THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
WANDA GOMEZ, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The State appeals a trial court's dismissal and reduction of a habitual traffic offender charge from a third degree felony to a second degree misdemeanor. The court reverses, holding that Florida Statute 322.34(10)(a)3 refers only to failure to comply with a civil penalty and does not include failure to appear at a scheduled hearing.
The term 'failing to comply with a civil penalty required in s. 318.15' refers only to the civil penalty requirement and does not include failure to appear at a scheduled hearing. The legislature drew a distinction between non-compliance with a validly assessed civil penalty and deliberate refusal to appear at a hearing.
[1] A statute referencing "failure to comply with a civil penalty required in s. …
[2] The canon of statutory construction *expressio unius est exclusio alterius* dictates that the mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another.
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“The issue is whether the term '[flailing to comply with a civil penalty required in s. 318.15,' § 322.34(10)(a)3„ includes by reference all the provisions of section 318.15, including the failure to appear at a scheduled hearing as involved in this case. Contrary to the ruling below, we think the answer is self-evidently no.”
States the legal issue and the court's holding that the statute refers only to civil penalty non-compliance, not failure to appear.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWanda Gomez was charged with unlawful driving as a habitual traffic offender under Florida Statute 322.34(5), a third degree felony. The trial court g…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Expressio Unius Est Exclusio Alterius cases and more on FLexlaw
The State appeals a trial court’s ruling granting defendant’s motion to dismiss and, citing section 318.15, Florida Statutes (2011), reducing the charge of unlawful driving as a habitual traffic offender in violation of section 322.34(5), Florida Statutes (2011), a third degree felony, to a second degree misdemeanor. We find State v. Wooden, 92 So.3d 886, 888 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) determinative, and reverse on that basis.1 As we stated in Wooden:
The issue is whether the term “[flailing to comply with a civil penalty required in s. 318.15,” § 322.34(10)(a)3„ includes by reference all the provisions of section 318.15, including the failure to appear at a scheduled hearing as involved in this case. Contrary to the ruling below, we think the answer is self-evidently no. Section 322.34(10)(a)3. simply does not say “those offenses contained in section 318.15.” It says only failure to comply with a civil penalty required in that section. Thus, it refers only to the civil penalty requirement and not to any of the others. See City of Miami v. Valdez, 847 So.2d 1005, 1008 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) (“[W]hen a law expressly describes a particular situation where something should apply [here, non-compliance with a civil penalty], an inference must be drawn that what is not included by specific reference [here, failure to appear] was intended to be omitted or excluded.”); see also State v. Hearns, 961 So.2d 211, 219 (Fla.2007) (“Under the canon of statutory construction expres-sio unius est exclusio alterius, the mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another.”).
*259It seems to us that the legislature, as it was clearly entitled to do, drew a distinction, which is decisive in this case, between a failure to comply with a civil penalty, which occurs when such a penalty has been validly assessed after trial or without contest, and the deliberate refusal to appear at a hearing, with its consequent disruption of the court’s process and which, it must be added, would actually preclude the valid assessment of a penalty because there would have been no trial in the first place.
Accordingly, we reverse the order below with instructions to reinstate the information.
Wooden, 92 So.3d at 888.
Because analysis in Wooden is controlling, the order under review is reversed and the case remanded with instructions to reinstate the information.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Mobley v. State, 132 So. 3d 1160 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)…he allegedly-correct legal standard and rule accordingly. That is the result when, for example, the trial court erroneously grants a motion to dismiss in a criminal case and we reverse and remand for reinstatement of the information. State v. Gomez, 103 So. 3d 258 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012). Conclusion For these reasons, I respectfully dissent. I would deny the defendant’s petition for prohibition without prejudice to his rights to raise self-defense and SYG immunity as affirmative defenses and issues for resolutio…
-
State v. Latorya Latrice Cooper, 118 So. 3d 270 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)…sdemeanor information within thirty days. The State’s appeal followed. The issue raised in this appeal was first addressed by this Court in State v. Wooden, 92 So. 3d 886, 888 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012), and later followed by this Court in State v. Gomez, 103 So. 3d 258 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012). Because the analysis set forth in Wooden is determinative, we reverse the order granting the defendant’s Motion to Reduce the Charge to a Misdemeanor.1 Reversed. . We note that the trial court’s order was issued on June 15,…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Hearns, 961 So. 2d 211 (Fla. 2007)
- City OF Miami v. Valdez, 847 So. 2d 1005 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)
- State v. Wooden, 92 So. 3d 886 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)