Hermanson v. State

604 So. 2d 775, 1992 WL 148245
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 2, 1992
Docket77067
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 604 So. 2d 775 (Hermanson 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
Hermanson v. State, 604 So. 2d 775, 1992 WL 148245 (Fla. 1992).

Opinion

604 So.2d 775 (1992)

William HERMANSON and Christine Hermanson, Petitioners,
v.
STATE of Florida, Respondent.

No. 77067.

Supreme Court of Florida.

July 2, 1992.

Thomas H. Dart of Dart, Ford, Strelec & Spivey, Sarasota, and Larry Klein and Jane Kreusler-Walsh of Klein & Walsh, P.A., West Palm Beach, for petitioners.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Peggy A. Quince and Carol M. Dittmar, Asst. Attys. Gen., Tampa, for respondent.

William G. Christopher of Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn, West Palm Beach, amicus curiae for First Church of Christ, Scientist.

OVERTON, Justice.

This is a petition to review Hermanson v. State, 570 So.2d 322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990), in which the district court certified the following question as being of great public importance:

IS THE SPIRITUAL TREATMENT PROVISO CONTAINED IN SECTION 415.503(7)(f), FLORIDA STATUTES (1985), A STATUTORY DEFENSE TO A CRIMINAL PROSECUTION UNDER SECTION 827.04(1), FLORIDA STATUTES (1985)?

Id. at 337. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.

In this tragic case, Amy Hermanson, the daughter of William and Christine Hermanson, died from untreated juvenile diabetes. The Hermansons, members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, were charged and convicted of child abuse resulting in third-degree murder for failing to provide Amy with conventional medical treatment. The Hermansons received four-year suspended prison sentences on their murder convictions and were ordered to serve fifteen years' probation. The district court, finding that the spiritual treatment accommodation provision of section 415.503(7)(f), Florida Statutes (1985), did not prevent *776 their prosecution and conviction, affirmed the trial court's sentence and certified the above question. In summary, we find that sections 827.04(1) and 415.503(7)(f), when considered together, are ambiguous and result in a denial of due process because the statutes in question fail to give parents notice of the point at which their reliance on spiritual treatment loses statutory approval and becomes culpably negligent. We further find that a person of ordinary intelligence cannot be expected to understand the extent to which reliance on spiritual healing is permitted and the point at which this reliance constitutes a criminal offense under the subject statutes. The statutes have created a trap that the legislature should address. Accordingly, we quash the decision of the district court.

Statutory History

The statutory provisions are critical to the legal and constitutional issues presented in this case. Florida's child abuse statute, section 827.04(1)-(2), Florida Statutes (1985), provides:

(1) Whoever, willfully or by culpable negligence, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or who, knowingly or by culpable negligence, permits physical or mental injury to the child, and in so doing causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to such child, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree... .
(2) Whoever, willfully or by culpable negligence, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment, or who, knowingly or by culpable negligence, permits physical or mental injury to the child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree... .

The third-degree murder provision of section 782.04(4), Florida Statutes (1985), provides that the killing of a human being while engaged in the commission of child abuse constitutes murder in the third degree and is a felony of the second degree. Section 415.503 provides, in part, as follows:

(1) "Abused or neglected child" means a child whose physical or mental health or welfare is harmed, or threatened with harm, by the acts or omissions of the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare.
... .
(7) "Harm" to a child's health or welfare can occur when the parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare:
... .
(f) Fails to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or health care, although financially able to do so or although offered financial or other means to do so; however, a parent or other person responsible for the child's welfare legitimately practicing his religious beliefs, who by reason thereof does not provide specified medical treatment for a child, may not be considered abusive or neglectful for that reason alone, but such an exception does not:
1. Eliminate the requirement that such a case be reported to the department;
2. Prevent the department from investigating such a case; or
3. Preclude a court from ordering, when the health of the child requires it, the provision of medical services by a physician, as defined herein, or treatment by a duly accredited practitioner who relies solely on spiritual means for healing in accordance with the tenets and practices of a well-recognized church or religious organization.

(Emphasis added.)[1]

The religious accommodation provision in section 415.503(7)(f) was initially passed by *777 the legislature in 1975 as section 827.07(2), Florida Statutes (1975), the same chapter that contained the child abuse provision under which the Hermansons were prosecuted. The senate staff analysis of the religious accommodation provision stated that these provisions were "a defense for parents who decline medical treatment for legitimate religious reasons." Staff of Fla. S. Comm. Crim. Just., SB 1186 (1975) Staff Analysis 1 (final May 26, 1975) (available at Fla. Dep't of State, Div. of Archives, Tallahassee, Fla.). In 1983, the Division of Statutory Revision moved the above religious accommodation provision from chapter 827 to chapter 415.

Facts

The facts of this case, as stipulated to by the parties in the trial court, are as follows:

1. The Defendant, William F. Hermanson, is 39 years of age. Mr. Hermanson is married to the Defendant, Christine Hermanson, who is 36 years of age. Since June of 1973, Mr. and Mrs. Hermanson have resided in Sarasota, Florida. At all times material to this case, they resided at... . Mr. Hermanson is a bank vice president, and Mrs. Hermanson is the director of the Sarasota Fine Arts Academy. Mr. and Mrs. Hermanson have graduate degrees from Grand Valley State College and the University of Michigan, respectively. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Hermanson has ever been arrested for, or convicted of, a crime.
2. Mr. and Mrs. Hermanson were married on May 30, 1970. There have been two children born of this marriage: Eric Thomas Hermanson, date of birth 8/26/77 and Amy Kathleen Hermanson (deceased) date of birth 7/16/79. There are no facts indicating that Mr. or Mrs. Hermanson ever deprived their children of necessary food, clothing or shelter as those terms are used in section 827.04, Florida Statutes.
3. According to the autopsy report of the Medical Examiner, James C. Wilson, M.D., on September 30, 1986, at approximately 1:55 p.m., Amy Hermanson died. Dr. Wilson found the cause of death to be diabetic ketoacidosis due to juvenile onset diabetes mellitus. Additional autopsy findings of dehydration and weight loss were consistent with the disease process. Dr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Tennessee v. Jacqueline Crank
468 S.W.3d 15 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 2015)
State v. Leilani E. Neumann
Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2013
State v. Dale R. Neumann
2013 WI 58 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2013)
Hughes v. State
943 So. 2d 176 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Cloyd v. State
943 So. 2d 149 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2006)
Johnson v. State
2003 WY 9 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2003)
DuFresne v. State
826 So. 2d 272 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2002)
State v. DuFresne
782 So. 2d 888 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)
Eversley v. State
748 So. 2d 963 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1999)
State v. Dial
730 So. 2d 813 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1999)
Commonwealth v. Nixon
718 A.2d 311 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
State v. Mark Marks, PA
698 So. 2d 533 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1997)
Quinn v. State
662 So. 2d 947 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1995)
Lundman v. McKown
530 N.W.2d 807 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1995)
Dickerson v. Stuart
877 F. Supp. 1556 (M.D. Florida, 1995)
Commonwealth v. Twitchell
617 N.E.2d 609 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
604 So. 2d 775, 1992 WL 148245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hermanson-v-state-fla-1992.