Stoletz v. State

• Decision Date: 20 May 2004
• Docket Number: No. SC03-168.,SC03-168.
• Citation: 875 So.2d 572
• Parties: Nicole STOLETZ, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

875 So.2d 572

Nicole STOLETZ, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC03-168.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 20, 2004.

James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and Robert D. Rosen, Assistant Public Defender, Tenth Judicial Circuit, Bartow, FL, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Robert J. Krauss, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Bureau Chief, Tampa Criminal Appeals, and Richard M. Fishkin, Assistant

Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Respondent.

QUINCE, J.

We have for review Stoletz v. State, 842 So.2d 866 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), which expressly and directly conflicts with the decision in Whipple v. State, 789 So.2d 1132 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. For the reasons more fully discussed below, we approve the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal which affirmed the trial court's permanent revocation of the petitioner's driver's license.

FACTS

Juanita Levero and Brian Wilson stopped along the highway to render aid to a person involved in an automobile accident. Nicole Stoletz, who was driving along the highway, hit and killed Levero and seriously injured Wilson. Stoletz also caused additional injuries to the person involved in the original accident. Stoletz had a blood alcohol level of .241. She was charged with one count of driving under the influence (DUI) causing death, two counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury, and one count of felony driving while license suspended (habitual). She was convicted of DUI and felony driving while license suspended. The DUI conviction was her second in five years. She was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for driving while license suspended, followed by one year of probation for DUI, a special condition of which was nine months' incarceration in county jail. In addition, her license was permanently revoked under section 316.655(2), Florida Statutes (1999).

Stoletz appealed, challenging only the permanent revocation of her driver's license. She argued that the trial court had no authority to permanently revoke her driver's license under section 316.655(2), because a more specific statute applies and the more specific statute authorizes a license revocation of five years, but no more. See § 322.28(2)(a)(2), Fla. Stat. (1999) ("Upon a second conviction for an offense that occurs within a period of 5 years after the date of a prior conviction... the driver's license or driving privilege shall be revoked for not less than 5 years."). The Second District affirmed the permanent revocation, finding that it was a permissible sanction under either statute. The Second District then certified conflict with Whipple v. State, 789 So.2d 1132 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001), wherein the Fourth District concluded that the defendant's driver's license could not be permanently revoked for a second DUI conviction under section 316.655 because the more specific statute, section 322.28(2)(a)(2), controlled, and that under the specific statute, the Legislature contemplated permanent revocation after four DUI convictions, not two.

This Court granted review based on express and direct conflict of decisions.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Section 316.655(2), Florida Statutes (1999), provides:

Drivers convicted of a violation of any offense prohibited by this chapter or any other law of this state regulating motor vehicles may have their driving privileges revoked or suspended by the court if the court finds such revocation or suspension warranted by the totality of the circumstances resulting in the conviction and the need to provide for the maximum safety for all persons who travel on or who are otherwise affected by the use of the highways of the state. In determining whether suspension or revocation is appropriate, the court shall consider all pertinent factors, including, but not limited to, such factors as the extent and nature of the driver's violation of this chapter, the number of persons killed or injured as the result of the driver's violation of this chapter, and the extent of any property damage resulting from the driver's violation of this chapter.

Stoletz argues that section 316.655(2) is not applicable to her because there is a more specific statute, section 322.28(2)(a)(2), Florida Statutes (1999), that controls. The more specific statute provides:

(2) In a prosecution for a violation of s. 316.193 or former s. 316.1931, the following provisions apply:

(a) Upon conviction of the driver, the court, along with imposing sentence, shall revoke the driver's license or driving privilege of the person so convicted, effective on the date of conviction, and shall prescribe the period of such revocation in accordance with the following provisions:

....

2. Upon a second conviction within a period of 5 years from the date of a prior conviction for a violation of the provisions of s. 316.193 or former s. 316.1931 or a combination of such sections, the driver's license or driving privilege shall be revoked for not less than 5 years.

§ 322.28(2), Fla. Stat. (1999) (emphasis added). We agree with the Second District's conclusion in this case that there is no conflict between these two statutes and that both statutes would permit a trial court to permanently revoke a driver's license if warranted by the circumstances.

In contrast, the Fourth District in Whipple found section 322.28(2)(a)(2) was applicable and did not allow permanent revocation after the second DUI. The defendant in Whipple caused an accident and pled guilty to DUI with serious bodily injury, DUI with injury to property or person, and driving without a valid driver's license causing serious bodily injury. Whipple, 789 So.2d at 1134. The trial court permanently revoked Whipple's driver's license under the general statute, section 316.655(2). Id. The Fourth District held that Whipple's driving privileges could not be permanently revoked under section 316.655(2) because the trial court was bound by the more specific statute, section 322.28(2)(a)(2). Id. at 1135. Moreover, the Fourth District opined that the more specific statute, section 322.28(2)(a)(2), does not provide for the permanent revocation of a driver's license after only a second DUI conviction, stating that "the legislature did not contemplate the permanent revocation of a driver's license without the requisite number of DUI convictions." Id. at 1137.

We agree, however, with the Second District's view that "nothing in section 322.28(2)(a)(2) prohibits a court from imposing a term of suspension or revocation longer than five years for a second conviction for DUI, and section 316.655(2) specifically permits a court to do so." Stoletz, 842 So.2d at 868. This Court has repeatedly held that the plain meaning of statutory language is the first consideration of statutory construction. See State v. Bradford, 787 So.2d 811, 817 (Fla.2001). In addition, "a specific statute covering a particular subject area always controls over a statute covering the same and other subjects in more general terms." McKendry v. State, 641 So.2d 45, 46 (Fla.1994). The language of the general statute, section 316.655(2), and the language of the more specific statute, section 322.28(2)(a)(2), is plain and unambiguous. Section 316.655(2) provides generally for the revocation or suspension of driving privileges based upon the totality of the circumstances resulting in a conviction of any offense prohibited by chapter 316 or any other law of this state regulating motor vehicles, including chapter 322. Section 322.28(2)(a)(2) specifically addresses periods of revocation or suspension of driving privileges resulting from DUI convictions under section 316.193, Florida Statutes (1999). Applying the rule that a specific statute controls over a more general one, section 322.28(2)(a)(2) would apply when determining the period for which a court may suspend or revoke a driver's license for a DUI conviction. Stoletz was convicted of her second DUI, so the more specific section 322.28(2)(a)(2) applies in determining the license revocation period for her DUI conviction. Pursuant to section 322.28(2)(a)(2), Stoletz's license "shall be revoked for not less than 5 years."

The Fourth District has held that section 322.28(2)(a)(2) does not allow for a permanent driver's license revocation when read within the context of the entire statute. Whipple, 789 So.2d at 1137. However, the plain language of the section provides for a mandatory minimum period for a license revocation, not a mandatory maximum. See § 322.28(2)(a)(2), Fla. Stat. (1999). The statute is not ambiguous, and we may not assume that the omission of a mandatory maximum was unintentional. See Bradford, 787 So.2d at 817; see also Holly v. Auld, 450 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla.1984). It is particularly important to note that the immediately preceding provision in this statute does, in fact, set forth a mandatory maximum time period for license revocation.¹ It is also noteworthy that prior to a 1982 amendment, the revocation period in section 322.28(2)(a)(2) did provide a mandatory minimum and maximum of "not less than 6 months or more than 24 months." § 322.28(2)(a)(2), Fla. Stat. (1981). After the 1982 amendment, the revocation period became "not less than 5 years" which is the provision applicable in this case. See Ch. 82-155, § 9, Laws of Fla. Thus, it is clear that the Legislature intended to establish a mandatory minimum, but no maximum, revocation period for a second DUI conviction. The courts "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.'" Holly, 450 So.2d at 219 (quoting Am. Bankers Life Assur. Co. v. Williams, 212 So.2d 777, 778 (Fla. 1st DCA 1968)) (alterations in original). We therefore agree with the Second District that "nothing in section 322.28(2)(a)(2) prohibits a court from imposing a term of suspension or revocation longer than five years for a second...