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State v. Carpenter3/10/2000
of Title 23, the 15-year forgiveness period used to determine third convictions shall be considered a right which has accrued to the operator if the prior convictions occurred at any time prior to July 1, 1991. 1991, No. 55, § 19(5).
Defendant argued that this savings clause prohibited the State's use of his 1981 conviction for purposes of the recidivism charge. The State countered that the savings clause conferred no benefits on defendant because he had been convicted three times before the date of the amendment. The court agreed with the state, and all three prior convictions were admitted into evidence and submitted to the jury, which returned a guilty verdict on the enhanced recidivist charge.
We decline to reach this issue because § 1210(d) requires only two prior convictions for the enhanced penalties to apply. Defendant's 1985 and 1990 convictions are admissible, being less than fifteen years old. Any confusion as to which convictions the jury weighed in its deliberations was harmless. See V.R.Cr.P. 52(a) ("Any error, defect, irregularity or variance which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded."). "' t is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury would have returned a guilty verdict regardless of the error'" if the court admitted only the 1985 and 1990 convictions. See State v. Fuller, 168 Vt. 396, 408, 721 A.2d 475, 484 (1998) (quoting State v. Hamlin, 146 Vt. 97, 106, 499 A.2d 45, 52 (1985) (citations omitted)). Thus, it is unnecessary to decide whether the court should have excluded defendant's 1981 conviction.
Affirmed.
FOR THE COURT: Chief Justice
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