Lindsay v. State

606 So. 2d 652, 1992 WL 222132
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 16, 1992
Docket91-0532
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 606 So. 2d 652 (Lindsay v. State) 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
Lindsay v. State, 606 So. 2d 652, 1992 WL 222132 (Fla. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

606 So.2d 652 (1992)

Charles F. LINDSAY, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, Appellee.

No. 91-0532.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

September 16, 1992.

*653 Norman A. Green, Vero Beach, for appellant.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and James J. Carney, Asst. Atty. Gen., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

Peter Birch of Birch and Murrell, West Palm Beach, Robert Augustus Harper, Jr., Tallahassee, and George Tragos, Clearwater, for amicus curiae Florida Ass'n of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

FARMER, Judge.

The County Court for Indian River County has certified the following question as one of great public importance:[1]

Is a condition of probation requiring a probationer to consent to placing and paying for a "DUI ad in the Vero Beach Press Journal newspaper" consisting of that probationer's picture (mug shot), name and the caption "DUI-Convicted" violative of said probationer's rights under the First, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and/or Article I, Sections 2, 9, 17, and 23 of the Florida Constitution? [sic]

We have jurisdiction and answer the question "no", with the following explanation.

The facts are not disputed. Lindsay was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol under section 316.193, Florida Statutes (1989), after he ran into the rear of an Indian River County Sheriff's patrol car. The charging document states that he had a blood-alcohol level of .18 percent (from a breathalyzer test). The arresting officer seized an open can of cold beer at the scene, which had been thrown from the vehicle, and another unopened can in the vehicle. He described Lindsay as being "red-faced with a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and person." He added that his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot.

Lindsay pleaded nolo contendere. At the sentencing hearing, his lawyer argued that he had no prior record and that the event was an isolated "indiscretion". He said that his family had "suffered through this since then" and that he had already completed the DUI school.[2] The school apparently ordered Lindsay to undergo some counseling, the nature or purpose of which is not apparent from the record.[3] His lawyer *654 asked for the minimum mandatory sentence.

The trial court thereupon sentenced Lindsay to probation for a period of 12 months, required him to do 50 hours of community service, suspended his driver's license for a period of one year, and imposed as a condition of probation that he "place a DUI news ad in the Vero Beach Press Journal within 30 days." At that point his attorney objected to the DUI ad saying: "(Indiscernible) cruel and unusual punishment and reserve the right to appeal (Indiscernible)." The judge responded by giving some instructions on how to go about submitting the ad, the cost for which ($51) is to be borne by Lindsay.

One month later, after a notice of appeal had been timely filed, the trial judge entered an order certifying the above question and attached to that order a copy of a form of the DUI ad used in a previous case. He said that this defendant was the first to have appealed this condition of probation. The judge has apparently imposed this condition on other probationers for the same offense but does so selectively rather than routinely.

Section 316.193(2), Florida Statutes (1991), prescribes a penalty of a fine from $250 to $500 and imprisonment for up to 6 months for a first conviction of the DUI offense. Moreover, section 316.193(6)(a) provides, in addition to the fine and imprisonment, that:

(a) For the first conviction thereof, the court shall place the defendant on probation for a period not to exceed 1 year and, as a condition of such probation, shall order the defendant to participate in public service or a community work project for a minimum of 50 hours. * * * However, in no event may the total period of probation and incarceration exceed 1 year.

Section 948.03, Florida Statutes (1991), deals generally with the conditions the court may impose as a component of the probation, saying in pertinent part as follows:

(1) The court shall determine the terms and conditions of probation * * * and may include among them the following, that the probationer * * * shall:
(a) Report to probation and parole supervisors as directed.
(b) Permit such supervisors to visit him at his home or elsewhere.
(c) Work faithfully at suitable employment insofar as may be possible.
(d) Remain within a specified place.
(e) Make reparation or restitution to the aggrieved party for the damage or loss caused by his offense in an amount to be determined by the court. The court shall make reparation or restitution a condition of probation, unless it determines that clear and compelling reasons exist to the contrary. If the court does not order restitution, or orders restitution of only a portion of the damages, as provided in s. 775.089, it shall state on the record in detail the reasons therefor.
(f) Support his legal dependents to the best of his ability.
(g) Make payment of the debt due and owing to the state under s. 960.17, subject to modification based on change of circumstances.
(h) Pay any attorney's fees and costs assessed under s. 27.56, subject to modification based on change of circumstances.
(i) Not associate with persons engaged in criminal activities.
(j) 1. Submit to random testing as directed by the correctional probation officer or the professional staff of the treatment center where he is receiving treatment to determine the presence or use of alcohol or controlled substances.
2. If the offense was a controlled substance violation and the period of probation immediately follows a period of incarceration in the state correction system, the conditions shall include a requirement that the offender submit to *655 random substance abuse testing intermittently throughout the term of supervision, upon the direction of the correctional probation officer as defined in s. 943.10(3).
* * * * * *
(5) The enumeration of specific kinds of terms and conditions shall not prevent the court from adding thereto such other or others as it considers proper. The court may rescind or modify at any time the terms and conditions theretofore imposed by it on the probationer * * *.
(6)(a) If the court imposes a period of residential treatment or incarceration as a condition of probation or community control, the residential treatment or incarceration shall be restricted to [certain named facilities].
(b) It is the intent of the legislature that a county jail be used as the last available alternative for placement of an offender as a condition of probation. However, this shall not create a right of placement for the probationer, nor shall it restrict judicial discretion in ordering such treatment or incarceration. [e.s.]

The scope of the discretion given to trial judges under these statutes is breathtaking. Even a twelve-month term of incarceration may be imposed by the trial judge as a condition of probation on any non-capital offender, so long as the combined periods do not exceed the maximum period of the statutory penalty.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
606 So. 2d 652, 1992 WL 222132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lindsay-v-state-fladistctapp-1992.