State v. Rife

• Decision Date: 12 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. SC95752.,SC95752.
• Citation: 789 So.2d 288
• Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Ronald RIFE, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

789 So.2d 288

STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Ronald RIFE, Respondent.

No. SC95752.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 12, 2001.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Ann M. Phillips, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

James B. Gibson, Public Defender, and Kenneth Witts and Barbara Davis, Assistant

Public Defenders, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, FL, for Respondent.

PARIENTE, J.

We have for review the decision in State v. Rife, 733 So.2d 541 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), in which the Fifth District Court of Appeal, in an en banc opinion, certified the following questions to be of great public importance:

ALTHOUGH WILLINGNESS OR CONSENT OF THE MINOR IS NOT A DEFENSE TO SEXUAL BATTERY OF A MINOR, MAY IT BE CONSIDERED BY THE COURT AS A MITIGATING FACTOR IN SENTENCING? SHOULD THE MITIGATION ALSO APPLY WHERE THE DEFENDANT WAS CONVICTED OF BEING IN A POSITION OF CUSTODIAL OR FAMILIAL AUTHORITY WITH THE VICTIM?

See id. at 551. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained in this opinion, we answer the certified questions in the affirmative and approve the en banc decision of the Fifth District.

BACKGROUND

The Fifth District summarized the facts as follows:

[Ronald] Rife admits having sex with the seventeen-year-old victim on numerous occasions but contends, and the victim agrees, that the sexual activities were consensual. Further, it appears that the sexual activities with this minor, who moved in with appellant because she had no other place to reside, began before the victim requested, and appellant agreed, that appellant become her guardian.

Rife, 733 So.2d at 542. Both Rife and the victim testified that they had planned on marrying when the victim reached the legal age of eighteen.

Rife was convicted of three counts of sexual battery in violation of section 794.011(8)(b), Florida Statutes (1997), which provides:

(8) Without regard to the willingness or consent of the victim, which is not a defense to prosecution under this subsection, a person who is in a position of familial or custodial authority to a person less than 18 years of age who:

. . . .

(b) Engages in any act with that person while the person is 12 years of age or older but less than 18 years of age which constitutes sexual battery under paragraph (1)(h) commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Id. (emphasis supplied); see Rife, 733 So.2d at 542

. Section 794.011(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1997), provides that "`Consent' means intelligent, knowing, and voluntary consent and does not include coerced submission. `Consent' shall not be deemed or construed to mean the failure by the alleged victim to offer physical resistance to the offender."

Although the trial court recognized that a minor victim's consent could not be utilized by Rife as a defense to the crime of sexual battery, the trial court found that the victim's consent could be considered in imposing a downward departure sentence on the defendant. See Rife, 733 So.2d at 542

. The trial court found that the record supported the fact that the minor victim "willingly participated in this sexual endeavor." Id. at 543. In imposing a downward departure sentence, the trial court announced:

I'm basing the downward departure based on statutory grounds that the victim, although she was a minor, was a willing participant in this incident. She apparently agreed to it and was in love with you, and at least thought she was in love with you, and fully participated in this incident.

She doesn't have the obligation or the responsibility as a minor to tell you no. Consent is not an issue on the charge. But I am taking that into consideration for the purpose of the downward departure.

Id. at 542 (emphasis supplied).

Rife's sentencing guideline score sheet provided for a state prison sentence range of 297.4 months (approximately twenty-four years) to 495.7 months (approximately forty-one years). The trial court downwardly departed and sentenced Rife to three concurrent prison terms of 102 months (eight and one-half years), followed by ten years' probation on each count, and ordered that Rife receive sexual offender treatment as a condition of his probation. The State timely objected to the imposition of the downward departure sentences and requested that Rife be given a sentence within the statutory guidelines.

The State appealed the imposition of the downward departure sentences to the Fifth District. In an en banc opinion, the Fifth District affirmed the imposition of the downward departure sentence based upon the trial court's finding that the statutory mitigator of "consent" applied. See Rife, 733 So.2d at 542-44

. The Fifth District receded from its contrary holding in State v. Smith, 668 So.2d 639, 644 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996), that the trial court did not have the discretion as a matter of law to mitigate a sentence based on a minor victim's consent.¹ The Fifth District reasoned:

In this case, there is ample support that in fact the young woman willingly participated in this sexual endeavor. Hence, the record supports the presence of this mitigating factor. Because of the sordid testimony ... perhaps the closer question is whether the court abused its discretion in mitigating even though the mitigating factor is present. The jury, being instructed to ignore the minor's consent, convicted him of the offenses. Sentencing, however, is a different matter and involves the judge's view of the evidence as it relates to mitigation. It is clear that the judge did not believe the young woman [was] so immature that she could not agree to the encounter or that she was incapable of loving the defendant. The judge saw the minor, heard her testify and observed her demeanor, and was free to determine for herself the maturity (emotional and otherwise) of the young woman. We are not in that position. Further, insofar as it involves sentencing, the court was free to believe such witnesses and such testimony, or portion thereof, that she found credible....

It is important to note that this is not a case in which the judge trivialized the offense by a slap on the wrist. The defendant was sentenced to eight and one-half years in prison to be followed by ten years probation. The judge took this case seriously. She merely realized that had the victim not willingly participated, the offense would have been much more serious and a greater sentence would be justified. In order to recognize this difference, the judge believed that a substantial, but somewhat less than guideline, sentence would be appropriate in this case. The legislature permitted her to do so.

Rife, 733 So.2d at 543.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

In answering the certified questions in this case, the Court must determine whether the trial court was precluded as a matter of law from imposing a prison sentence of eight and one-half years, followed by ten years' probation, or whether the trial court was required as a matter of law to sentence Rife to a prison term of no less than twenty-four years, the minimum sentence under the sentencing guidelines. There is no question that the Legislature has the authority to preclude a trial judge from imposing a downward departure sentence based on willing participation or consent of the minor victim. Our role, however, is limited to determining whether the Legislature intended to do so. Accordingly, it is not this Court's function to substitute its judgment for that of the Legislature as to the wisdom or policy of a particular statute. See State v. Mitro, 700 So.2d 643, 646 (Fla.1997)

(citing Hamilton v. State, 366 So.2d 8, 10 (Fla. 1978)).

"When construing a statutory provision, legislative intent is the polestar that guides" the Court's inquiry. McLaughlin v. State, 721 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Fla.1998). Legislative intent is determined primarily from the language of a statute. See Hayes v. State, 750 So.2d 1, 3 (Fla.1999)

; Overstreet v. State, 629 So.2d 125, 126 (Fla.1993). "When faced with an unambiguous statute, the courts of this state are `without power to construe an unambiguous statute in a way which would extend, modify, or limit, its express terms or its reasonable and obvious implications. To do so would be an abrogation of legislative power.'" State v. Cohen, 696 So.2d 435, 436 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (quoting Holly v. Auld, 450 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla. 1984)) (emphasis omitted). This principle is "not a rule of grammar; it reflects the constitutional obligation of the judiciary to respect the separate powers of the legislature." State v. Brigham, 694 So.2d 793, 797 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997).

Thus, the Court must determine whether the Legislature intended to provide trial judges with the authority under the sentencing guidelines, section 921.0016(4)(f), to impose a downward departure sentence for crimes involving sexual conduct with minors where the trial court finds that the minor "victim was an initiator, willing participant, aggressor, or provoker" of the sexual incident. Section 921.0016, Florida Statutes (1997), provides in pertinent part:

(1)(a) The recommended guidelines sentence provided by the total sentence points is assumed to be appropriate for the offender.

. . . .

(2) A departure from the recommended guidelines sentence is discouraged unless there are circumstances or factors which reasonably justify the departure. Aggravating and mitigating factors to be considered include, but are not limited to, those in subsections (3) and (4). The failure of the trial court to impose a sentence within the sentencing guidelines is subject to appellate review under chapter 924, but the extent of the departure from a guidelines sentence is not subject to appellate review.

. . . .

(4) Mitigating circumstances under which a departure from the sentencing guidelines is reasonably justified include, but are not limited to:

. . . .

(f) The victim was an initiator, willing participant, aggressor, or

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