State v. Bluhm, No. C6-02-1775.

• Decision Date: 25 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. C6-02-1775.
• Citation: 676 N.W.2d 649
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Appellant, v. Amber Lynn BLUHM, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

676 N.W.2d 649

STATE of Minnesota, Appellant, v. Amber Lynn BLUHM, Respondent.

No. C6-02-1775.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

March 25, 2004.

Mike Hatch, Attorney General, Kelly O'Neill Moller, Assistant Attorney General, St. Paul, John K. Carlson, Pine County Attorney, Pine City, for Appellant.

John M. Stuart, State Public Defender, Roy G. Spurbeck, Assistant State Public Defender, Minneapolis, for Respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

PAGE, Justice.

In this appeal by the state, we are asked to decide whether a defendant convicted under Minn.Stat. § 152.025 (2002), who has a previous qualifying controlled substance conviction, must serve a mandatory minimum sentence. In this case, respondent Amber Lynn Bluhm pleaded guilty to fifth-degree controlled substance crime. At her sentencing hearing, the district court stayed imposition of sentence, placed her on three years' probation, and required her to serve six months in jail. On appeal, the court of appeals held that Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subd. 3(b) (2002), does not require a mandatory minimum period of incarceration. We reverse.

On December 9, 2000, Bluhm, age 18, was arrested for marijuana and methamphetamine possession and eventually charged with first-degree possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.021, subds. 1(1) and 3(b) (2002), and fifth-degree possession of marijuana with intent to sell, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subds. 1(1) and 3(b) (2002). Bluhm had previously received a stay of adjudication for a fifth-degree controlled substance offense. In April 2002, Bluhm pleaded guilty to an amended charge of controlled substance crime in the fifth degree, possession of methamphetamine, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 152.025, subds. 2(1) and 3(b) (2002). In exchange for the plea, the state agreed to dismiss the other charges and recommend a six-month cap on jail time. Between the time of the offense and the guilty plea, Bluhm successfully entered and completed a chemical dependency program and was regularly attending narcotics anonymous meetings. In May 2002, Bluhm returned to high school and completed her high school education before sentencing. The presentence investigation report recommended that Bluhm receive a stayed imposition of sentence and be placed on probation with one of the conditions being that she serve six months on electronic home monitoring. In a supplemental report, it was suggested that the court had no alternative but to sentence Bluhm to serve six months in jail because she had a previous fifth-degree controlled substance crime conviction and, therefore, a mandatory minimum sentence of six months had to be served. See Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subd. 3(b).

At her sentencing hearing on September 9, 2002, the district court stayed imposition of sentence and placed Bluhm on probation for three years. As part of her probation, the district court ordered Bluhm to serve six months in the county jail. The court stated that "six months [was] probably an appropriate sentence," but that it would have considered the mitigating factors Bluhm presented if Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subd. 3(b), afforded the court the discretion to do so. The district court stayed Bluhm's sentence pending appeal. On appeal, the court of appeals reversed and remanded for resentencing, holding that section 152.025, subdivision 3(b), did not mandate that Bluhm actually serve a minimum of six months in jail. State v. Bluhm, 663 N.W.2d 24, 30 (Minn.App. 2003).

Whether Minn.Stat. § 152.025, subd. 3(b), requires a mandatory minimum term of incarceration is a question of statutory construction which this court reviews de novo. See State v. Murphy, 545 N.W.2d 909, 914 (Minn.1996) (per curiam)

. The object of statutory construction is to ascertain the legislature's intent. Minn. Stat. § 645.16 (2002). "When the words of a law in their application to an existing situation are clear and free from all ambiguity, the letter of the law shall not be disregarded under the pretext of pursuing the spirit." Id. In other words, when the legislature's intent is clear from plain and unambiguous statutory language, this court "does not engage in any further construction and instead looks to the plain meaning of the statutory language." State v. Wukawitz, 662 N.W.2d 517, 525 (Minn. 2003).

"The power to fix the limits of punishment for criminal acts lies with the legislature. However, the imposition of a sentence in a particular case within those limits is a judicial function." State v. Misquadace, 644 N.W.2d 65, 68 (Minn.2002) (internal citations omitted). "The legislature may authorize the court to exercise broad discretion in the imposition of sentences by providing for the fixing of sentences within prescribed minimum and maximum years. Or the legislature may restrict the exercise of judicial discretion in sentencing, such as by providing for mandatory sentences." State v. Olson, 325 N.W.2d 13, 18 (Minn.1982). "`When it cannot be said with certainty that the legislature intended to authorize the imposition of a minimum term or an extended term in a particular situation, the presumption must be that the legislature did not intend to do so.'" State v. Ronquist, 600 N.W.2d 444, 446 (Minn.1999) (quoting State v. Simmons, 258 N.W.2d 908, 910 (Minn.1977)).

Resolution of the question presented requires us to examine three statutes. The first is section 152.025, subdivision 3(b), which reads:

If the conviction is a subsequent controlled substance conviction, a person convicted under subdivision 1 or 2 shall be committed to the commissioner of corrections or to a local correctional authority for not less than six months nor more than ten years and, in addition, may be sentenced to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000.

We must also construe Minn.Stat. § 152.026 (2002), which reads:

A defendant convicted and sentenced to a mandatory sentence under sections 152.021 to 152.025 is not eligible for probation, parole, discharge, or supervised release until that person has served the full term of imprisonment as provided by law, notwithstanding sections 242.19, 243.05, 609.12, and 609.135. "Term of imprisonment" has the meaning given in section 244.01, subdivision 8.

And, finally, we must construe Minn.Stat. § 609.135, subd. 1 (2002), which reads: "Except when a sentence of life imprisonment is required by law, or when a mandatory minimum sentence is required by section 609.11, any court may stay imposition or execution of sentence and * * * may place the defendant on probation."

In the past, we have expressed disfavor with mandatory minimum sentences. See, e.g., State v. Simmons, 258 N.W.2d 908, 910 (Minn.1977)

; State v. Childers, 309 N.W.2d 37, 38 (Minn.1981) (holding that a judge is not precluded from imposing probation on a possession with intent to distribute drugs conviction because the sentencing statute did not explicitly exclude the consideration of probation); State v. Feinstein, 338 N.W.2d 244, 247 (Minn. 1983) (holding that a statute that requires the court to "commit the defendant to the commissioner of corrections" for a minimum of three years does not preclude a judge from staying execution of the three-year sentence). In other words, we have stated that the legislature must clearly state its intent to create a mandatory sentence and a sentencing court has the discretion to place a defendant on probation when a statute calls for a mandatory sentence if the statutory scheme does not specifically exclude probation. However, more recently, in interpreting a conditional release provision, we stated that "[t]he canons of statutory construction provide that `shall' is mandatory" and that the legislature does not need to "append language prohibiting waiver to every mandatory statute to ensure that the statute is given effect." State v. Humes, 581 N.W.2d 317, 319 (Minn.1998); see also State v. Sheppard, 587 N.W.2d 53, 56-57 (Minn. App.1998) (holding that Minn.Stat. § 609.11, subd. 8(b) (2002), and Humes prohibit a sentencing court from imposing probation instead of a mandatory sentence), rev. denied (Minn. Jan. 27, 1999).

Bluhm presents three arguments in support of affirmance. First, Bluhm cites Childers and Feinstein, arguing that those cases give a sentencing court the discretion to place a defendant on probation despite language that seemingly mandates that a minimum period of confinement be served. Second, Bluhm argues that the phrase "term of imprisonment" as used in section 152.026 only applies to executed sentences of more than one year served at a state correctional facility and not to the six-month jail sentence mandated by section 152.025, subdivision 3(b), and therefore a sentencing court may impose probation in lieu of the mandatory jail time imposed in this case. Bluhm's final argument is that the legislature did not clearly draft section 152.025 to require a mandatory minimum jail sentence.

The state argues that a six-month jail term is mandatory and must be served. The state contends that the plain language of section 152.025, subdivision 3(b), section 152.026, and Humes mandate that Bluhm actually serve her six-month jail sentence. The state also asserts that the court of appeals erred in holding that a sentencing court may stay the mandatory sentence under section 609.135 because section 152.026 specifically states that section 609.135 does not apply. Finally, the state distinguishes Childers and Feinstein, arguing that in those cases there was no statute like section 152.026 that specifically prohibited a court from imposing a stayed sentence.

The language of sections 152.025 and 152.026 is clear and unambiguous. Section 152.025, subdivision 3(b), states that a person who has a previous controlled substance conviction and is convicted of a subsequent controlled substance crime "shall be committed to the commissioner of corrections or a local correctional authority for not less...