1182, 1184 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)). There
is sufficient evidence to sustain an adjudication of
delinquency if, after viewing the evidence in a light most
favorable to the State, a rational trier of fact could find
the existence of the elements of the crime beyond a
reasonable doubt. C.E.L. v. State, 995 So.2d 558,
560 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008), aff'd, 24 So.3d 1181
(Fla. 2009). Questions of statutory interpretation are also
reviewed de novo. Mendenhall v. State, 48 So.3d 740,
747 (Fla. 2010).
Section
790.163(1) provides the following:
It is unlawful for any person to make a false report,
with intent to deceive, mislead, or otherwise misinform any
person, concerning the placing or planting of any bomb,
dynamite, or other deadly explosive, or weapon of mass
destruction . . . or concerning the use of firearms in a
violent manner against a person or persons.
(Emphasis added.) "Proof that a person accused of
violating this section knowingly made a false report is prima
facie evidence of the accused person's intent to deceive,
mislead, or otherwise misinform any person." §
790.163(3).
Courts
must afford statutory language "its plain and ordinary
meaning, giving due regard to the context within which it is
used." Hampton v. State, 103 So.3d 98, 110
(Fla. 2012). A reasonable reader would understand making a
report to mean providing information about something that is
occurring or has already occurred, not expressing a desire or
an intention to do something in the future. The American
Heritage Dictionary defines "report" as "[a]
spoken or written account of an event, usually presented in
detail" or "[c]ommon talk, rumor, or gossip."
American Heritage Dictionary 1490 (5th ed. 2011);
see also Green v. State, 604 So.2d 471, 473 (Fla.
1992) ("[T]he plain and ...