Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

329 So. 2d 296

Docket No. 47345.

Roberts v. State

John David ROBERTS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Florida

Decided March 17, 1976.

Supreme Court of Florida · decided 1976-03-17

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“A person is guilty of the offense of driving under the influence and is subject to punishment as provided in subsection (2) if such person is driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle within this state and: (a) The person is under the influence of alcoholic beverages, any chemical substance set forth in s. 877.111, or any substance controlled under chapter 893, when affected to the extent that his normal faculties are impaired [DUI]; or (b) The person has a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent or higher [DUBAL].”

quoted by 1 later decision, including State v. Rolle

““We can see no reason why a person of ordinary intelligence would have any difficulty in understanding that if he has drunk anything containing alcohol, and particularly any substantial amount thereof, he should not attempt to drive or take control of a motor vehicle.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including State v. Vannata

Relies on Greaves v. State

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1976-03-17

How this case has been cited

Cited by 21 later decisions — most recently September 2001

21 state decisions — followed in 12 states

1501976198019902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1James A. Gardner, Public Defender, and Dennis J. Plews, Asst. Public Defender, for appellant.

¶2Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and Davis G. Anderson, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

¶3BOYD, Justice.

¶4This cause is before us on direct appeal from the County Court of Manatee County where Appellant was charged by complaint with having operated a motor vehicle while having an unlawful blood alcohol level in violation of Section 316.028(3), Florida Statutes Annotated. Appellant filed a Motion to Dismiss with the trial court attacking *297 the constitutional validity of the statute. The trial court denied the Motion, thus passing on the statute's constitutionality. We have appellate jurisdiction under Article V, Section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution.[1]

¶5Section 316.028(3), Florida Statutes Annotated, provides:

"It is unlawful ... for any person with a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, or above, to drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this state."

¶6The constitutionality of the statute is attacked on two grounds: (1) that it is not reasonably related to the police power of the State of Florida, and (2) that it is vague and indefinite.

¶7Appellant concedes that the prohibition of intoxicated drivers from Florida highways is an inherent police power. However, he argues that the challenged statute is not a reasonable means of achieving that end. Suffice it to say that we reject Appellant's argument because we consider the method of prohibition of intoxicated drivers contained in Section 316.028(3), Florida Statutes Annotated, to be a reasonable one.

¶8Appellant alleges that the statute is vague and indefinite and so violative of due process in two ways. First, Appellant claims that consumers of alcoholic beverages are unable to determine how much alcohol they may consume before their alcohol blood level will make it unlawful for them to drive. An identical argument was made against a Utah statute, substantially similar to the challenged statute, in Greaves v. State,528 P.2d 805 (Utah 1974). The Utah Supreme Court stated:

"We can see no reason why a person of ordinary intelligence would have any difficulty in understanding that if he has drunk anything containing alcohol, and particularly any substantial amount thereof, he should not attempt to drive or take control of a motor vehicle." (Id. at 808.)

¶9The above language is the view of this Court and accordingly we reject Appellant's first argument of "vagueness."

¶10Appellant's second "vagueness" argument is meritorious but the statute's defect is easily cured. Appellant correctly points out that the statute fails to state whether the prohibited percentage of alcohol in the driver's bloodstream is by weight or by volume. We recognize the scientific difference. To determine the legislative intent we turn our attention to Section 322.262(2)(c), Florida Statutes Annotated, which provides as follows:

"If there was at that time 0.10 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, it shall be prima facie evidence that the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired. Moreover, such person who has a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent or above shall be guilty of driving, or being in actual physical control of, a motor vehicle, with an unlawful blood alcohol level." (Emphasis supplied)

¶11Because the above statute and the challenged statute are in pari materia we construe them together and hold that the legislative intent is that the standard of weight be applied in the enforcement of the challenged statute.

¶12Section 316.028(3), Florida Statutes Annotated, withstands each of Appellant's constitutional attacks. Accordingly, Appellant's *298 conviction and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

¶13It is so ordered.

¶14OVERTON, C.J., and ROBERTS, ADKINS, ENGLAND and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.

¶15SUNDBERG, J., concurs in result only.

NOTES

¶16[1] Appellant was adjudged guilty of violating Section 316.028(3), Florida Statutes Annotated. He was sentenced to 90 days in the county jail; placed on probation for 2 years; and ordered to pay $152 into the Fine and Forfeiture Fund. His driver's license was suspended for 3 months.

/329/so2d/296 · .json · Public domain