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State v. Nelson11/12/1999
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for reargument under V.R.A.P. 40 as well as formal revision before publication in the Vermont Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Vermont Supreme Court, 109 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05609-0801 of any errors in order that corrections may be made before this opinion goes to press.
On Appeal from District Court of Vermont Unit No. 3, Washington Circuit September Term, 1998
Edward J. Cashman, J.
In these consolidated appeals from convictions for driving while intoxicated and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, with fatality resulting, defendant challenges the imposition of a condition of probation that prohibits him from operating a motor vehicle during the probationary period. Specifically, defendant contends the court was without authority to restrict his operating privileges for a period in excess of the mandatory one-year license suspension imposed by statute. We disagree and, accordingly, affirm.
The material facts are not in dispute. The case arose when the motor vehicle which defendant was driving collided head-on with another vehicle, killing the driver and two passengers in the other car, and injuring a third passenger. Defendant and his passenger were also seriously injured. Defendant was nineteen years old, and his blood alcohol concentration at the time of the accident was later determined to be .236%, nearly three times the legal limit.
Defendant entered guilty pleas to one count of driving while intoxicated with fatality resulting, and one count of careless and negligent operation of a motor vehicle with fatality resulting. The trial court imposed a sentence of three-to-thirty years, all but three suspended, and imposed multiple conditions of probation, including that defendant seek and obtain employment or participate in vocational training, submit to alcohol testing and attend alcohol counseling, refrain from purchasing or possessing alcoholic beverages, limit his associates and observe a curfew if ordered by his probation officer, make at least nine presentations per year to local high schools and middle schools, and refrain from operating a motor vehicle.
Defendant subsequently moved for reconsideration of sentence on the ground, among others, that the court lacked authority to restrict defendant's driving for longer than the mandatory one-year suspension period under 23 V.S.A. § 1206(b). The court denied the motion. Defendant filed notices of appeal from the original sentencing order and from the denial of his motion for reconsideration, which we consolidated for purposes of review.
The record reveals that the restriction on defendant's operating privileges was an important component in the overall matrix of probation conditions imposed by the court; it would sharply limit defendant's ability to obtain alcohol for himself or others, impede his opportunities to leave the jurisdiction and thereby avoid compliance with his other conditions of probation, and provide a vivid and ongoing testimonial to the high school students whom he was required to address on the consequences of drunk driving .
Defendant nevertheless contends that the condition contravened the statutory DUI scheme and violated the constitutional separation of powers doctrine. See Vt. Const. Ch. II, § 5. It is argued that by providing for a mandatory one-year suspension of a driver's license for DUI with a fatality resulting, and vesting the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles with the exclusisve authority to calculate suspensions and revocations in accordance with applicable law, see 23 V.S.A. § 1201c, the Legislature impliedly preempted the court's p
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