Florida Third District Court of Appeal – Criminal Headnotes – February 21, 2018

  • Feb 21 2018

I.L. V. STATE OF FLORIDA – JUVENILE; BURGLARY; DEFINITION OF “STRUCTURE”

Direct appeal by juvenile from an adjudication of delinquency for burglary and criminal mischief and sentence of probation.

The evidence produced at the adjudicatory hearing was that the defendant had entered a building under construction and caused damage of $200 or less. On appeal, the defendant argued this evidence was not sufficient to establish that he had entered a “structure” for purposes of section 810.02 of the Florida statutes.

That term is defined at section 810.011 to mean a temporary or permanent building “which has a roof over it.” The building in question did not.

The appeals court reversed the adjudication as to burglary and remanded with instructions to conduct a new disposition hearing on the adjudication as to criminal mischief.

Posted in: Criminal, Third DCA