STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
YVONNE WILLIAMS, APPELLEE
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Florida appeals a trial court's decision striking down a drug trafficking statute as unconstitutional cruel punishment. The appellate court reverses, holding that because trial courts may refer defendants to drug treatment programs under a separate statute, the mandatory minimum sentence provision is not actually mandatory and therefore does not violate the Florida Constitution's cruel or unusual punishment clause.
Section 893.13(1)(e)1 does not violate the cruel or unusual punishment provision of Article I, Section 17, of the Florida Constitution because trial courts have discretion to refer defendants to drug treatment programs under section 397.12 instead of imposing the minimum three-year sentence.
[1] A statute does not violate the cruel or unusual punishment provision of the Florida Constitution when trial courts have discretion to refer defendants to drug treatment p…
[2] A mandatory minimum sentence for a first-time drug offense does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment if the statute allows for referral to a drug abuse program.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“may refer a defendant convicted under section 893.13(l)(e)l to a drug abuse program pursuant to section 397.12 rather than impose a minimum three-year sentence”
The Florida Supreme Court's holding in Scates that trial courts have discretion to avoid the mandatory minimum through drug treatment referral
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn April 1991, Yvonne Williams, a first-time offender with substance abuse issues, was arrested for purchasing crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of an e…
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PER CURIAM.
The State of Florida appeals the trial court’s order finding section 893.13(l)(e)l, Florida Statutes (1991), unconstitutional on its face and as it applies to Yvonne Williams. The trial court’s ruling was based on the cruel or unusual punishment provision within Article I, Section 17, of the Florida Constitution. We reverse.
In April 1991, the police arrested Williams, who suffers from substance abuse and dependency, for buying one rock of crack cocaine within one thousand feet of an elementary school at 11:15 p.m. The State charged her, in part, with a first degree felony under section 893.13(l)(e)l. Before her arrest, Williams had no prior felony convictions.
Williams moved the trial court to declare section 893.13(l)(e)l unconstitutional. In granting the motion, the trial court stated that the statute violated the cruel or unusual punishment provision of the Florida Constitution, because a first time offender faces a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. The trial court found, among other things, that a three-year mandatory minimum sentence is a “cruel” punishment, because it precludes a trial court from referring a defendant to a drug treatment program instead of, or in addition to, a prison term.
In Scates v. State, 603 So. 2d 504 (Fla.1992), the Florida Supreme Court held that a trial court “may refer a defendant convicted under section 893.13(l)(e)l to a drug abuse program pursuant to section 397.12 rather than impose a minimum three-year sentence.” Id. at 504. Thus, the minimum three-year sentence of section 893.13(l)(e)l, which Florida courts had construed to be mandatory, is, in fact, not mandatory. A trial court has the discretion to refer a defendant to a drug treatment program under section 397.12. The referral to the drug treatment program “may be in lieu of or in addition to final adjudication, imposition of any penalty or sentence, or any other similar action.” § 397.12, Fla.Stat. (1991).
Consequently, in view of the supreme court’s ruling in Scates, we hold that section 893.13(l)(e)l, Florida Statutes (1991), does not violate the cruel or unusual punishment provision of Article I, Section 17, of the Florida Constitution. The trial court is reversed, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
GLICKSTEIN, C.J., and ANSTEAD and GUNTHER, JJ., concur.
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State v. Nelson, 609 So. 2d 774 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)…l, Florida Statutes (applying a three year mandatory minimum sentence to those convicted of sale, purchase, etc. of a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a school) unconstitutional. We reverse. This court has determined, in State v. Williams, 603 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), that this statute does not violate the cruel or unusual punishment provision of Article I, Section 17, of the Florida Constitution. We also note that although Williams appears to rely entirely upon Scales v. State, 603 So. 2d…
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State v. Cleveland, 616 So. 2d 632 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)…PER CURIAM. Reversed and remanded for further proceedings in accord with State v. Williams, 603 So. 2d 635 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992). ANSTEAD, HERSEY and WARNER, JJ., concur.…
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- Carrick A. Scates v. State, 603 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 1992)