Bizzigotti v. FLA. PAROLE & PROBATION COM'N

410 So. 2d 1360
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 15, 1982
DocketYY-132
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 410 So. 2d 1360 (Bizzigotti v. FLA. PAROLE & PROBATION COM'N) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bizzigotti v. FLA. PAROLE & PROBATION COM'N, 410 So. 2d 1360 (Fla. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

410 So.2d 1360 (1982)

Peter Steven BIZZIGOTTI, Appellant,
v.
FLORIDA PAROLE & PROBATION COMMISSION, Appellee.

No. YY-132.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

March 15, 1982.

*1361 Peter Steven Bizzigotti, pro se.

No appearance for appellee.

LARRY G. SMITH, Judge.

Bizzigotti appeals the circuit court's dismissal of his petition for writ of mandamus[1] for failure to state a cause of action. We have determined that the petition discloses improper action by the Florida Parole and Probation Commission in its use of aggravating factors to extend appellant's presumptive parole release date (PPRD). We reverse.

In its response to appellant's petition for writ of mandamus, appellee acknowledged its possible error in using "burglary" as the present offense of conviction as an aggravating factor adding nineteen months to appellant's PPRD. As appellee correctly concluded, the objective parole criteria guidelines make "the present offense of burglary a factor to be used in computing the salient factor score,[2] and it cannot be used again as an aggravating factor to extend the PPRD.[3] Consequently, after filing its initial response to appellant's petition, the Commissioner further reviewed appellant's PPRD and eliminated the nineteen-month aggravation for burglary. However, instead of revising the PPRD to reflect an earlier date, the Commission added a new aggravation of nineteen months[4]. In an addendum to its return to the order to show cause issued by the circuit court, the Commission reported this action to the circuit court, citing Rule 23-19.04(1)(h), "Ancient Prior Record,"[5] as the basis for its action. According to the Commission, appellant's convictions more than ten years ago, which were not used in calculating the salient factor score, and a subsequent conviction for possession of drugs and hit and run with *1362 injury, convinced the Commission of appellant's poor parole prognosis justifying the addition of nineteen months to his PPRD.

The procedure followed by the Commission has been condemned by this court in McKahn v. Florida Parole and Probation Commission, 399 So.2d 476 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Appellant's PPRD was established by Commission action prior to appellant's filing of his petition for writ of mandamus in the circuit court[6]. This date became binding on the Commission under Section 947.172(3), Florida Statutes (1979). McKahn, 399 So.2d at 478.[7] The statutes permit changes in the PPRD only under narrowly circumscribed conditions, those being "for reasons of institutional conduct or the acquisition of new information not available at the time of the initial interview," neither of which have been shown to apply here.[8] Id. at 478. Nor do we find any basis for the Commission to invoke the provisions of Section 947.173(3), permitting modification of a PPRD "for good cause in exceptional circumstances." See Canter v. Florida Parole and Probation Commission, 409 So.2d 227 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).

We next consider the twelve-month aggravation applied by the Commission (though not recommended by the examiner) in its initial PPRD decision, explained as follows on the Commission action form: "Upon apprehension offender refused to provide information which may have resulted in recovery of large jewelry loss." In his petition for writ of mandamus appellant asserted that he has maintained his innocence and has remained silent from the time of his apprehension, throughout his trial by jury, and to this date. Therefore, appellant urges, the Commission's action is in derogation of his right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment, United States Constitution, and Article I, Section 9, Florida Constitution. Furthermore, petitioner alleged and the record of the Commission's action verifies, that upon receipt of appellant's application for review under Section 947.173, Florida Statutes, the Commission gave no further particularities or explanation concerning the basis for the twelve-month aggravation.

We agree with appellant's contention that the Commission's consideration of his failure to provide information "upon apprehension," as a basis for extension of his PPRD, would amount to the exaction of a penalty for the exercise of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. We can see no reason why the exercise of rights fully protected under the Fifth Amendment, as interpreted in Miranda, and subsequent decisions, should subject an offender to a penalty after conviction any more than would the exercise of the right to trial by jury, suppression of evidence illegally seized under the Fourth Amendment, representation by counsel, or the assertion of other constitutional rights.[9] These allegations were sufficient to entitle appellant to relief by way of mandamus, and it was error to dismiss his petition. Moore v. Florida Parole and Probation Commission, 289 So.2d 719 (Fla. 1974).

The Commission cites Nelson v. Los Angeles County, 362 U.S. 1, 80 S.Ct. 527, 4 L.Ed.2d 494 (1960), in opposition to appellant's constitutional claim, asserting that the Fifth Amendment does not prohibit *1363 "potential civil repercussions" as a consequence of remaining silent, so long as the exercise of that right is not determinative of criminal guilt or innocence. We do not read Nelson as dispositive in this case. In Nelson, the court made it abundantly clear that California's statute, under which a state employee was discharged, was not predicated upon any "`built in' inference of guilt" arising from invocation of the right to remain silent, but solely on employee insubordination for failure to give information the state had a legitimate interest in securing. Id. at 7, 80 S.Ct. at 531. In other words, California did not employ a Fifth Amendment refusal to testify "as the basis for drawing an inference of guilt." Id. at 7, 80 S.Ct. at 531. The limitation upon the use of silence on the part of an accused as an inference of guilt, in non-criminal proceedings, was further reiterated in the more recent case of Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976). There the court held that while it is permissible to draw an inference of guilt from an inmate's failure to testify in a prison disciplinary proceeding, guilt cannot be made to rest solely upon silence, but must be established by other evidence. Id. at 317, 96 S.Ct. at 1557.

To fault the Commission for its improper use of appellant's silence "when apprehended," however, is not to say that the Commission has no legitimate interest in the fact that a "large jewelry loss" occurred, or that appellant had the knowledge or ability to aid in its recovery, but failed to do so. The Commission's Rule 23-19.03(1)(a)2 specifically provides for consideration of "great ... pecuniary loss," and Rule 23-19.03(1)(c)1, "failed or refused to make restitution where he was able to do so," as aggravating circumstances. Under appropriate facts, we have no doubt that the use of these factors would be proper. See White v. Florida Parole and Probation Commission, 394 So.2d 472 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Roberts v. United States, supra, footnote 9.

Nevertheless, due primarily to procedural deficiencies contributed to by both parties, we have encountered some difficulties in arriving at a solution in the case before us.

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