# R.M. v. State

> District Court of Appeal of Florida · May 22, 1984 · 450 So. 2d 897

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7534228

## Case

- **Full name:** R.M., a juvenile v. The STATE of Florida
- **Court:** District Court of Appeal of Florida
- **Decided:** May 22, 1984
- **Citations:** 450 So. 2d 897; 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 13398
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court by Baskin
- **Judges:** Baskin, Jorgenson, Pearson
- **Cited by:** 19 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7534228

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- reversing juvenile's conviction for grand theft of vehicle where juvenile's unrefuted, exculpatory, and not unreasonable explanation that he borrowed it from his stepfather rendered the State's case insufficient as a matter of law

## Opinion text

BASKIN, Judge.
We reverse the order adjudicating R.M. delinquent based upon our finding that the conviction for grand theft was not supported by the evidence. The state failed to demonstrate that R.M. had either the requisite intent to steal the automobile or knowledge that the vehicle he was driving was stolen. State v. Lewis, 364 So.2d 1223 (Fla.1978); State v. Allen, 362 So.2d 10 (Fla.1978); R.M. v. State, 412 So.2d 44 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). R.M.’s “unrefuted, exculpatory and not unreasonable explanation of his possession” of the stolen automobile— that he borrowed it from his stepfather— “rendered the state’s case ... insufficient as a matter of law to establish guilt.” R.A.L. v. State, 402 So.2d 1337 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981). See Fisk v. State, 138 Fla. 815 , 190 So. 10 (1939); R.M. v. State; A.R. v. State, 393 So.2d 1174 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981).
Reversed.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7534228. Public record. Not legal advice.