TERRANCE WEEKS, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT

Fla. 4th DCA | 1995-08-02
No. 94-0577
GLICKSTEIN, STONE and WARNER, JJ., concur.
659 So. 2d 695 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1995) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Weeks appealed his DUI manslaughter conviction and sentence. The court affirmed the conviction and twelve-year sentence but reversed the trial court's imposition of prosecution costs to reimburse state attorneys' fees and restitution ordered without determining ability to pay, remanding for further proceedings.


Holding

State attorneys' fees are not recoverable as costs of prosecution under section 939.01(1), which limits costs to investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies and fire departments. Restitution cannot be ordered without a determination of the defendant's ability to pay; on remand, the trial court must either conduct an evidentiary hearing on ability to pay or strike the restitution provision.


Headnotes

[1] State attorneys' fees are not recoverable as costs of prosecution under Florida Statutes section 939.01(1).

[2] The addition of Florida Statutes section 939.01(10) does not broaden the definition of costs of prosecution to include attorneys' fees.

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Key Quotes

“State attorneys' fees are not recoverable as costs of prosecution under section 939.01(1), Florida Statutes (1991 & Supp.1992).”

Establishes the core holding that attorneys' fees cannot be imposed as prosecution costs against a criminal defendant.

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Facts & Procedural History

Terrance Weeks was convicted of DUI manslaughter and sentenced to twelve years in the Department of Corrections followed by three years probation. The…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We affirm appellant’s conviction for DUI manslaughter and sentence of twelve years DOC incarceration, followed by three years probation. However, we reverse the trial court’s imposition of (1) prosecution costs to reimburse state attorneys’ fees, and (2) restitution without a determination of appellant’s ability to pay, and remand.

As for the former imposition, the state’s position is not persuasive. State attorneys’ fees are not recoverable as costs of prosecution under section 939.01(1), Florida Statutes (1991 & Supp.1992). See, e.g., Bell v. State, 652 So. 2d 1192 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Smith v. State, 606 So. 2d 427 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), rev. denied, 618 So. 2d 211 (Fla.1993). Section 939.01(1), Florida Statutes, reads:

(1) In all criminal cases the costs of prosecution, including investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies, and by fire departments for arson investigations, if requested and documented by such agencies, shall be included and entered in the judgment rendered against the convicted person.

Based on the language of subsection (1), the Smith court concluded that costs of prosecution are limited to investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies and fire departments.

The state asserts that the interpretation of costs of prosecution in Smith, which is the seminal decision in this area, was limited by subsection (9), which reads:

(9) Investigative costs which are recovered shall be returned to the appropriate investigative agency which incurred the expense. Costs shall include actual expenses incurred in conducting the investigation and prosecution of the criminal case; however, costs may also include the salaries of permanent employees. Thus, the state contends that the definition of costs of prosecution has been broadened by the subsequent addition of subsection (10), which was added after the year of the statute that was applicable in Smith. See, e.g., Bell, 652 So. 2d at 1193. Subsection (10) reads:
(10) Costs that are collected by the state attorney under this section shall be deposited into the state attorney’s grants and donations trust fund to be used during the fiscal year in which the funds are collected, or in any subsequent fiscal year, for actual expenses incurred in investigating and prosecuting criminal cases, which may include the salaries of permanent employees.

§ 939.01(10), Fla.Stat. (Supp.1992). More recent eases do not discuss the effect of subsection (10) on the definition of costs of prosecution.

Contrary to the state’s contention that subsection (10) should be read to broaden the Smith court’s definition of prosecution costs, we conclude that the addition of subsection (10) does not affect the holding of Smith. The Smith court’s analysis is based on the language of subsection (1) itself and its reference to investigative costs. This restriction of costs of prosecution to investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies and fire departments does not depend upon any reference in subsection (9). This makes sense because although subsection (9) reiterates what can be included as costs, in our view, its function is to inform us where costs recovered are to be returned.

We believe that subsection (10) has a similar function in that it informs us only how those investigative costs collected by the state attorney’s office are to be utilized. A careful reading of this language only indicates that costs collected and deposited into the designated fund can be utilized to pay expenses of prosecution, including salaries of permanent employees of the state attorney’s office. However, this does not say that the costs taxed against the defendant can include attorneys’ fees.

With respect to the question of restitution, because the trial court erred in ordering restitution without a determination of appellant’s ability to pay same, on remand the trial court has the option of either conducting the appropriate evidentiary hearing or striking the restitution provision. See § 775.089(6), Fla.Stat. (1991); Filmore v. State, 656 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); McInnis v. State, 605 So. 2d 153 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 613 So. 2d 6 (Fla.1992).

GLICKSTEIN, STONE and WARNER, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Pickett v. State, 678 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)
    …condition could be read to include reimbursement of the state attorney’s fees, the condition is not proper because state attorneys’ fees are not recoverable as costs of prosecution under subsection 939.01(1), Florida Statutes (1995). Weeks v. State, 659 So. 2d 695 (Fla. 4th DCA), rev. denied, 666 So. 2d 145 (Fla.1995). Appellant also challenges condition (7) of the probation order which prohibits him from using intoxicants to excess. He asserts that the failure of the court to orally pronounce this condition…

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