Case Name: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Paul VanBEBBER, Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2003-05-08
Citations: 848 So. 2d 1046
Docket Number: No. SC01-2558
Parties: STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Paul VanBEBBER, Respondent.
Judges: ANSTEAD, C.J., PARIENTE and LEWIS, JJ., and SHAW, Senior Justice, concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 848
Pages: 1046–1055

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Petitioner, v. Paul VanBEBBER, Respondent.
No. SC01-2558.
Supreme Court of Florida.
May 8, 2003.
Rehearing Denied Aug. 25, 2003.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Robert J. Krauss, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Chief of Criminal Law, and Ronald Napolitano, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, FL, for Petitioner.
Joshua Faett and Rexford Darrow of the Law Offices of Casassa, Mangone, Miller and Faett, Naples, FL, for Respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
We have for review the decision in State v. VanBebber, 805 So.2d 918 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), which certified conflict with the decision in State v. Warner, 721 So.2d 767 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), approved on other grounds, 762 So.2d 507 (Fla.2000), on the issue of whether the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)(j), Florida Statutes (Supp. 1998), is available to support a downward departure from a sentence for a driving under the influence (DUI) conviction. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. For the reasons explained below, we hold the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)(j) is available to support a downward departure from a sentence for a felony DUI conviction. Accordingly, we approve the Second District's decision in VanBebber, and disapprove Warner to the extent it conflicts with this decision.
BACKGROUND
The Second District summarized the facts of this case as follows:
On May 23, 1999, Paul VanBebber was driving home after a party at which he had consumed sufficient alcohol that his faculties were impaired. He failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with another vehicle that contained a family of six: two parents, a six-year-old son, a four-year-old daughter, a four-week-old daughter, and the father's brother who was visiting from Columbia. The three children suffered injuries and their uncle was killed in the crash. The State charged VanBebber with one count of DUI with property damage, three counts of DUI with personal injury, one of them with serious bodily injury, and one count of DUI/manslaughter. Van-Bebber, exhibiting extreme and sincere remorse while recognizing his fault, pleaded nolo to all offenses as charged.
At the sentencing hearing, the trial court heard from members of the victim's family as well as VanBebber's, including VanBebber himself. Each side outlined the devastating effect the accident has had on the families. Defense counsel argued for a downward departure from the guidelines sentence of 175.9 to 240 months based on the statutory mitigator of "offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant has shown remorse." § 921.0026(2)0"), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998). The trial court agreed that the evidence fulfilled the requirements of section 921.0026(2)0) and imposed a downward departure. It sentenced VanBebber to 200 months' incarceration for the counts of DUI/manslaughter and DUI with serious personal injury, but suspended it upon completion of fifteen years' probation with special conditions. The State does not dispute that the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing supported the mitigator^ ] although the trial court did observe with some puzzlement that it was unsure how one would commit this crime in a sophisticated manner. The State objected to the downward departure, thus preserving this issue, which it then appealed.
VanBebber, 805 So.2d at 919 (footnotes omitted). The Second District affirmed the decision of the trial court and held the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)(j) is available to support a downward departure from a sentence for a DUI conviction, but certified conflict with Warner on this issue. See VanBebber, 805 So.2d at 921.
DISCUSSION
Section 921.0026 is part of the Florida Criminal Punishment Code and provides, in relevant part:
921.0026 Mitigating circumstances. — This section applies to any felony offense, except any capital felony, committed on or after October 1, 1998.
(1) A downward departure from the lowest permissible sentence, as calculated according to the total sentence points pursuant to s. 921.0024, is prohibited unless there are circumstances or factors that reasonably justify the downward departure. Mitigating factors to be considered include, but are not limited to, those listed in subsection (2). The imposition of a sentence below the lowest permissible sentence is subject to appellate review under chapter 924, but the extent of downward departure is not subject to appellate review.
(2) Mitigating circumstances under which a departure from the lowest permissible sentence is reasonably justified include, but are not limited to:
(j) The offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant has shown remorse.
(3) The defendant's substance abuse or addiction, including intoxication at the time of the offense, is not a mitigating factor under subsection (2) and does not, under any circumstances, justify a downward departure from the permissible sentencing range.
§ 921.0026, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998). In concluding that the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)(j) is available to support a downward departure from a sentence for a DUI conviction, the Second District reasoned: (1) section 921.0026 states unequiv ocally, "This section applies to any felony offense, except any capital felony, committed on or after October 1, 1998," and (2) cognizant of the public policy against drunk driving, the Legislature still did not exempt DUI crimes from application of section 921.0026(2)0). VanBebber, 805 So.2d at 920.
We agree with the Second District's reasoning. Section 921.0026 plainly states, "This section applies to any felony offense, except any capital felony, committed on or after October 1, 1998." Because the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)0) applies to any felony offense, except any capital felony, committed on or after October 1, 1998, it is available to support a downward departure from a felony DUI conviction. The fact that the Legislature specifically exempted only capital felonies is further support for the conclusion that section 921.0026(2)0) applies to felony DUI convictions. Legislative intent must be determined primarily from the language of the statute. See Rollins v. Pizzarelli, 761 So.2d 294, 297 (Fla.2000). "[W]hen the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, there is no occasion for resorting to the rules of statutory interpretation and construction; the statute must be given its plain and obvious meaning." Holly v. Auld, 450 So.2d 217, 219 (Fla.1984).
The State argues this Court should resolve the certified conflict by adopting the Fourth District's decision in Warner. In Warner, the defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of driving under the influence arising out of one episode. See 721 So.2d at 768. The trial court accepted the plea and entered a downward departure sentence based on three mitigating factors in section 921.0016(4), Florida Statutes (1995). One of the grounds for departure was that the offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant had shown remorse. On appeal, the Fourth District agreed with the State's assertion that there was an insufficient basis in the record to sustain the departure because the trial court based the downward departure on proffered evidence and erred in not taking evidence. Warmer, 721 So.2d at 769.
The Fourth District also concluded that on remand, the mitigator of "the offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant has shown remorse" would not be available to support a downward departure of the defendant's sentence. Id. As to this issue, the Fourth District stated:
Given the state's strong public policy against DUI, we conclude that this reason for departure is not available in this case. If this DUI could be considered an isolated incident, then all first DUI's by people having clean records could be considered such. Nor do we think that drunk driving can be "committed in an unsophisticated manner."
Id.See also State v. Beck, 763 So.2d 506, 508 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) ("We also note that drunk driving cannot be committed in an unsophisticated manner.").
Although we fully recognize the State's strong public policy against DUI, we find that the issue in this case, whether the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)(j) is available to support a downward departure from a DUI conviction, is resolved by the clear and unambiguous statutory language of section 921.0026. Because the statute states that the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)(j) applies to any felony offense, except any capital felony, committed on or after October 1, 1998, we hold that the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)© is available to support a downward departure from a felony DUI conviction.
The State also argues, however, that to hold section 921.0026(2)© applicable to felony DUI convictions would create conflict with section 921.0026(3), which provides:
(3) The defendant's substance abuse or addiction, including intoxication at the time of the offense, is not a mitigating factor under subsection (2) and does not, under any circumstances, justify a downward departure from the permissible sentencing range.
We find that no conflict is created by holding section 921.0026(2)© applicable to felony DUI convictions. Under subsection (3), intoxication at the time of the offense cannot be used as a mitigating factor to support a downward departure from a sentence under the sentencing guidelines. There is no prohibition, however, against using the mitigators listed in section 921.0026(2) in cases where the offense is intoxication. In this case the trial court imposed a downward departure on the fact that VanBebber was remorseful for an isolated incident committed in an unsophisticated manner. Again, if the Legislature intended to specifically exempt felony DUI offenses from this statutory scheme this Court must presume that it would have explicitly done so in the statute. As the Second District noted, "we shall not judicially legislate and interpret the law to negate the clear language used by the legislature." VanBebber, 805 So.2d at 920.
Finally, the State argues that the Second District improperly relied on State v. Sachs, 526 So.2d 48 (Fla.1988), to buttress its conclusion that section 921.0026(2)© is available in this case. In Sachs, the defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to four years of community control, which was a downward departure from the guidelines recommendation. See id. at 49. The trial court gave five reasons for the downward departure, including that the defendant would continue to suffer a great deal of remorse and shame. This Court affirmed the reasons relied on by the trial court where they were supported by clear and convincing proof. See id. at 51. The State now argues that when this Court considered the reasons for departure in Sachs, it was looking at the possible lack of moral culpability in an otherwise strict liability criminal statute, not the "unsophisticated manner" in which the crime was committed. However, by relying on Sachs, the Second District merely intended to show that this Court previously found the same reasons for departure valid in a case involving a DUI offense, even before the reasons were codified as a mitigator in the Florida Statutes. Therefore we find that the Second District did not err by relying on Sachs.
CONCLUSION
Section 921.0026 is clear and unambiguous and provides that the mitigators found therein are applicable to all felony offenses except capital felonies. The offense of DUI is a noncaptial felony offense. Therefore, we hold that the mitigator in section 921.0026(2)© is available to support a downward departure from a sentence for a felony DUI conviction. We approve the decision of the district court of appeal and disapprove Warner to the extent it conflicts with this decision.
It is so ordered.
ANSTEAD, C.J., PARIENTE and LEWIS, JJ., and SHAW, Senior Justice, concur.
PARIENTE, J., concurs with an opinion, in which ANSTEAD, C.J., concurs.
QUINCE, J., dissents with an opinion, in which WELLS, J., concurs.
. The State contends this is a slight misstatement. The mitigator at issue in this case has three parts-the offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant has shown remorse. See § 921.0026(2)(j), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998). The State agreed that the offense was an isolated incident for which the defendant has shown remorse, but disputed whether the offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner.
. § 921.002-921.0027, Fla. Stat. (Supp. 1998).
. The Second District buttressed its conclusion with State v. Sachs, 526 So.2d 48 (Fla.1988), where, before the current Florida Criminal Punishment Code was instituted, this Court found the manner of committing the offense, the fact that it was an isolated incident, and the fact that the defendant had shown remorse were valid reasons for a downward departure in a DUI case. See VanBebber, 805 So.2d at 920-21.
. As noted above, section 921.0026(2)(j) is part of the Florida Criminal Punishment Code. See § 921.002-921.0027, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1998). The introduction to the Code also provides: "The Criminal Punishment Code shall apply to all felony offenses, except capital felonies, committed on or after October 1, 1998." § 921.002, Fla. Stat. (Supp. 1998).
. The offense in this case was committed on May 23, 1999.
. Section 921.0016(4) was repealed effective October 1, 1998, with the implementation of the Florida Criminal Punishment Code. See § 921.002-921.0026, Florida Statutes (1997). Section 921.0026 was enacted effective October 1, 1998. The mitigators listed in sections 921.0016(4) and 921.0026(2) are identical.
. In Warner, it appears the Fourth District mistakenly cited 921.0016(3)(j) instead of 921.0016(4)(j), Florida Statutes (1995), when discussing this mitigator.