V.K.E. v. State

• Decision Date: 06 July 2006
• Docket Number: No. SC05-1176.,SC05-1176.
• Citation: 934 So.2d 1276
• Parties: V.K.E., etc., Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

934 So.2d 1276

V.K.E., etc., Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC05-1176.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 6, 2006.

James S. Purdy, Public Defender and Marvin F. Clegg, Assistant Public Defender, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach, FL, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, Kristen L. Davenport and Kellie A. Nielan, Assistant Attorneys General, Daytona Beach, FL, for Respondent.

ANSTEAD, J.

In this case, we consider whether the Legislature intended for certain criminal statutory fees and surcharges to apply to juveniles in juvenile delinquency proceedings. In the decision below, the Fifth District Court of Appeal, noting that it was bound by its prior decision in S.S.M. v. State, 898 So.2d 84 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), upheld the imposition of such surcharges in juvenile delinquency proceedings. V.K.E. v. State, 902 So.2d 343, 344 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). The court certified the issue to us as one of great public importance: "Does a trial judge have the power and authority to impose on juveniles in a juvenile delinquency proceeding, the mandatory surcharges set forth in sections 938.08 and 93[8].085?" Id. at 344.¹ We have discretionary jurisdiction and granted review. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons that follow, we answer "no" to the certified question and approve of the views and analysis set out in the concurring opinion of Judge Sharp. We therefore quash the district court's decision in V.K.E.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Petitioner V.K.E., an eleventh grade high school student and a juvenile, was involved in an altercation with another student and entered a plea of nolo contendere to a delinquency petition asserting the commission of a simple battery under the provisions of section 784.03, Florida Statutes (2001), a misdemeanor. The trial court withheld adjudication of delinquency, placed V.K.E. on probation, and ordered her, among other things, to pay $852.66 in restitution, $140 in attorneys fees, and two surcharges—$201 in domestic violence costs and $151 to the rape crisis fund — within sixty days. V.K.E. appealed the imposition of the surcharges. The district court affirmed, relying on its prior decision in S.S.M., and certified the question quoted above. V.K.E., 902 So.2d at 344.

ANALYSIS

We find the analysis set out in Judge Sharp's separate opinion below provides a reliable guide to legislative intent and the correct answer to the certified question.² We further conclude that the overriding indications of legislative intent discussed by Judge Sharp should control the outcome here: first, the Legislature has created a juvenile justice system as a totally separate and distinct rehabilitative alternative to the punitive criminal justice system, and not as a subset of that system with all of its attendant punitive measures and costs;³ second, the Legislature has expressly provided in certain instances for the taxation of criminal justice costs and surcharges against delinquents but has not done so here;⁴ and third, the Legislature has actually spoken on the issue before us by expressly providing that court fees and costs should not ordinarily be imposed in juvenile proceedings. Moreover, we conclude that a contrary holding would open the door to the assessment in juvenile proceedings of the unrelated costs, fees, and surcharges provided for in the adult criminal system without a clear legislative mandate to do so. This in turn would impair the ability of the juvenile system to focus on and serve its legislatively mandated rehabilitative function.

Because Judge Sharp has fully and cogently articulated these principles of legislative intent, we adopt her analysis as our own and set it out in full:

I am bound by this court's opinion in S.S.M. v. State, 898 So.2d 84 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), but were that not the case I would have resolved this issue differently. In this special concurring opinion, I write to explain my reasons for disagreeing with S.S.M.

In S.S.M., a child was assessed a $201.00 surcharge pursuant to section 938.08, Florida Statutes. She pled guilty to two counts of battery, first degree misdemeanors. In this case, V.K.E. pled guilty to a charge of simple battery, a first degree misdemeanor, and was surcharged $201.00 pursuant to section 938.08, Florida Statutes and $151.00 pursuant to section 938.085, Florida Statutes.

Sections 938.08 and 938.085 are part of the "general" adult criminal statutes contained in Chapter 938. They belong to Part II of that Chapter entitled "Mandatory Costs in Specific Types of Cases." That Part imposes various charges, sometimes described as "costs" or "surcharges" on persons who have violated specific criminal statutes. Funds raised from these surcharges or costs are designated to go to various state and local programs; i.e., the Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund; the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Trust Fund; the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Trust Fund; and the County Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Trust Fund; and the Department of Children and Family Services Child Advocacy Trust Fund for the Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, Inc.

In the case of section 938.08, $85.00 of the surcharge goes to the Domestic Violence Trust Fund, $1.00 to the Clerk of the Court as a service charge, and the balance to the county to defray costs of incarcerating persons sentenced under section 741.238 (minimum term of imprisonment for domestic violence). In the case of section 938.085, the surcharge goes to the Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund, and $1.00 to the Clerk of Court as a service charge.

In both this case and S.S.M., the juveniles against whom the surcharges were assessed are young females. Neither case involved domestic violence or rape. Incongruously, they appear to be persons in the "victim" category for the general benefit of whom these surcharges are being imposed.

In addition to Part II, Chapter 938 contains Part I, Mandatory Costs in All Cases. For a violation of a state criminal statute or municipal or county ordinance (to benefit the Additional Cost Clearing Trust Fund), section 938.01 imposes a $3.00 court cost and section 938.03 imposes $50.00 as an additional cost for the violation of any criminal law, for the benefit of the Crimes Compensation [T]rust Fund. However, this statute specifically was revisited by the Legislature and made expressly applicable to delinquency proceedings. It reads:

Any person pleading guilty or nolo contendere to, or being convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for, any felony, misdemeanor, delinquent act, or criminal traffic offense under the laws of this state, or the violation of any municipal or county ordinance .... (emphasis added)

Part I also contains two other sections requiring the imposition of court costs. For the violation of any criminal offense, section 938.05 imposes from $50.00 to $200.00, for the benefit of the Fine and Forfeiture Fund, and section 938.06 imposes, as a court cost, a $20.00 surcharge on any fine, for the benefit of the Crime Stoppers Trust Fund.

In addition, Part IV provides for discretionary assessment of costs in specific types of cases to benefit alcohol and drug abuse programs, the Operating Trust Fund of the Department of Law Enforcement, and costs of prosecution upon conviction including investigative costs and attorneys fees for public defenders. Chapter 939 also contains additional cost assessment statutes, applicable if a person violates any kind of criminal statute or ordinance of this state. The "court costs" of $65.00 must be used to fund innovations to supplement state funding for the elements of the state courts system, to assist counties to provide legal aid programs, to fund public law libraries, and to support teen court programs, juvenile assessment centers, and other juvenile alternative programs.

The rationale used in S.S.M., to justify imposition of the surcharge pursuant to section 938.05, was that the statute assesses this surcharge for a violation of section 784.03 (battery statute), and section 985.03(58) defines "violation of law" or a "delinquent act" as a "violation of any law of this state." [n.1]

[n.1] Section 985.03(58) provides:

`Violation of law' or `delinquent act' means a violation of any law of this state, the United States, or any other state which is a misdemeanor or a felony or a violation of a county or municipal ordinance which would be punishable by incarceration if the violation were committed by an adult.

This definition comes from Chapter 985, the Chapter which deals with juvenile delinquency. In my view, it has no relevancy to Chapter 938. Indeed, the statute expressly provides that the Chapter 985 definitions apply only "when used in this Chapter;" i.e., Chapter 985.

Section 985.228(6), Florida Statutes, provides further:

An adjudication of delinquency by a court with respect to any child who has committed a delinquent act or violation of law shall not be deemed a conviction; nor shall the child be deemed to have been found guilty or to be a criminal by reason of that adjudication; nor shall that adjudication operate to impose upon the child any of the civil disabilities ordinarily imposed by or resulting from conviction to disqualify or prejudice the child in any civil service application or appointment, with the exception of use of records of proceedings under this part as provided in s. 985.05(a).

Section 985.233(5)(b) also provides the court must impose either an adult sanction or a juvenile sanction, but not a combination.

If, however, the rationale of S.S.M. is accepted, there is no logical limit to assessing juveniles being prosecuted under Chapter 985, with not only the surcharges under sections 938.08 and 938.085, but all, if not many, of the surcharges or court costs set forth in Chapter 938, outlined above, because all of those statutes impose "court costs" or surcharges for funding state and local law...