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Glasrud v. City of Laramie2/21/1997
Matthew Glasrud's (Glasrud) prosecution and conviction in municipal court for driving under the influence followed the administrative suspension of Glasrud's driver's license, eliciting double jeopardy concerns. In response to Glasrud's appeal from his prosecution and conviction, the district court presents certified questions pursuant to Wyoming Rule of Appellate Procedure 11. We hold Wyoming's implied consent laws, providing for suspension of a driver's license for driving while under the influence, do not constitute "punishment" for purposes of double jeopardy.
ISSUE
Faced with an appeal from a case involving the suspension of a driver's license pursuant to Wyoming's implied consent laws and a criminal trial for driving while under the influence of alcohol, the District Court, Second Judicial District, Albany County, submitted the following certified questions, which we subsequently agreed to answer:
Does Wyoming's statutory scheme for an administrative suspension or revocation of a driver's license for driving while under the influence, (specifically, Wyo. Stat. §§ 31-7-125, 31-7-127, and 31-7-128
), constitute punishment for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 11 of the Wyoming Constitution?
If so, may Wyoming reasonably convict and sentence a person for DWUI and also subject [that person] to an administrative license suspension involving the same conduct without violating the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 11 of the Wyoming Constitution?
FACTS
The district court presented the following statement of facts to this Court in its Order Certifying Question to Supreme Court:
There are no disputed facts which impede an answer to a question of law presented. There is no question that there were two separate proceedings; that both proceedings were instituted under authority granted by the State of Wyoming; and, that both proceedings were based upon the same proscribed behavior. The undisputed facts relevant to this question are as follows:
Appellant, Matthew Glasrud was arrested for DWUI [driving while under the influence] on April 1, 1995. He agreed to chemical testing and was found to have a .16% BAC [blood alcohol content]. He appeared in municipal court on April 7, 1995 and pled not guilty.
Appellant requested a contested case hearing on his driver's license suspension under the implied consent statute. The hearing examiner upheld the suspension.
At the subsequent trial in municipal court, Appellant moved to dismiss, claiming that the criminal proceeding violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. and Wyoming Constitutions. The municipal court denied the motion. On July 13, 1995, [the municipal court] found Appellant guilty of driving under the influence .
The municipal court subsequently sentenced Glasrud to thirty days in the Albany County Jail, then suspended the thirty days with conditions, including no alcohol or alcohol related offenses for twenty-four months and ordered him to pay a fine and court costs totaling $460. Glasrud's appeal to the district court resulted in the certified questions above.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Glasrud challenges the constitutionality of the municipal and state statutory schemes which provide for criminal prosecution of drunk drivers and administrative license suspensions or revocations for drunk driving as violative of the prohibition against double jeopardy. " very law must be presumed to be constitutional, w
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