J.O.S. v. State, 689 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 1997)

Cases | J.O.S. v. State, 689 So. 2d 1061 (Fla. 1997) | 2018

The juvenile defendant was charged with what would have been second-degree misdemeanor criminal mischief if he had been an adult. At the restitution hearing, the State offered no evidence as to the dollar value of the damage caused by the defendant, but the court ordered restitution of $1092, an amount that exceeded the maximum dollar value that would have supported a second-degree criminal mischief conviction. The district court of appeals affirmed the order, but certified the issue to the supreme court, asking: “Whether, in the absence of any plea agreement, restitution may be ordered in an amount greater than the maximum dollar value defining the offense for which a defendant is adjudicated guilty.” The defendant argued “that since the amount of damage is what distinguishes the degrees of misdemeanor criminal mischief, restitution may not be ordered in an amount greater than the maximum dollar value defining the offense he would have committed had he been an adult, second-degree misdemeanor criminal mischief.” The supreme court held “that restitution may be ordered in an amount greater than the maximum dollar value defining the offense for which a defendant is adjudicated guilty” under both the juvenile restitution law and the adult restitution law if the damage suffered by the victim beyond that required for the crime bears a significant relationship to the crime.

[NOTE: Fla. Stat. § referred to in this case summary is no longer in effect.]