Opinion
No. 95-2195.
August 7, 1995.
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Donald Tunnage, Asst. Public Defender, for petitioner.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Mark Rosenblatt, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and NESBITT and COPE, JJ.
By writ of habeas corpus, P.M., a juvenile, seeks release from detention at the Dade Juvenile Detention Center. Pursuant to a hearing on the state's detention petition, the trial court found that petitioner met the criteria enumerated in section 39.044(2)(f)(2), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1994). That section requires a finding that the juvenile "`[h]as a record of law violation prior to court hearings.'" As the First District observed in D.B. v. State, 544 So.2d 1108 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989), this provision requires a finding that the law violations were committed "between the time of an arrest or initial detention and a final hearing on the charges." Id. at 1109. Here, there were no such violations, however, the trial court was under the mistaken belief that a violation of a the law at any time in the past would justify continued detention. As the court noted in D.B., such a construction effectively removes the phrase "prior to court hearings" from a fair reading of the statute. The state agrees. Because the trial judge ordered petitioner detained on an erroneous basis, we grant the petition and order the petitioner discharged forthwith.