Marsh v. Garwood

• Decision Date: 08 May 1953
• Citation: 65 So.2d 15
• Parties: MARSH et al. v. GARWOOD.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

Page 15

65 So.2d 15

MARSH et al. v. GARWOOD.

Supreme Court of Florida, en Banc.

May 8, 1953.

Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen. and Mark R. Hawes, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellants.

Carr & O'Quinn, Miami, for appellee.

SEBRING, Justice.

Hobart Garwood, the appellee, instituted suit under the declaratory judgment statute for the purpose of procuring a decree declaring his rights, privileges, and status under the Child Molester Law of Florida, § 801.01 et seq., F.S.A.

In his complaint and amendment thereto he alleged that on June 26, 1951, he was tried and convicted of the crime of committing a 'lewd and lascivious and indecent assault upon a child under 14 years of age without intent to commit rape.' After conviction but before imposition of sentence he was committed by the trial judge to the Florida State Hospital 'for an indefinite period of time, for treatment and rehabilitation.' After he had received treatment for a period of several months, a psychiatrist's report was filed by the Superintendent of the Florida State Hospital showing that he had received favorably all treatment that could be afforded him at the Hospital, and recommending that the Florida Parole Commission take over his case for the purpose of parole. The Commission has had his case before it for a reasonable period of time, but has failed and refused to take any action thereon. Consequently he is still being held and confined in the State Hospital, although he is eligible for release on parole, under the terms of the Child Molester Law.

The prayer of the complaint is that the court declare the Child Molester Law unconstitutional and void for the reason that the act is so ambiguous, indefinite, vague and uncertain that the same is impossible of operation; or, if the court finds the Act not to be unconstitutional, that the court declare the rights of the plaintiff thereunder.

The members of the Parole Commission answered the complaint, praying in their answer that the court declare by way of affirmative relief: (1) The powers, privileges and rights of the Commission in respect to conditionally discharged persons who have been committed to the State Hospital under the provisions of the Child Molester Law; (2) what effect a favorable recommendation by the psychiatrist treating such a person has upon the discretion of the Parole Commission as to how and when a conditional or absolute discharge of such a person should be properly made; (3) the status of the Parole Commission, if such a person is paroled by it and thereafter violates the conditions of his parole; (4) the legal effect of a revocation of a parole upon a breach of its condition, and the legal authority and power of the Commission to cause the arrest of such a violator and recommit him to the State Hospital.

Subsequently the Circuit Court of Leon County entered a decree in the cause which contained the following findings and declarations:

1. Chapter 801, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A., is not unconstitutional except section 801.14(1), which is not passed on.

2. Chapter 801 does not contemplate that any patient committed to the State Hospital under its terms shall remain in said hospital after that institution has exhausted its curative abilities upon said person, unless said person be insane.

3. When the authorities of the hospital feel that such a person is sane and no further treatment is indicated this fact should be reported to the Parole Commission and to the court which committed him.

4. Should neither the Parole Commission nor said court act within a reasonable time, the hospital authorities should tender such person to the sheriff of the county from which he was received, and if the sheriff refuses to take him, the hospital authorities may release him from custody, provided no other detainer has been filed against him.

5. The committing court retains jurisdiction to sentence such a patient for the crime committed at any time that such court deems such sentence advisable.

6. Time spent under a commitment to the State Hospital is not punishment but treatment.

7. The committing court also retains jurisdiction to place such a person upon parole, subject to the limitations of section 801.08 of the Act.

8. The Parole Commission may direct that such a person be discharged or released from the State Hospital at any time, subject to receiving the report required by section 801.13 of the Act.

9. The Parole Commission may make such release conditional in any respect it may reasonably determine to be advisable in the interests of the public and the patient. Such a release, however, does not operate to defeat the still existing jurisdiction of the committing court to impose sentence for the crime.

The Parole Commission has appealed from the decree and assigns as grounds for reversal (1) that the court erred in its decision that the Commission could parole a person committed to the Florida State Hospital for treatment and rehabilitation under the Child Molester Law, and (2) that the court erred in its refusal to rule that under the terms of the Child Molester Law persons committed to the Florida State Hospital for treatment and rehabilitation under said law should be returned to the committing court for further disposition of his cause, after the hospital had exhausted its curative abilities upon such person and such person was not insane.

The questions raised by these assignments are now before us for determination.

Chapter 26843, Laws of Florida 1951, Chapter 801, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A., known as the Child Molester Law, prescribes a procedure by which persons convicted of certain specified crimes against, to, or with persons twelve years of age or under may, at the discretion of the trial judge, be committed 'for treatment and rehabilitation to the Florida State Hospital, or to the hospital of the State Institution to which he would be sent as provided by law because of his age or color.' Section 3(2), Chapter 26843; section 801.03, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A. In respect to the discretion that may be exercised by the trial judge after the conviction of a defendant for any of the enumerated crimes, the law allows to the trial judge the following courses of action:

1. The trial judge may sentence the defendant to the sentence provided by law for the specific crime of which he was convicted, and thereupon order that the defendant be committed to prison to serve the term for which he was sentenced. Section 3(1), Chapter 26843; section 801.03 (1)(a), Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A.

2. The trial judge may commit the convicted defendant to the appropriate state institution for psychiatric treatment and defer the imposition of sentence pending the discharge of such person from further treatment in accordance with the procedure outlined in the law. Section 3(2), Chapter 26843; section 801.03(1)(b), Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A.

3. The trial judge 'may suspend the execution of judgment and place the defendant upon probation' provided 'the court is satisfied that the defendant will take regular treatments from a psychiatrist, and the * * * psychiatrist [will] make written reports at intervals of not more than six months to the court and the probation officer in charge of the case.' Section 7, Chapter 26843; section 801.08, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A.

The term 'suspend execution of judgment' appearing in section 7 of Chapter 26843 is a term unknown to the penal law of this state. We think that in using it in this section the framers of the statute intended that it should mean the same thing as 'suspend the imposition of sentence', which is the language used in our statutes dealing with probation procedures generally, Chapter 948, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A. § 948.01(3), because section 7 also provides that when a defendant has been placed on probation for voluntary psychiatric treatment the trial court may at anytime thereafter revoke the probation order and 'impose such sentence as might have been imposed at the time of conviction.'

Section 10 of Chapter 26843 provides that when a convicted defendant has been committed to a state institution for psychiatric treatment, under the terms of section 3(2) of the Law, it becomes the duty of the Superintendent of State Hospitals and the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions to receive him, to administer and supervise treatment, and to make available to the Parole Commission a complete record of his history and progress.

Section 11 of Chapter 26843 makes it the duty of the Parole Commission, within six months after the commitment of a convicted defendant, and within every two years thereafter, to review the record and findings in reference to said defendant for the purpose of considering the 'release or parole or discharge' of such person. The section also provides that 'Release * * * shall be solely upon the initiative of the parole commission or the psychiatrist under whose care said person has been treated' and that 'A conditional or absolute discharge may be granted by the parole commission.'

It is section 11 of the statute that is challenged by the Parole Commission as being in excess of the power that the Legislature may validly confer upon the Commission.

In respect to this contention it should be noted that section 32 of Article XVI of the Florida Constitution, F.S.A., is the source from which the Legislature derives its authority to enact legislation conferring powers and duties upon a parole commission. The provisions of that section read: 'The Legislature may create a Parole Commission empowered to grant paroles or conditional releases or probation under official supervision to prisoners or persons charged with criminal offenses, and may provide for the qualification and method of selecting the Commission members and for their term of office the length of which shall be wholly within the discretion of the Legislature.'

As used in the field of penal law, the terms 'paroles,' 'conditional releases,' ...