Clines v. StateClines v. State
We review Clines v. State, 881 So.2d 721 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004), which certified conflict with Works v. State, 814 So.2d 1198 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), and Oberst v. State, 796 So.2d 1263 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). The issue on which they disagree is whether the recidivist sentencing statute allows a court to sentence a defendant as both a habitual felony offender and a violent career criminal. In the case we review, the First District held that it does, see Clines, 881 So.2d at 722, while the conflicting courts held it does not. Works, 814 So.2d at 1199; Oberst, 796 So.2d at 1265. We have jurisdiction to resolve the certified conflict, see
I. THE STATUTE
The defendant, Michael Ray Clines, was sentenced under Florida‘s recidivist sentencing statute. That statute,
Recidivists within these categories are subject to enhanced punishment, which generally increases with each category. The two habitual offender categories are permissive; such offenders “may” be sentenced more harshly than otherwise.
3rd-Degree 2nd-Degree 1st-Degree Felonies Felonies Felonies Life Felonies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Habitual Up to 10 years Up to 30 years Life Life Felony imprisonment imprisonment Offenders ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Habitual Up to 10 years; Up to 30 years; Life Life Violent not eligible for not eligible for imprisonment; imprisonment; Felony release for 5 release for 10 not еligible for not eligible for Offenders years years release for 15 release for 15 years years ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Three-Time Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Violent minimum of 5 minimum of 15 minimum of 30 minimum of life Offenders years years years imprisonment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Violent Up to 15 years, Up to 40 years, Life imprisonment; Life Career with a mandatory with a mandatory no imprisonment; Criminals minimum minimum discretionary no discretionary of 10 years of 30 years early release early release
See
Because of the substantial overlap among the four recidivist categories, a defendаnt may meet the criteria of more than one category. For instance, a violent career criminal (one who has been convicted three times as an adult of certain violent felonies, and committed another such offense within the specified time frame) will always be a habitual felony offender (because he will have two prior felony convictions and will have committed his current felony within the same time frame). Compare
II. PROCEEDINGS BELOW
Clines was charged with resisting arrest with violence, grand theft, and two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer. The State filed notices of its intent to seek both habitual felony offender sentencing and violent career criminal sentencing under section 775.084. Clines later pled nolo contendere to the resisting arrest and grand theft charges, while the State dropped the two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer. The punishment was left for the trial court to determine.
At the sentencing hearing, the State introduced evidence showing that Clines qualified as a habitual felony offender and a violent career criminal. The trial cоurt applied both designations. As to the resisting arrest charge, having designated Clines a habitual felony offender, the court sentenced him to ten years in prison; and having designated him a violent career criminal, the court imposed a ten-year mandatory minimum term.2 Clines later filed a motion to correct a sentencing error under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.800(b)(2), arguing that he could not be designated as both a habitual felony offender and a violent career criminal. The trial court denied the motion as facially insufficient.
On аppeal, Clines argued that his dual designation violated double jeopardy protections and conflicted with the Legislature‘s intent in adopting the recidivist sentencing statute. The First District affirmed, concluding that dual designation “violates neither double jeopardy protections nor legislative intent.” Clines, 881
III. ANALYSIS
Clines argues that the trial court violated section 775.084 by sentencing him as both a violent career criminal and a habitual felony offender. According to Clines, the statute permits the court to sentence under only one category. The State responds that the Legislаture intended to allow sentencing under multiple categories. The disputed provision is subsection (4)(f), which states:
At any time when it appears to the court that the defendant is eligible for sentencing under this [recidivist sentencing] section, the court shall make that determination as provided in paragraph (3)(a), paragraph (3)(b), or paragraph (3)(c).
The parties disagree about whether the “or” in subsection (4)(f) is disjunctive or conjunctive. If disjunctive, as Clines advocates, then trial courts may sentence defendants under only one category. But if the “or” is conjunctive, as the State proposes, defendants may be sentenced under multiple categories. The question is one of statutory interpretation, which we review de novo. See B.Y. v. Dep‘t of Child. & Fams., 887 So.2d 1253, 1255 (Fla.2004) (“The standard of appellate review on issues involving the interpretation of statutes is de nоvo.“).
In the analysis that follows, we (A) analyze the statute‘s plain meaning, (B) analyze the broader statutory structure, and finally (C) explain why the rule of lenity dictates that a defendant may be sentenced under only one of section 775.084‘s recidivist categories.
A. Plain Meaning
We begin with the statute‘s plain meaning. We have “repeatedly held that the plain meaning of statutory language is the first consideration of statutory construction.” Stoletz v. State, 875 So.2d 572, 575 (Fla.2004) (citing State v. Bradford, 787 So.2d 811, 817 (Fla.2001)). Sometimes it is also the final one. “When the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, there is no occasion for resorting to the rules of statutory interpretation and construction; the statute must be given its
Clines argues that “the Legislature plainly, by the use of the term `or,’ has expressed its intent that one may not be sentenced as [a habitual offender] and a [violent career criminal] under the statute.” Brief of Pet‘r on the Merits at 9.4 The Fourth District reached that very conclusion in Oberst, where it held that subsection (4)(f)‘s plain meaning “reflects a legislative intent to require the court to designate a defendant as either a [habitual felony offender] or a three-time violent felony offender or a [violent career criminal], but not any combination.” 796 So.2d at 1265. The Second District later endorsed the Fourth District‘s analysis. Works, 814 So.2d at 1199.
In contrast, the State argues that the “or” in subsection (4)(f) has a plainly conjunctive meaning. The First District reached that conclusion in its decision below, explaining:
Here, the Legislature had little choice but to use the disjunctive [to express its conjunctive meaning]. Had the Legislature used thе conjunctive `and,\’ the statute would have been hopelessly confusing and would have suggested that the trial court must make all three sentencing determinations, a situation that would be impossible on the facts of many cases.
Clines, 881 So.2d at 723. We find this explanation unpersuasive. In fact, it would be a rare circumstance for the word “or” to have the plain meaning “and.” In this case, if the Legislature had been aware of the grammatical dilemma and had wanted to make its conjunctive meaning clear, it would not have relied on the typically disjunсtive word “or” to do so. Instead, the Legislature would have added an explicitly clarifying phrase, such as “or any combination thereof,” to the end of the sentence. That it did not evidences that the Legislature either (a) intended a disjunctive meaning, or (b) simply did not anticipate the grammatical dilemma that this case raises. We doubt that the latter is true, because the dilemma is so readily apparent.
We cannot be sure from the plain meaning of the word “or” whether the Legislature intended a disjunctive meaning. We have long recognized that the word “or,” when used in a Florida statute, is “generally to be construed in the disjunctive.” Telophase Soc‘y of Fla., Inc. v. State Bd. of Funeral Dirs. & Embalmers, 334 So.2d 563, 566 (Fla.1976); see also Pompano Horse Club v. State, 93 Fla. 415, 111 So. 801, 805 (1927) (“In its elementary sense the word `or\’ is a disjunctive particle that marks an alternative, generally corresponding to `either,\’ as `either this or that\‘. . . .“). But we also have recognized some situations “in which the conjunction `or\’ is held equivalent in meaning to the
B. The Statutory Structure
We have recognized as “axiomatic” the principle that “all parts of a statute must be read together in order to achieve a consistent whole.” Forsythe v. Longboat Key Beach Erosion Control Dist., 604 So.2d 452, 455 (Fla.1992) (emphasis omitted). When possible, we “must give full effect to all statutory provisions and construe related statutory provisions in harmony with one another.” Id. (emphasis omitted). According to the State, the only way to harmonize subsection (4)(f) with the rest of the statute would be to construe the word “or” conjunctively. The State makes four arguments to this effect. We disagree with all of them. As we explain below, a disjunctive reading would be equally harmonizing, and more faithful to the usual meaning of the word “or.”
The State‘s first argument is that various provisions in the recidivist sentencing statute reveal the Legislature‘s obvious intent to punish career criminals with the most severe sanction possible. The State emphasizes two provisions: one expressly stating that the Legislature‘s intent in enacting these provisions was “to incarcerate [recidivists] for extended terms,”
We see nothing in these two provisions that clarifies whether multiple recidivist categories may be applied to a single criminal sentence. The provisions speak generally of “extended terms” and “severe sanction[s],” but do not direct the severity of the punishment when more than one recidivist category applies. The Legislature has ordered prosecutors to pursue “the most severe sanction authorized” — not the most severe sanction possible, as the State suggests. Whether a sentence imposed under multiple recidivist categories is, in fact, authorized by section 775.084 is unclear from these general statements of legislative intent. Moreover, designation of a defendant under more than one category would not necessarily increase the severity of a sentence. For example, a defendant who commits a third-degree felony and is designated as both a habitual felony offender and a habitual violent felony offender is subject to ten years’ imprisonment as a habitual felony offender; but he is already subject to the same tеrm as a habitual violent felony offender, with a minimum five-year term. Similarly, a defendant sentenced as both a habitual felony offender and a violent career criminal receives no greater punishment than if he were sentenced solely as a violent career criminal. Therefore, designation within more than one category does not always (or even often) result in greater punishment.
The State‘s second argument is that subsection (4)(f) incorporates by reference three other provisions in the statute that require triаl courts to consider all
The State quotes the First District‘s conclusion that “[s]ubsection (4)(f). . . merely reiterates the requirements of subsections (3)(a), (b), and (c), each of which directs the court to conduct separate proceedings” to determine if a given recidivist category applies. Clines, 881 So.2d at 724. This reading is certainly reasonable, but it renders subsection (4)(f) superfluous. We traditionally have sought to avoid a redundant interpretation unless the statute clearly demands it. See Fla. Dep‘t of Revenue v. Fla. Mun. Power Agency, 789 So.2d 320, 324 (Fla.2001) (“A court‘s function is to interpret statutes as they are written and give effect to each word in the statute.“). We have no difficulty avoiding redundancy in this case. Subsection (4)(f) obtains meaning when interpreted not as a mere reiteration, but as an instruction that explains how to аpply the three cited provisions. On this reading, subsection (4)(f) clarifies that, although the trial court may need to hold multiple “separate proceedings” under subsections (3)(a), (3)(b), and (3)(c) in order to determine which recidivist categories apply, it can only sentence a defendant under a single category. When a defendant qualifies for more than one category, the Legislature has expressed its desire for “the court to impose the most severe sanction authorized,”
The State‘s third argument is that subsection (4)(f) must be interpreted to allow application of multiple categories because two of the categories — the three-time violent felony offender category and the violent career criminal category — are phrased in mandatory language. The statute provides that “the court . . . must sentence the three-time violent felony offender to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment,”
A comparison of the two mandatory categories reveals, however, that regardless of how one interprets subsection (4)(f), they cannot be simultaneously applied to the same sentence. The punishment
The State‘s final argument is cumulative: that even if none of the preceding arguments is independently persuasive, together they clearly indicate that the Legislature intended for the violent career criminal category and the habitual felony offender category to be applied in combination. The First District expressed this view as follows: “[T]he entire statutory scheme of section 775.084 readily contemplates, in the case of a single criminal charge, a sentence under the habitual felony offender provisiоn, with the mandatory minimum term provisions provided for by the violent career criminal designation.‘” Clines, 881 So.2d at 724.
We disagree. We believe that the recidivist categories are designed to be hierarchical, not complementary. As we mentioned earlier, anyone whose pattern of recidivism meets the stringent requirements for designation as a violent career criminal will also qualify for designation as a habitual felony offender. Compare
C. Rule of Lenity
Based on the above analysis, we conclude that section 775.084 is ambiguous about whether multiple recidivist categories may be applied to a single criminal sentence. Although the Legislature certainly intended for recidivists to be sentenced “for extended terms,”
We therefore apply the rule of lenity. Florida has codified the rule as follows: “The provisions of this [criminal] code and offenses defined by other statutes shall be strictly construed; when the language is susceptible of differing constructions, it shall be construed most favorably to the accused.”
IV. CONCLUSION
We hold that subsection 775.084 permits the application of only one recidivist category to the defendant‘s sentence. Our resolution of this issue renders moot any double jeopardy concerns associated with a contrary interpretation. We therefore quash the First District‘s decision in this case and remand to the trial court for resentencing in light of our ruling. We note that the original sentence given to Clines for resisting arrest—a ten-year term of imprisonment with a ten-year mandatory minimum—would be authorized on remand by the violent career criminal category alone. See
It is so ordered.
PARIENTE, C.J., and ANSTEAD, LEWIS, QUINCE and BELL, JJ., concur.
WELLS, J., concurs specially with an opinion.
WELLS, J., concurring specially.
I find there to be a very close question here as to whether the rule of lenity should apply. I believe that section 775.084(4)(f), Florida Statutes, can be reasonably read unambiguously to mean that the Court shall make its determination in accord with any of the three paragraphs that apply. When read with the entire statute, I do not read the word “or” in section (4)(f) to be a limiting word, meaning (a), (b), or (c) to the exclusion of the other. However, in view of the majority of this Court and two of the district courts determining that there is an ambiguity, I do not dissent to the majority‘s сonclusion.
In view of the majority‘s decision in the case, I have an additional concern that the majority opinion not be read as deciding that this decision be applied to motions pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure