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STATE v. CHAPMAN11/18/1996
to be viewed as either a new jeopardy or additional penalty for
the earlier crimes. It is a stiffened penalty for the latest
crime, which is considered to be an aggravated offense because
a repetitive one.
Id. at 732, 68 S.Ct. at 1258.
Defendant seeks to distinguish Woods and Gryger on the grounds that these cases did not involve a prior legislative scheme with a shorter time limit. Defendant contends that because the 1995 ten-year limit includes a previous offense that was once excluded from the statutory calculation, she has been deprived of a defense. We rejected a similar argument in State v. Vainio, 466 A.2d 471 (Me. 1983). Vainio was convicted of possession of a firearm pursuant to 15 M.R.S.A. § 393 which made it unlawful for a convicted felon to possess any firearm without a permit from the Commissioner of Public Safety. Prior to 1977, section 393 applied only for a five-year period from the date of release from prison or termination of probation for the underlying felony. Vainio's probation for the underlying felony ended in 1964. The 1977 version of section 393 removed the five-year limitation, and Vainio argued that its application to him deprived him of some protection to which he had become entitled under the pre-1977 law. We concluded that section 393 did not impose an additional penalty for past conduct, and that he was not deprived of "some protection to which he was constitutionally entitled." Id. at 475-476. When a statute defines penalties for future offenses, defendants are put on notice that they can no longer rely on the former statutory scheme for whatever defense or protection it may have provided. Defendant's due process claim fails for the same reason. After the effective date of the amendment in 1995, defendant had fair notice that a conviction for operating under the influence would subject her to the currently defined penalty.
Defendant's remaining arguments are without merit and require no discussion.
The entry is:
Judgment affirmed.
All concurring.
Page 1 2 Maine DUI Attorneys
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