LUCRETIA S. SMITH, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2001-09-06
No. 1D00-166
PADOVANO and LEWIS, JJ„ CONCUR.
793 So. 2d 1118 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2001) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Smith was convicted of DUI causing serious bodily injury under Florida statute 316.193(3)(c)2, but the appellate court reversed, holding that the statute requires injury to another person and does not authorize conviction where only the driver is injured, despite ambiguous statutory language.


Holding

Section 316.193(3)(c)2 does not authorize a conviction for DUI causing serious bodily injury where only the driver has been injured. The statute requires injury 'to another,' and this specific language takes precedence over the broader definition of serious bodily injury that includes the driver.


Headnotes

[1] A statute requiring serious bodily injury to "another" as a predicate for a DUI conviction is internally inconsistent when the definition of "serious bodily injury" inclu…

[2] When a statute contains an obvious ambiguity, the ambiguity should be resolved in favor of the defendant.

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Key Quotes

“Section 316.193(3)(c)2, which has remained materially unchanged since 1987, makes it a third degree felony to operate a vehicle while under the influence and cause, as the result of such operation, "[s]erious bodily injury to another, as defined in s. 316.1933."”

Establishes the statutory language requiring injury 'to another'

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Facts & Procedural History

Smith was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence and causing serious bodily injury. She was the only person injured in the inciden…

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Opinion of the Court
ALLEN, C.J.

ALLEN, C.J.

The appellant in this direct criminal appeal challenges her conviction pursuant to section 316.193(3)(c)2, Florida Statutes. Because we conclude that this statutory provision does not authorize a conviction of DUI causing serious bodily injury where only the defendant driver has been injured, we reverse the appellant’s conviction and remand this case for entry of judgment and imposition of sentence for the lesser included offense of driving under the influence.

Section 316.193(3)(c)2, which has remained materially unchanged since 1987, makes it a third degree felony to operate a vehicle while under the influence and cause, as the result of such operation, “[sjerious bodily injury to another, as defined in s. 316.1933.” (Emphasis added). Section 316.1933(1), in turn, provides that if a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a motor vehicle driven by ... a person under the influence of alcoholic beverages ... has caused the death or serious bodily injury of a human being, that person shall submit, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to a test of the person’s blood for the purposes of determining the alcoholic content thereof.... The term “serious bodily injury” means an injury to any person, including the driver, which consists of a physical condition that creates a substantial risk of death, serious personal disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ.

(Emphasis added). The driver of a vehicle was not encompassed within the definition of serious bodily injury until the statute was amended in 1988. Ch. 88-5, § 4, at 195, Laws of Fla. This amendment was apparently a legislative response to appellate decisions interpreting section 316.1933(1) as authorizing a blood test only where a person other than the driver had been killed or seriously injured. See, e.g., State v. Perez, 531 So. 2d 961 (Fla.1988).

It appears, however, that the legislature failed to contemplate the impact of this amendment upon a section 316.193(3)(c)2 prosecution. Because of the amendment, section 316.193(3)(c)2 is now internally inconsistent. Although it specifically requires an injury “to another,” it includes a term that is defined as including “the driver.” In accordance with the rule of construction set forth in section 775.021(1), Florida Statutes, we resolve this obvious ambiguity in the appellant’s favor and conclude that section 316.193(3)(c)2 does not authorize a conviction of DUI causing serious bodily injury where only the driver has been injured. The appellant’s conviction is accordingly reversed and this case is remanded to the trial court for entry of judgment and imposition of sentence for driving under the influence. See § 924.34, Fla. Stat. PADOVANO and LEWIS, JJ„ CONCUR.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Adams v. State, 941 So. 2d 553 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)
    …2d 364, 368 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). On September 6, 2001, this Court issued an opinion stating that a defendant could not be convicted of DUI with serious bodily injury when the only person that sustained an injury was the defendant. Smith v. State, 793 So. 2d 1118 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001). In appellant’s case, the information charged that appellant committed serious bodily injury to himself. Moreover, the prosecutor stated that the factual basis for the charge of DUI with serious bodily injury was that appellant w…

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