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991 So. 2d 1004

Docket No. 1D08-3351.

Thorp v. State

Susan Kay THORP, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Decided October 2, 2008.

District Court of Appeal of Florida · decided 2008-10-02

Relies on 724 So. 2d 1241 - Lyon v. State

Decided 2008-10-02

¶1Nancy Daniels, Public Defender, and David P. Gauldin, Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

¶2Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Jason Lee White, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

¶3PER CURIAM.

¶4The appellant challenges an order of involuntary commitment entered pursuant to section 394.467, Florida Statutes (2007). Because the record is devoid of competent substantial evidence that the appellant is incapable of surviving alone or with the help of family and friends, we reverse.

¶5Under section 394.467(1), the state must demonstrate, among other things, either that the patient is incapable of surviving alone or with the help of family, friends or available services or that the appellant will inflict serious bodily harm to herself or another person. See § 394.467(1)(a)2, Fla. Stat. (2007). Although the testifying psychiatrist *1005 generally stated that the appellant was incapable of surviving alone, this testimony does not specify the nature of self-neglect in a way that establishes any real and present threat of substantial harm to the appellant's well-being. See Lyon v. State, 724 So.2d 1241, 1242-43 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). Therefore, the evidence is insufficient to support involuntary commitment.

¶6We accordingly reverse the order for involuntary placement.

¶7REVERSED.

¶8BARFIELD, ALLEN, and THOMAS, JJ., concur.

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