Brenton McNeil, Petitioner v. State of Florida, Respondent

Summary

The Court held that the surcharges and costs imposed under sections 938.08, 938.085, and 938.10(1), Florida Statutes (2006), must be assessed for each count rather than once per case. It reasoned that the statutes' references to "a violation" and "any offense" unambiguously require separate assessments for each violation or offense, and that the Legislature's use of per-case language in other statutes reinforced that reading. Justice Pariente, dissenting, would have applied the rule of lenity and assessed the costs per case because she considered the statutes ambiguous.