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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

Todd Riley was a passenger in a vehicle stopped for failure to use a turn signal when making a right-hand turn onto U.S. 1 in Cocoa, Florida. Following the stop, police arrested Riley for possession of marijuana. Riley moved to suppress the evidence on the ground that the stop was illegal; the trial court granted the motion, concluding the stop was illegal because no other vehicle was affected by the turn. The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the suppression order, concluding that no offense occurred under section 316.155 because no other vehicle was affected. The State sought review by the Supreme Court of Florida based on express and direct conflict with State v. Kamins.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether section 316.155(1) requires a turn signal when no other vehicle would be affected by the turn.
  2. Whether section 316.155(2) operates independently to require signaling (continuous signal for the last 100 feet) even when no other vehicle is affected, as interpreted in State v. Kamins.

Arguments of the Parties

Respondent's Arguments

  • Riley argued the evidence was illegally obtained because the traffic stop was illegal: no other vehicle was affected by the turn, so no signal was required under section 316.155 and the stop was invalid.

The opinion does not contain a detailed account of the petitioner's trial-level arguments in the record excerpt provided.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
State v. Riley, 625 So.2d 1261 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993) Affirmation of the trial court's suppression order and interpretation of section 316.155 (reading subsections in pari materia). The Supreme Court approved the Fifth District's determination that subsections (1) and (2) of section 316.155 must be read together and that no signal is required if no other vehicle would be affected.
State v. Kamins, 615 So.2d 867 (Fla. 4th DCA) Interpretation that subsection (2) controls over subsection (1), relying on Adams. The Supreme Court disapproved Kamins to the extent it held subsection (2) independent of (1); Kamins was distinguished and rejected on that point.
Adams v. Culver, 111 So.2d 665 (Fla. 1959) Principle of statutory construction that a specific statute controls over a general statute. The Court found Adams inapplicable because it addressed two separate statutes (general vs. specific), whereas subsections (1) and (2) here are parts of the same statute and must be read in pari materia.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Court accepted jurisdiction based on conflict with Kamins. It rejected Kamins' reliance on Adams because Adams concerned two distinct statutes (a general statute and a specific statute) and therefore the "specific-controls-general" rule applied there. By contrast, subsections (1) and (2) of section 316.155 are subsections of the same statute and must be read in pari materia. The Court examined the plain language of section 316.155(1), which requires giving an appropriate signal "in the event that any other vehicle may be affected by the movement." It concluded subsection (2) merely defines the distance for a required signal when a signal is required under subsection (1). Therefore, if no other vehicle is affected by the turn, no statutory signal requirement exists; a traffic stop based on failure to signal under those circumstances is illegal and evidence obtained from such a stop must be suppressed. The Court found the record supported suppression: officers testified no other vehicle was affected and the driver received only a warning for failure to signal, not a citation for unsafe or improper turning.

Holding and Implications

Holding: The Supreme Court approved the Fifth District's decision affirming suppression and disapproved State v. Kamins to the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion.

Implications: The direct effect is that the suppression of evidence in this case is upheld because the stop was illegal under the Court's interpretation of section 316.155. The Court expressly disapproved the contrary interpretation in Kamins; no broader factual findings beyond the record were adopted. Chief Justice Grimes and Justices Overton, Shaw, and Kogan concurred; Senior Justice McDonald concurred in the result only, stating he believed Kamins was correctly decided but agreeing the stop here was pretextual and suppression was therefore proper.

STATE OF FLORIDA, PETITIONER, v. TODD RILEY, RESPONDENT.

HARDING, Justice.

We have for review State v. Riley, 625 So.2d 1261 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993), based upon express and direct conflict with State v. Kamins, 615 So.2d 867 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 626 So.2d 206 (Fla. 1993). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution.

Todd Riley was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for failure to use a turn signal when making a right-hand turn onto U.S. 1 in Cocoa, Florida. Following this stop, the police arrested Riley for possession of marijuana. Riley filed a motion to suppress the evidence, arguing that the evidence was illegally obtained because the stop was illegal. The trial court granted the motion to suppress, agreeing that the stop was illegal because no other vehicle was affected by the turn.

On appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's suppression order, finding that because no other vehicle was affected by the turn, no offense occurred based upon section 316.155, Florida Statutes (1991). The district court also cited conflict with Kamins as to the interpretation of section 316.155. Kamins involved circumstances very similar to those presented in the instant case. A motorist was stopped for failure to make turn signals and subsequently arrested for possession of control substances. The trial court granted the motorist's motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the stop, based upon a determination that the stop was illegal. The trial court ruled that under section 316.155 a turn signal need only be given in the event another vehicle is affected by the movement. On appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the order granting the motion to suppress. Relying upon Adams v. Culver, 111 So.2d 665 (Fla. 1959), the district court determined that the "specific language and requirements of subsection (2) controls [sic] over the general provisions of subsection (1)." Kamins, 615 So.2d at 867-68. Based upon this statutory interpretation, the district court determined that the motorist violated subsection (2) by failure to signal before turning and that the officer thus made a valid stop. Id. at 868.

Section 316.155, Florida Statutes (1991), which specifies when a signal is required by the operator of a vehicle on Florida's highways, provides in pertinent part:
(1) No person may turn a vehicle from a direct course upon a highway unless and until such movement can be made with reasonable safety, and then only after giving an appropriate signal in the manner hereinafter provided, in the event that any other vehicle may be affected by the movement.
(2) A signal of intention to turn right or left must be given continuously during not less than the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning, except that such a signal by hand or arm need not be given continuously by a bicyclist if the hand is needed in the control or operation of the bicycle.

Contrary to Kamins, we find the rule of statutory construction announced in Adams to be inapplicable in interpreting section 316.155. Adams involved two separate statutes, one a general statute prohibiting lewd or lascivious acts in the presence of a child and a second statute that addressed the defendant's specific conduct of exhibiting a pornographic picture in the presence of a child. In response to the defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, this Court determined that the specific statute controlled over the more general. Adams, 111 So.2d at 667.

In contrast, both Kamins and Riley involved the interpretation of two subsections of the same statute. We agree with the Fifth District Court's determination that subsections (1) and (2) must be read in pari materia and that the subsections are not in conflict. Riley, 625 So.2d at 1261.

Section 316.155(1) directs that a person may not turn a vehicle from a direct course upon a highway unless and until the turn can be made with reasonable safety. The statute further provides that the turn may only be completed "after giving an appropriate signal in the manner hereinafter provided, in the event any other vehicle may be affected by the movement." § 316.155(1), Fla. Stat. (1991) (emphasis added). Thus, the plain language of the statute only requires a signal if another vehicle would be affected by the turn. Subsection (2), which provides that the "signal of intention to turn right or left must be given continuously during not less than the last 100 feet traveled by the vehicle before turning," simply defines the distance that a signal is required prior to an intended turn in the event that a signal is required under subsection (1).

If no other vehicle is affected by a turn from the highway, then a signal is not required by the statute. If a signal is not required, then a traffic stop predicated on failure to use a turn signal is illegal and any evidence obtained as a result of that stop must be suppressed.

The record in the instant case supports the trial court's decision to suppress the evidence. The driver of the vehicle was not cited for an unsafe or improper turn, but was simply given a warning for failure to use a turn signal. The two officers that stopped the vehicle testified that no other vehicle was affected by the driver's right-hand turn onto the highway. Under these circumstances, the driver did not violate section 316.155 and should not have been stopped by the officers. Thus, the evidence obtained as a result of the improper stop was properly suppressed.

Accordingly, we approve the decision below and disapprove the opinion in Kamins to the extent that it is inconsistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

GRIMES, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW and KOGAN, JJ., concur.

McDONALD, Senior Justice, concurs in result only with an opinion.

McDONALD, Senior Justice, concurring in result only.

I believe the interpretation of section 316.155 by the Fourth District Court of Appeal in State v. Kamins, 615 So.2d 867 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 626 So.2d 206 (Fla. 1993), is correct. It is obvious, however, that the stop in this case was pretextual and the trial judge was therefore correct in suppressing the evidence obtained as a result of the stop. I therefore concur in result only.

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STATE v. RILEY
(Jun 9, 1994)