Lead Opinion
This case is before the Court for review of the Fourth ’District Court of Appeal’s decision in Williams v. State,
Does section 775.087(2)(d)’s' statement that “The court shall impose any term of imprisonment provided for in this subsection consecutively to any other term of. imprisonment imposed for any other felony offense” require consecutive sentences when the sentences arise from one criminal episode?
Id. at 880. We have jurisdiction. See art. V,. § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons discussed below, we answer the certified question in the negative and quash the Fourth District’s decision.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS
On February 12,2008, four men had just arrived home and .were walking • toward their apartment door when they heard Ronald Williams, who was in a neighbor’s driyeway, calling out offensive words regarding their sexuality, including “faggot,” “punk,” and making other “homosexual gestures.” The men exchanged words with Williams, then Williams “pulled a gun, pointed it at the men, and then fired the gun into the air multiple times, causing the men to run inside théir home.” Williams,
“The [Sjtate charged [Williams] by information with four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, during the course of which [he] actually possessed and discharged a firearm. The four counts corresponded with each of the four victims.” Id.
Williams admitted in a recorded statement to pólice that, during the exchange, he pulled out a gun and fired it in the air multiple times. Williams explained that this incident was prompted because he was upset with the men and felt like the men were “flirting with him” and “giving [him] the eye” and when he fired the gun he was just trying to “scare them” and let them know that they should not “stare at' [him] like, that.” Williams also stated that he had been drinking earlier that day.
, The State initially offered Williams a plea deal of five years’ imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of three years. He rejected this offer and responded affirmatively when asked by the trial court whether he understood that, if found guilty on all four counts, he would be sentenced to eighty years in prison because each count carried a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty years. !
The case proceeded to trial, and the jury found Williams guilty, on all counts. Id. at 881. The jury specifically found that he had possessed and discharged the firearm on each of the aggravated assault counts. Id. At sentencing, the trial court acknowledged that under the “10-20-Life” statute, section 775.087(2)(a)2., Florida Statutes (2008), each count carried a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty years. ’ Id. at 881. The State argued that the mandatory mínimums were required to be imposed consecutively pursuant to section 775.087(2)(d), Florida Statutes (2008). Id. However, Williams argued that the trial court had the discretion to impose consecutive or concurrent sentences based on this Court’s decision in State v. Christian,
On appeal, the Fourth District affirmed the trial court, concluding that “the trial court was required to impose consecutive sentences” under section 775.087(2)(d). Id. at 882. The Fourth District focused on the plain language of the statute and this Court’s interpretation of that language in State v. Sousa (Sousa II),
ANALYSIS
The present question for consideration is whether a trial court is required under section 775.087(2)(d) to impose consecutive minimum terms of imprisonment for multiple offenses when the offenses arise from a single criminal episode. “Judicial interpretations of statutes are pure questions of law subject to de novo review.” Johnson v. State,
The 10-20-Life statute or section 775.087, Florida Statutes, is implicated when a defendant is-convicted of any of the qualifying felonies enumerated in subsection (2). § 775.087(2)(a), Fla. Stat. .(2008). Paragraph .(2)(a) sets forth the mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment a trial court must impose when a defendant possesses or uses a firearm during the commission of a qualifying felony. In 1999, the Legislature added the following paragraph:
It is the intent of the Legislature that offenders who actually -possess, carry, display, use, threaten to use, or attempt to use firearms or destructive devices be punished to the fullest extent of the law, and the minimum terms of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this subsection shall be imposed for each qualifying •felony count, for which the person is convicted. The court shall impose any term of imprisonment provided for in this subsection consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed for any other felony offense.
As we have previously determined, this language is clear and unambiguous. See Sousa II,
Furthermore, at no point since its inception in the past sixteen years have we interpreted paragraph (2)(d) to mandate the imposition of consecutive sentences for the'qualifying felonies.' See Sousa II,
We later refused to extend Palmer’s prohibition against consecutive sentencing to cases in which the defendant shoots at multiple victims, based upon our belief “that the legislature intended that the trial court have discretion to impose Consecutively or concurrently the mandatory minimum time to be served.” Thomas,
After the 10-20-Life law’s 1999 amendment, this Court assessed what impact the addition of paragraph (2)(d) had ■ on trial judges’ - sentencing authority, under the statute. In Sousa II,
*993 [t]he Second- District Court of Appeal reversed the sentence, holding that section 775.087(2)(d) did not “provide the legislative authorization .necessary to require consecutive sentencing” for the mandatory minimum terms of [Sousa’s] sentences. Sousa[ v. State,868 So.2d 538 , 540 (Fla. 2d DCA. 2003) ]. This Court accepted jurisdiction based upon express and direct conflict with State v. Christian,692 So.2d 889 (F.la.1997), a decision holding that a trial court did have the authority to impose consecutive mandatory minimum sentences where a gun was fired at and injured multiple victims.
Sousa II,
We disagree [with the Third District’s holding in Mondesir v. State,814 So.2d 1172 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002),] that section 775.087 as amended still does not permit consecutive sentences. To draw that conclusion we would have to find' that the 1999 amendment to section 775.087 overrules our decisions- in Christian and Thomas. We do not agree. Rather we conclude that this amendment to the statute is consistent with the decisions in Christian and Thomas.
Id. at 927. Thus, we concluded that paragraph (2)(d) did not attenuate trial judges’ authority to impose consecutive mandatory minimum sentences for firearm offenses.
This controlling precedent establishes the following points of law for purposes of sentencing under the current 10-20-Life statute. Generally, consecutive sentencing of mandatory minimum imprisonment terms for multiple firearm offenses is impermissible if the- offenses arose from the same criminal episode and a firearm was merely possessed but not discharged. See id. at 925; Palmer,
If, however, multiple firearm offenses are committed contemporaneously, during which time multiple victims are shot at, then consecutive sentencing is permissible but not mandatory. See Sousa II,
These principles are consistent with our reading of paragraph (2)(d)’s plain language as discussed above. They also dovetail with sentencing judges’ traditional discretionary function of determining whether multiple sentences arising from the same criminal episode are to be served concurrently or consecutively. See Brooke v. State,
Both our dissenting colleague Justice Polston and the State maintain that the Legislature’s use of the mandatory term “shall” is indicative of its intent to require consecutive sentencing. Dissenting op. at 996. This limited reading of paragraph (2)(d)’s plain language improperly disregards other vital words within the provision. Indeed, if this limited reading were correct, the Legislature would have omitted the restrictive clause applying to non-qualifying felony sentences. In other words, the Legislature would have only stated, “The court shall impose any term of imprisonment provided for in this subsection consecutively” and would not have included the phrase, “to any other term of imprisonment imposed for any other felony offense.” The dissent and the State give no effect to this essential and unambiguous language. Following their argument would not give all of the plain language full effect and would render part of the 10-20-'Life statute meaningless. This we cannot and will not do. See Bennett,
The dissent and the State also justify a reading of paragraph (2)(d) that mandates consecutive sentencing of mandatory minimum imprisonment terms by highlighting the Legislature’s expressed intent to punish offenders who possess or use firearms to the fullest extent of the law. Dissenting op. at 996-97. However, such a blanket requirement would yield unconscionably excessive imprisonment terms in many cases. See Fla. Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Hernandez,
Assume, for example, a first-time offender enters a sold-out movie showing at a local theater, fires his pistol towards the ceiling, and exclaims to the audience, “Nobody move; this is a stick up!” Also assume that a gang member with an extensive rap shéet engages in a shoving altercation with a gang rival in the theater parking lot before firing his pistol at and seriously injuring the rival. The gang member then flees from responding law enforcement officers but is apprehended several miles down the road. If 200 observers were present during the theater robbery, then, under the 10-20-Life statute, the trial judge would be required to sentence the theater shooter to a minimum imprisonment term of twenty years for each robbery count. See §§ 775.087(2)(a), (d), Fla. Stat. But, the interpretation the State asks this Court to adopt in this case would further require the trial judge to order those sentences to run consecutively. As such, the theater shooter would be required to serve a minimum of 4,000 years in prison before becoming eligible for early release. However, the shooter who injures the gang rival may serve a minimum of only thirty-five years’ imprisonment — twenty-five years for the aggravated battery followed by ten years for the escape, or vice versa. See § 775.087(2)(a), Fla. Stat.
• Such a result defies the plain and obvious meaning of the language of the statute. Nowhere in the statute does the Legislature require such grossly disproportionate sentences. Undeniably, the ¡dissent’s and State’s positions would lead to a result that is arbitrary and capricious due to the application-, of a rule that essentially would prohibit a .trial- court from considering the circumstances unique to each defendant’s' case. This is particularly true in situations reminiscent of; the above hypothetical. It belies common sense- that, applying the statute as the dissent and the State request, defendants who commit relatively harmless offenses must serve hundreds of years in prison while some of the worst offenders receive comparatively de mini-mus imprisonment terms for crimes that are far. more heinous in nature — and especially for nearly killing another person.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we answer the certified question in the negative and quash the Fourth District’s decision in Williams. We remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in result.
I agree with the majority that the decision on review should be quashed and the certified question answered in the negative.
I would conclude that the reference to “any other felony offense” at the end of the final sentence of section 775.087(2)(d) is ambiguous. The reading adopted by the dissent is one reasonable understanding of the statute. Dissenting op. of Polston, J.,
The rule of lenity requires that when a statute is reasonably “susceptible of different constructions” the statute must “be construed most favorably to the accused.” § 775.021(1), Fla. Stat. Accordingly, the trial court érred in concluding that the statute required the imposition of consecutive sentences fór each'offénse subject to sentencing under section 775.087(2).
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I agree with the Fourth District Court of Appeal that consecutive sentences are mandatory under the plain meaning of the statute and would answer the certified question in the affirmative. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
Section 775.087(2)(a)2., Florida Statutes, provides that a person who is convicted of committing, or attempting to commit, any of several enumerated felonies, including aggravated assault, and who, while committing the offense, discharged a firearm, “shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of 20 years.” Additionally, section 775.087(2)(d) (emphasis added) provides that:
It is the intent of the Legislature that offenders who actually possess, carry, display, use, threaten to use, or attempt to use firearms or destructive devices be punished to-the fullest extent of the law, and the minimum terms of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this subsection shall be imposed for each qualifying felony count for which the person is convicted. The court shall impose any term of imprisonment provided for in this subsection consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed for any other felony offense.
The plain language of section 775.087(2)(d) mandates consecutive sentencing. The Legislature’s use of the mandatory term “shall,” coupled with the fact that the. provision contains no exceptions, is a clear indication that the Legislature intended to require consecutive mandatory minimum sentences even if the offenses arise from a single criminal episode. See Allied Fidelity Ins. Co. v. State,
Furthermore, when the mandatory language of “shall” is considered along with section 775.087(2)(d)’s express statement of legislative intent — “that offenders who actually possess, carry, display, use, threaten to use, or attempt to use firearms or destructive devices be punished to the fullest extent of the law” — it clearly demonstrates that the Legislature intended for the mandatory mínimums provided for in the 10-20-Life statute to be imposed consecutively so that the harshest penalty could be imposed on individuals who use firearms during the commission of certain crimes.