State v. Veilleux

859 So. 2d 1224, 2003 WL 22514534
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 7, 2003
Docket2D02-3226, 2D02-3256
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 859 So. 2d 1224 (State v. Veilleux) 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
State v. Veilleux, 859 So. 2d 1224, 2003 WL 22514534 (Fla. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

859 So.2d 1224 (2003)

STATE of Florida, Petitioner,
v.
Eddie A. VEILLEUX, Respondent.

Nos. 2D02-3226, 2D02-3256.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

November 7, 2003.

*1225 Bernie McCabe, State Attorney and William H. Burgess, III, Assistant State Attorney, Clearwater, and Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee and Katherine V. Blanco, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Petitioner.

Bob Dillinger, Public Defender and Joy K. Goodyear, Assistant Public Defender, Clearwater, for Respondent.

*1226 COVINGTON, Judge.

The State petitions this court to issue a writ of certiorari and quash the trial court's interlocutory pretrial order granting Eddie A. Veilleux's motion in limine. Because the trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of the law, we deny the State's petition.

BACKGROUND

On February 16, 2002, police stopped Mr. Veilleux for driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen. The State alleges that Mr. Veilleux told officers his name was "Mark Lee White" and that he had a valid New Hampshire driver's license. The State also submits that Mr. Veilleux signed traffic citations for reckless driving and driving without a valid driver's license using the name "Mark Lee White." The police discovered Mr. Veilleux's true identity when they heard a passenger refer to him by a nickname.

The State charged Mr. Veilleux with forgery pursuant to section 831.01, Florida Statutes (2002). He filed a motion in limine to exclude the forged traffic citations based on section 316.650(9), Florida Statutes (2002), and Dixon v. State, 812 So.2d 595 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). Section 316.650(9) provides that traffic citations "shall not be admissible evidence in any trial." The First District in Dixon specifically held that section 316.650(9) prohibits trial courts from admitting traffic citations as evidence in trials for forgery of the citations. Id. In granting Mr. Veilleux's motion in limine, the trial court stated, "[T]he law is such that I am bound to follow the Dixon case." Dixon is the lone district court case directly on point and is factually indistinguishable from this case.

In Dixon, the defendant gave the police officer who stopped him a false name. Id. at 595-96. In addition, he signed a traffic citation using the false name. Id. at 596. When his true identity was discovered, the defendant in Dixon was charged with forgery[1] as well as driving without a valid driver's license. Id. Dixon filed a motion in limine to prohibit the State from introducing the traffic citation as evidence. Id. The trial court denied his motion, finding that the legislature could not have intended the exclusion of a traffic citation when the execution of the citation is the basis of the offense at trial. Id. The First District reversed, observing that section 316.650(9) contains no exceptions to its clear and unambiguous prohibition against admitting a traffic citation as evidence in any trial. Dixon, 812 So.2d at 596. The court stated:

It is a well-established principle of statutory interpretation that an unambiguous statute is not subject to judicial construction, no matter how wise it may seem to alter the plain language of the statute. State v. Jett, 626 So.2d 691, 693 (Fla.1993). "Moreover, `[e]ven where a court is convinced that the legislature really meant and intended something not expressed in the phraseology of the act, it will not deem itself authorized to depart from the plain meaning of the language which is free from ambiguity.'" St. Petersburg Bank & Trust Co. v. Hamm, 414 So.2d 1071, 1073 (Fla. 1982) (quoting Van Pelt v. Hilliard, 75 Fla. 792, 78 So. 693 (1918)).

Id.

The Dixon court pointed out that while courts may interpret a statute in a way that contradicts the statute's plain language where there is "discernable legislative intent" to support such an interpretation, *1227 see Vildibill v. Johnson, 492 So.2d 1047, 1049 (Fla.1986), the court in Dixon had no basis to discern a legislative intent to make an exception to section 316.650(9)'s unambiguous language. Dixon, 812 So.2d at 596. Accordingly, the First District held that, "in view of the absolute mandatory terms of section 316.650(9)," the trial court erred when it denied the defendant's motion in limine in his forgery trial. Id. at 596.

Like the First District in Dixon, we have no basis in this case to discern a legislative intent to make an exception to section 316.650(9)'s unambiguous language. The First District concluded it is the legislature's exclusive province to amend section 316.650(9) if it did not intend the result the statute's plain language mandates. We agree. As Chief Justice Berger stated in Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 193, 98 S.Ct. 2279, 57 L.Ed.2d 117 (1978) (quoting Hill v. TVA, 549 F.2d 1064, 1069 (6th Cir.1977)):

Our individual appraisal of the wisdom or unwisdom of a particular course consciously selected by the Congress is to be put aside in the process of interpreting a statute. Once the meaning of an enactment is discerned and its constitutionality determined, the judicial process comes to an end. We do not sit as a committee of review, nor are we vested with the power of veto.... [I]n our constitutional system the commitment to the separation of powers is too fundamental for us to pre-empt congressional action by judicially decreeing what accords with "common sense and the public weal." Our Constitution vests such responsibilities in the political branches.

"If the statute is clear and unambiguous `that is the end of the matter, for the court... must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress.'" Bd. of Governors v. Dimension Fin. Corp., 474 U.S. 361, 368, 106 S.Ct. 681, 88 L.Ed.2d 691 (1986) (quoting Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984)).

We acknowledge that, as the Dixon court observed, applying the plain and ordinary meaning of the words of section 316.650(9) to these facts "will make convictions for forgery of a traffic citation more difficult...."[2] 812 So.2d at 596. As the trial court here noted, however, the State can bring in evidence from the officer who issued the citation and witnessed the false signature, as well as other evidence of the defendant's identity and intent.

THE LIMITED STANDARD OF REVIEW ON CERTIORARI

Even if we disagreed with the First District's holding in Dixon, the limited standard of review on certiorari would preclude us from granting relief in this case. An interlocutory pretrial order in a criminal case excluding evidence is subject to certiorari review only when the order departs from the essential requirements of the law and plenary appeal cannot provide an adequate remedy. Trepal v. State, 754 So.2d 702, 705 (Fla.2000); State v. Pettis, 520 So.2d 250, 252-53 (Fla.1988); State v. Busciglio, 426 So.2d 1233, 1233 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983).

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Bluebook (online)
859 So. 2d 1224, 2003 WL 22514534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-veilleux-fladistctapp-2003.