Case Name: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. James Benny YOUNG, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1978-01-18
Citations: 357 So. 2d 416
Docket Number: No. 77-757
Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. James Benny YOUNG, Appellee.
Judges: HOBSON, A. C. J., and GRIMES, J., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 357
Pages: 416–420

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. James Benny YOUNG, Appellee.
No. 77-757.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
Jan. 18, 1978.
Rehearing Denied April 7, 1978.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and William I. Munsey, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Tampa, for appellant.
M. David Alexander of Boswell, Boswell & Conner, Bartow, for appellee.

Opinion:
SCHEB, Judge.
In a prosecution for reckless operation of a motor vehicle resulting in death, can the state charge a defendant under the general manslaughter statute, or must he be charged under the vehicular homicide statute having a less severe penalty? The trial court concluded it was incumbent upon the state to charge a defendant under the vehicular homicide statute. We agree.
The state's amended information charged defendant Young with manslaughter arising out of the negligent, careless, and reckless operation of a tractor trailer which resulted in the death of Lillie Speed Neal in January 1977. The charge was filed under Section 782.07, Florida Statutes (1975), the general manslaughter statute which classifies the offense as a second-degree felony. Upon defendant's motion, the trial court dismissed the amended information with leave to the state to file another information alleging a violation of Section 782.071, Florida Statutes (1975), the vehicular homicide statute. Section 782.071 defines vehicular homicide as:
[T]he killing of a human being by the operation of a motor vehicle by another in a reckless manner likely to cause the death of, or great bodily harm to, another. Vehicular homicide is a felony of the third degree.
On this appeal the state contends the trial court erred in dismissing the amended information because defendant was effectively charged with manslaughter under Section 782.07, which states:
The killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, without lawful justification according to the provisions of chapter 776 and in cases in which such killing shall not be excusable homicide or murder, according to the provisions of this chapter, shall be deemed manslaughter and shall constitute a felony of the second degree.
It is a general principle of statutory construction that statutes on the same subject should be harmonized when possible, but that a statute dealing specifically with a subject takes precedence over another statute covering the same subject in general terms. Adams v. Culver, 111 So.2d 665 (Fla.1959); Marston v. Gainesville Sun Publishing Co., 341 So.2d 783 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). A related principle is that an earlier penal statute must yield to a later one dealing with the same subject and providing a different penalty. 1A Sutherland Statutory Construction, Section 23.26 (C. Sands 4th rev. ed. 1972). See Adams v. Culver, supra.
In Adams a defendant sought habeas corpus to overturn his conviction under Section 800.04, Florida Statutes (1957), prohibiting lewd and lascivious conduct in the presence of a minor under fourteen years of age. The conduct with which the defendant was charged, i. e., exhibiting a pornographic picture to a child, was also proscribed by Section 847.01, Florida Statutes (1957), which specifically prohibited the exhibition of pornographic pictures to persons under seventeen. The lewd-and-lascivious statute carried a maximum penalty of ten-years imprisonment; the pornographic-picture statute a maximum of three years. Based on the principles of statutory construction previously mentioned, the Supreme Court of Florida held the pornographic-picture statute alone was applicable. Justice Roberts, writing for the court, said:
Assuming, arguendo, that this is a "lewd or lascivious act" clearly within the intendment of § 800.04, cf. Boles v. State, 1946, 158 Fla. 220, 27 So.2d 293, the fact remains that the exhibition of a lewd and pornographic picture has been specially and explicitly dealt with by Subsections (1) and (2) of § 847.01, supra. It follows that . . . the specific statute, alone, is applicable to the offense charged against petitioner [defendant].
111 So.2d at 667.
Turning to the instant case, it becomes apparent that the vehicular homicide statute is the only statute under which defendant can be prosecuted. Though the general manslaughter statute has in the past been construed to include the negligent operation of an automobile resulting in death, the vehicular homicide statute, enacted subsequently to the manslaughter statute, deals specifically with this situation. Moreover, the legislature has prescribed different penalties for the two offenses. Manslaughter is a second-degree felony with a maximum penalty of fifteen years in prison or a $10,-000 fine, or both. Section 775.082(3)(c) and 775.083(l)(b), Florida Statutes (1975). Vehicular homicide, on the other hand, is a third-degree felony carrying a maximum penalty of only five-years imprisonment or a $5,000 fine, or both. Section 775.082(3)(d) and 775.083(l)(c), Florida Statutes (1975).
Although this point is of first impression in Florida, other jurisdictions have resolved the issue. In Atchley v. State, 473 P.2d 286 (Okl.Cr.1970), the defendant was convicted of manslaughter as a result of an automobile accident. On appeal the issue was whether the general manslaughter statute was superseded by the state's subsequently enacted vehicular homicide statute. As now in Florida, the Oklahoma vehicular homicide statute provided a lesser penalty than did the general manslaughter statute. The court of criminal appeals held the vehicular homicide statute supplanted the manslaughter statute in cases where death resulted from negligent operation of a vehicle. Other jurisdictions are generally in agreement. See, e. g., State v. Hagge, 224 N.W.2d 560 (N.D.1974); State v. Collins, 55 Wash.2d 469, 348 P.2d 214 (1960); State v. Biddle, 6 Terry 244, 45 Del. 244, 71 A.2d 273 (Ct. Oyer & Terminer Del.1950).
One factor which may have led to enactment of vehicular homicide statutes was the reluctance of juries to return verdicts of guilt against defendants charged with manslaughter arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle. Legislatures in many states, including Florida, recognized this and enacted specific vehicular homicide statutes with somewhat lesser penalties. Since our legislature has determined a specific category of offense for vehicular homicide, we think this determination must govern and the state should be precluded from exercising prosecutorial discretion to charge a defendant under the general manslaughter statute.
We note in passing that this case is distinguishable from the recent supreme court decision in Fayerweather v. State, 332 So.2d 21 (Fla.1976). There it was held that conduct violative of both the State Credit Card Crime Act (specifically Section 817.60(1)(3), Florida Statutes [1973], dealing with receiving stolen credit cards) and the statute making it unlawful to receive stolen property (Section 811.16) may be punished under the latter statute, notwithstanding that the State Credit Card Crime Act sets a less severe punishment. Unlike the vehicular homicide statute, the State Credit Card Crime Act provides that it "shall not be construed to preclude the applicability of any other provision of the criminal law . unless such provision is inconsistent with [its] terms . . . ." Section 817.68, Florida Statutes (1973).
Affirmed.
HOBSON, A. C. J., and GRIMES, J., concur.