T. A. K. v. STATE OF FLORIDA

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING
MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED
IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
T.A.K., )
)
Appellant, )
)
v. ) Case No. 2D17-3378
)
STATE OF FLORIDA, )
)
Appellee. )
___________________________________)
Opinion filed November 9, 2018.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for
Hillsborough County; Barbara Twine-
Thomas, Judge.
Howard L. Dimmig, II, Public Defender,
and Alisa Smith, Assistant Public
Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General,
Tallahassee, and Susan M. Shanahan,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa,
for Appellee.
SILBERMAN, Judge.
T.A.K. appeals a disposition order withholding adjudication of delinquency
for the offense of trespass in an unoccupied conveyance and placing him on juvenile
probation. Because the State failed to prove that T.A.K. knew or should have known
that the car the police found him in was stolen, we reverse the disposition order and
remand for an order of dismissal.
The State presented the following evidence. The owner of the stolen
vehicle woke up to find her car missing. The victim did not give T.A.K. or anyone else
permission to be in her car.
The car was tracked to an apartment building by use of the car's OnStar
system and was found backed into a parking space. When Officer Stanek initially
approached the car, she saw one male who was reclining in the driver's seat, but she
could not identify the person. She used the victim's extra key to lock the car doors
before approaching the car. No one entered or left the car while she and Officer Damon
were observing it. While she did see movement in the vehicle, when the officers made
contact no one was in the driver's seat.
Officer Stanek approached the passenger side, found L.R. in the front
passenger seat, and ordered him out of the car at gunpoint. Officer Damon opened the
driver's door and saw T.A.K. lying on the floor "squished" down "[i]n between the two
back seats." When Officer Damon opened the door, T.A.K. was awake and was looking
at the officer. He was cooperative. The keys were found in the center console next to
L.R., and the car had no damage that would indicate it had been stolen.
T.A.K. moved for a judgment of dismissal at the end of the State's case
and argued that the State had failed to prove that he knew or should have known the
car was stolen. The trial court stated that the officers saw "movement within the vehicle
but no one exited" and that "the position that [T.A.K.] was found to be laying in awake is
not one the court customarily finds people position themselves in the vehicle when
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using it in an appropriate way." The trial court further found "that the positioning in the
car, laying in the car, parked in an area, all of these things are unconventional, unusual
ways of using the vehicle if in fact using it a lawful way." The court denied the motion.
Our review of the denial of a motion for judgment of dismissal is de novo,
and we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. A.L.H. v. State,
205 So. 3d 782, 783 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016). A judgment of dismissal is proper if the State
fails to present sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case. Fla. R. Juv. P.
8.110(k); E.A.B. v. State, 851 So. 2d 308, 310 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003). Sufficient evidence
to support an adjudication exists when "a rational trier of fact could find that the
elements of the crime have been established beyond a reasonable doubt." K.W. v.
State, 983 So. 2d 713, 715 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (quoting E.A.B., 851 So. 2d at 310). In
reviewing the denial of a motion for judgment of dismissal at the end of the State's case,
we recognize that a juvenile's testimony given later during the defense case is not
before the trial court "and cannot satisfy the State's burden of proof." E.A.B., 851 So.
2d at 310 (citing Fla. R. Juv. P. 8.110(k)).
The delinquent act of trespass of a conveyance requires that the trespass
be willful. See § 810.08(1), Fla. Stat. (2016); A.L.H., 205 So. 3d at 783. When the
conveyance is a stolen vehicle, for the trespass to be willful the State must prove that a
passenger in the vehicle knew or should have known that the vehicle was stolen.
A.L.H., 205 So. 3d at 783; A.H. v. State, 151 So. 3d 48, 50 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).
Evidence that a person who was in a stolen vehicle fled from law enforcement is, by
itself, insufficient to prove the knowledge element. E.A.B., 851 So. 2d at 310; A.H., 151
So. 3d at 50; D.L. v. State, 138 So. 3d 499, 501 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014).
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Here, the keys to the car were found in the center console next to L.R.,
and the car had no damage indicating that it had been stolen. Taken in the light most
favorable to the State, a reasonable interpretation of T.A.K.'s position in the car when he
was found is that he was hiding. For the purpose of analyzing whether an individual has
knowledge of whether a vehicle is stolen, we cannot make a meaningful distinction
between fleeing from a stolen vehicle and hiding in the back seat of a stolen vehicle.
Had T.A.K. left the back seat and fled upon the officers' approach, that evidence would
be insufficient to prove that he knew or should have known that the car was stolen. Of
course, just as there are many reasons why a juvenile might flee from law enforcement,
those reasons would apply to hiding as well. If fleeing is insufficient to establish the
knowledge element, then so too is hiding.
Because the State failed to present sufficient evidence that T.A.K. knew or
should have known the car was stolen, the trial court should have granted the motion for
judgment of dismissal. See Fla. R. Juv. P. 8.110(k). Therefore, we reverse the
disposition order withholding adjudication and placing T.A.K. on juvenile probation and
remand for an order granting his motion for judgment of dismissal.
Reversed and remanded.
KELLY and ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, JJ., Concur.
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