Case Name: The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Atrice COLEMAN, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2001-12-05
Citations: 802 So. 2d 422
Docket Number: No. 3D00-3597
Parties: The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Atrice COLEMAN, Appellee.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., GREEN and SHEVIN, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 802
Pages: 422–423

Head Matter:
The STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Atrice COLEMAN, Appellee.
No. 3D00-3597.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Dec. 5, 2001.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Richard L. Polin, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and J.C. Elso and Andrew M. Teschner, Special Assistant Public Defenders, for appellant.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., GREEN and SHEVIN, JJ.

Opinion:
SHEVIN, Judge.
The State of Florida appeals an order dismissing count one of the information against Atrice Coleman, charging Coleman with possession of a firearm or weapon on school property pursuant to section 790.115(2)(b), (c), Florida Statutes (2000). We reverse.
Section 790.115(2)(b) prohibits the possession of a knife on school property, and subsection (c) provides that such possession is a third degree felony. Coleman moved to dismiss the possession of a weapon count, arguing that the arrest affidavit reflected that the weapon, a three and one-half inch blade pocketknife, was not a "knife" as contemplated by the statute. We disagree. As other courts have found, section 790.115, as amended by the legislature in October 1997, includes a "common pocketknife," such as the one involved in this case, among the weapons prohibited on school grounds. State v. A.M., 765 So.2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000); A.B. v. State, 757 So.2d 1241 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); see C.A.J. v. State, 732 So.2d 1228 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (Dauksch, J., concurring). Hence, dismissal was error.
On remand, the court shall afford Coleman the option to withdraw his plea to the remaining misdemeanor counts.
Reversed and remanded for reinstatement of count one.