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.
OPINION
ATKINSON,
Judge.
L.C.
appeals the trial courts 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
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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), affd, 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 persons intent to deceive,
mislead, or otherwise ...