Exposito v. State

891 So. 2d 525, 2004 WL 2973860
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedDecember 23, 2004
DocketSC03-1248
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 891 So. 2d 525 (Exposito v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Exposito v. State, 891 So. 2d 525, 2004 WL 2973860 (Fla. 2004).

Opinion

891 So.2d 525 (2004)

Alex EXPOSITO, Petitioner,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. SC03-1248.

Supreme Court of Florida.

December 23, 2004.

*526 Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender and Robert Godfrey, Assistant Public Defender, Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami, FL, for Petitioner.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, and Richard L. Polin, Bureau Chief, Criminal Appeals and Consuelo Maingot, Assistant Attorney General, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Respondent.

PARIENTE, C.J.

This case presents the issue of whether section 924.07, Florida Statutes (2004), authorizes a State appeal from a post-trial order reducing a charge pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.620. The Third District Court of Appeal answered this question in the affirmative. See State v. Exposito, 854 So.2d 674, 675 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). However, the Third District certified conflict with the Fourth District Court of Appeal decision in State v. Richars, 792 So.2d 570, 571 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).[1] Based on the plain language of the statute, we hold that section 924.07 does not authorize a State appeal from a post-trial order reducing a charge.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1999, the Legislature reduced the statutory threshold for a conviction of trafficking in cannabis under section 893.135, Florida Statutes, from fifty to twenty-five pounds of cannabis. See ch. 99-188, § 9, at 1056, Laws of Fla. In March of 2001, Exposito was charged with one count of possession with intent to sell cannabis (count I), and one count of trafficking in cannabis pursuant to section 893.135(1)(a)(1), Florida Statutes (2000), as amended (count II). The State nolle *527 prossed (i.e., voluntarily dismissed) count I, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on count II.

Prior to sentencing, Exposito filed a motion seeking a new trial or a reduction of count II to possession of cannabis with intent to distribute under rule 3.620. Exposito argued he could not be legally sentenced for a conviction of trafficking, a first-degree felony, in light of the Second District's decision in Taylor v. State, 818 So.2d 544, 550 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), disapproved of by Franklin v. State, 887 So.2d 1063 (Fla. 2004), declaring chapter 99-188 unconstitutional. The trial court, bound by Taylor,[2] adjudged Exposito guilty of the lesser-included offense of possession with intent to sell, a third-degree felony. Exposito was sentenced to two years' community control. The State appealed the reduction of the trafficking conviction.

Exposito argued on appeal that the Third District was without jurisdiction to hear the State's appeal. Exposito relied on Richars, in which the Fourth District held that a State appeal from a post-trial order reducing a charge to a lesser-included offense pursuant to rule 3.620 was not authorized under section 924.07.

The Third District declined to follow Richars, relying instead on its decision in State v. Hankerson, 482 So.2d 1386 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). See Exposito, 854 So.2d at 675. In Hankerson, the Third District held that section 924.07 authorized a State appeal from a pretrial order reducing a charge of robbery to theft. See 482 So.2d at 1387. The court reasoned that "[a]nalytically, an order reducing a charge set forth in the information or indictment to some lesser-included charge is, despite its label, an order dismissing the charge in the information." Hankerson, 482 So.2d at 1387.

In Exposito, the Third District found that rationale dispositive and held that section 924.07 authorized a State appeal from a post-trial order reducing Exposito's conviction to a lesser-included offense. See 854 So.2d at 675. The Third District certified conflict with Richars. See id. Additionally, in accord with its decision in State v. Franklin, 836 So.2d 1112 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003), approved, 887 So.2d 1063 (Fla. 2004), holding chapter 99-188 constitutional, the Third District reinstated Exposito's charge and conviction. See id.

ANALYSIS

The State's right to appeal in a criminal case must be "expressly conferred by statute." Ramos v. State, 505 So.2d 418, 421 (Fla.1987); see also State v. Gaines, 770 So.2d 1221, 1227 n. 8 (Fla.2000) (recognizing that the "State's right to appeal an adverse ruling is a limited one that is strictly governed by statute"). Thus, the issue we must decide is whether the State was authorized under section 924.07 to appeal a post-trial order reducing a charge pursuant to rule 3.620.[3]

Section 924.07 provides:

*528 (1) The state may appeal from:
(a) An order dismissing an indictment or information or any count thereof or dismissing an affidavit charging the commission of a criminal offense, the violation of probation, the violation of community control, or the violation of any supervised correctional release.
(b) An order granting a new trial.
(c) An order arresting judgment.
(d) A ruling on a question of law when the defendant is convicted and appeals from the judgment. Once the state's cross-appeal is instituted, the appellate court shall review and rule upon the question raised by the state regardless of the disposition of the defendant's appeal.
(e) The sentence, on the ground that it is illegal.
(f) A judgment discharging a prisoner on habeas corpus.
(g) An order adjudicating a defendant insane under the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.
(h) All other pretrial orders, except that it may not take more than one appeal under this subsection in any case.
(i) A sentence imposed below the lowest permissible sentence established by the Criminal Punishment Code under chapter 921.
(j) A ruling granting a motion for judgment of acquittal after a jury verdict.
(k) An order denying restitution under s. 775.089.
(l) An order or ruling suppressing evidence or evidence in limine at trial.
(m) An order withholding adjudication of guilt in violation of s. 775.08435.
(2) An appeal under this section must embody all assignments of error in each pretrial order that the state seeks to have reviewed. The state shall pay all costs of the appeal except for the defendant's attorney's fees.

§ 924.07, Fla. Stat. (2004). In construing this statute, this Court must give the "statutory language its plain and ordinary meaning," Seagrave v. State, 802 So.2d 281, 286 (Fla.2001), and is not "at liberty to add words ... that were not placed there by the Legislature." Hayes v. State, 750 So.2d 1, 4 (Fla.1999). Further, "statutes which afford the government the right to appeal in criminal cases should be construed narrowly." State v. Jones, 488 So.2d 527, 528 (Fla.1986).

The Third District held in this case that the State was authorized under section 924.07(1)(a) to appeal the trial court's order reducing the charge under rule 3.620 because "an order reducing a charge set forth in the information or indictment to some lesser-included charge is, despite its label, an order dismissing the charge in the information." Exposito, 854 So.2d at 675 (quoting Hankerson, 482 So.2d at 1387).

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Bluebook (online)
891 So. 2d 525, 2004 WL 2973860, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/exposito-v-state-fla-2004.