State v. Cooper

• Decision Date: 21 February 1990
• Citation: 575 A.2d 1074
• Parties: STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. Keith E. COOPER, Defendant Below, Appellee. . Submitted:
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 1074

575 A.2d 1074

STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. Keith E. COOPER, Defendant Below, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Submitted: Feb. 21, 1990.

Decided: April 20, 1990.

M. Jane Brady and Gary A. Myers, Deputy Attys. Gen., Georgetown, for appellant.

Edward C. Gill, Wolhar & Gill, P.A., Wilmington, for appellee.

Before HORSEY, WALSH and HOLLAND, JJ.

HOLLAND, Justice:

The defendant-appellee, Keith E. Cooper ("Cooper"), was charged with larceny of livestock, by an information filed in the Superior Court. Cooper made a pretrial motion to dismiss the information. The Superior Court granted Cooper's motion. This is an appeal by the State. 10 Del.C. § 9902(a). We have concluded that the decision of the Superior Court must be reversed.

Facts

Cooper was charged with larceny of livestock, pursuant to 11 Del.C. § 859. That statute provides:

(a) Whoever feloniously steals, takes and carries away any cow, steer, bull, calf, heifer or swine is guilty of larceny and a felony, and shall be imprisoned not less than 6 months nor more than 1 year and fined as the court may prescribe.

(b) The minimum sentence of imprisonment required by subsection (a) of this section shall not be subject to suspension and no person convicted under this section shall be eligible for probation or parole during the first 6 months of his [or her] sentence.

Id. (emphasis added). The information filed in this case stated that between December 12th and 13th, 1988, Cooper "did feloniously take and carry away six (6) hogs, having a total value of approximately Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00), the property of Harold R. Johnson."

In his motion to dismiss, Cooper contended that the information did not properly charge him with committing a felonious act, since it alleged that the total value of the stolen livestock was only four hundred dollars. Cooper argued that a theft is felonious only if the stolen property has a value equal to or greater than five hundred dollars. In support of his position, Cooper relied upon 11 Del.C. § 841, which defines theft generally and provides:

A person is guilty of theft when he takes, exercises control over or obtains property of another person intending to deprive him [or her] of it or appropriate it. Theft includes the acts described in §§ 842-846 of this title.

A person is guilty of theft if he [or she], in any capacity, legally receives, takes, exercises control over or obtains property of another which is the subject of theft, and fraudulently converts same to his [or her] own use.

Theft is a class A misdemeanor, unless the value of the property received, retained or disposed of is $500 or more, in which case it is a class E felony.

In opposing Cooper's motion to dismiss, the State contended that 11 Del.C. § 859 should be construed without regard to 11 Del.C. § 841. The State argued that the General Assembly enacted the livestock statute to punish theft of livestock, irrespective of its value. The State submitted that the word feloniously, as used in the context of the livestock statute, should be accorded its common law meaning, i.e., proceeding from an evil heart or purpose with the deliberate intention of committing a crime. See, e.g., Wilson v. State, Del.Supr., 303 A.2d 638, 640-41 (1973).

The Superior Court found that "feloniously" was defined as "of, pertaining to, or having the quality of a felony," or "proceeding from an evil heart or purpose; done with a deliberate intention of committing a crime." Black's Law Dictionary 744 (4th ed. 1968). ¹ In view of the alternative definitions, the Superior Court concluded that the use of the word "feloniously" in Section 859 made that statute ambiguous. The Superior Court noted that when a statute is ambiguous, generally accepted principles of construction require the statute to be viewed as a whole, and that literal or perceived interpretations, which yield illogical or absurd results, should be avoided in favor of interpretations which are consistent with the intent of the legislature. Daniels v. State, Del.Supr., 538 A.2d 1104, 1110 (1988).

The Superior Court determined that the definition of feloniously which focused upon the quality of the act achieved a more reasonable result than the common law definition, which focused upon the intent of the actor. The Superior Court observed that if "feloniously" described the state of mind of the actor, rather than the quality of the act, a person who stole a $50 pig (livestock) could be guilty of a felony and subjected to mandatory incarceration, but a person who stole a $400 horse (not livestock) could be guilty of a misdemeanor and eligible for probation. Consequently, the Superior Court found that by using the word feloniously, the General Assembly must have intended to incorporate the $500 felony/misdemeanor distinction of Section 841 into Section 859. Therefore, the Superior Court held that the felonious act proscribed by Section 859 was only committed if the stolen livestock had a total value of more than $500.00.

Statutory Construction

The Superior Court correctly recognized that "[i]n the construction of a statute, this Court has established as its standard the search for legislative intent.... Where the intent of the legislature is clearly reflected by unambiguous language in the statute, the language itself controls." Spielberg v. State, Del.Supr., 558 A.2d 291, 293 (1989) (citing Richardson v. Wile, Del.Supr., 535 A.2d 1346, 1348 (1988), and Evans v. State, Del.Supr., 516 A.2d 477, 478 (1986)). However, where uncertainty in the language exists, rules of statutory construction must be applied. Id. The Superior Court also correctly recognized that if a statute is ambiguous, it must be viewed as a whole. Daniels v. State, 538 A.2d at 1110. Literal or perceived interpretations, which yield illogical or absurd results, should be avoided in favor of interpretations consistent with the intent of the legislature. Id.

However, statutory language is ambiguous only when it is reasonably susceptible to different conclusions or interpretations. Coastal Barge Corp. v. Coastal Zone Indus. Control Bd., Del.Supr., 492 A.2d 1242, 1246 (1985). In this appeal, we must determine if the General Assembly's use of the word "feloniously" was reasonably susceptible to different interpretations and, thereby, created an ambiguity in Section 859. In the absence of any ambiguity, the language of the statute must be regarded as conclusive of the General Assembly's intent. The judicial role is then limited to an application of the literal meaning of the words. Evans v. State, 516 A.2d at 478; Coastal Barge Corp. v. Coastal Zone Indus. Control Bd., 492 A.2d at 1246.

Legislative History

The General Assembly enacted a new Criminal Code for Delaware in 1972. It included a subpart entitled "Theft and Related Offenses." 58 Del.Laws, ch. 497, § 1, pp. 1678-87 (July 6, 1972) (codified as 11 Del.C. §§ 840-57). Section 841 defined the crime of "theft." Sections 842 through 846, described specific types of conduct which were prohibited as "theft." 11 Del.C. §§ 842-46. For purposes of punishment, Section 841 classified "theft" as a Class A misdemeanor, unless the property appropriated had a value of $100 (now $500) or more, in which case the theft offense would be a Class E felony. 11 Del.C. § 841. The effective date for the new Criminal Code, including the "theft" provisions, was July 1, 1973.

Subsequent to the enactment of the new Criminal Code, but approximately two months before its effective date, the General Assembly added a provision, designated as Section 859, which proscribed "larceny of livestock." 59 Del.Laws, ch. 60 (May 12, 1973). The title of the enrolled bill stated that the purpose of the legislation was to amend the new Criminal Code "by making it a felony to steal, take and carry away certain animals, and prescribing a penalty therefor." Id. (emphasis added). Section 859 provided that the stealing or taking of "any cow, steer, bull, calf, heifer or swine" is "larceny and a felony." Id. (emphasis added). ²

Although Section 859 was added to the subpart of the new Criminal Code entitled "Theft and Related Offenses," it was an anomaly. Section 859 did not use the new Criminal Code's terminology of "theft" to describe the stealing of livestock, but instead used the common law term "larceny." Section 859 also contained its own penalty clause, which did not correspond with the new Criminal Code's alphabetical letter classifications for punishments. See 11 Del.C. § 4201. The final aberration which appears in Section 859 is the focus of this appeal. It was the use of the word feloniously.

The new Criminal Code did not define "feloniously." However, the new Criminal Code did provide that undefined words would have their "commonly accepted meaning." 11 Del.C. § 221(c). Prior to the enactment of the new Criminal Code, Delaware's decisional law had consistently adhered to the common law definition of "feloniously" i.e., " 'proceeding from an evil heart or purpose, done with deliberate intention of committing a crime, or deliberate, evil intent.' " Brown v. State, Del.Supr., 239 A.2d 628, 629 (1968) (quoting McVey v. Commonwealth, 272 S.W.2d 33, 35 (Ky.1954)). ³ See Wilson v. State, Del Supr., 303 A.2d 638, 640-41 (1973); State v. Dredden, Del.Gen.Sess., 73 A. 1042, 1043 (1907); State v. Palmer, Del.Gen.Sess., 53 A. 359, 360 (1902); State v. Kavanaugh, Del.Gen.Sess., 53 A. 335, 336 (1902). The General Assembly is presumed to have known of these judicial decisions at the time that the new Criminal Code was originally adopted and also when Section 859 was subsequently enacted. Giuricich v. Emtrol Corp., Del.Supr., 449 A.2d 232, 239 n. 13 (1982); Husband v. Wife, Del.Supr., 367 A.2d 636, 637 (1976). See also Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. 246, 263, 72 S.Ct. 240, 249, 96 L.Ed. 288 (1952).

However, in this case, there is no need to rely upon the principle of statutory construction which...