STATE v. BROOKS
4/5/1995
Steven M. Brooks appeals from a judgment entered in the Superior Court (Androscoggin County, Delahanty, C.J.) following his plea of guilty to operating a motor vehicle under the influence (OUI), 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312-B (Pamph. 1994). Brooks contends that the court should not have sentenced him pursuant to the enhanced punishment provision for persons with a previous OUI conviction because his previous conviction was not sufficiently pleaded in the complaint. Finding no error, we affirm.
Brooks was charged with operating under the influence on October 21, 1992, after being involved in an auto accident in Livermore Falls. Brooks refused to submit to a test to determine his blood alcohol level. The complaint filed against him in the District Court (Livermore Falls) alleged that he
operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of
intoxicating liquor or drugs, or a combination of liquor and
drugs, in violation of Title 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312-B and did
refuse to submit to a chemical test, the said defendant having
previously been convicted of a violation of Title
29 M.R.S.A. § 1312-B.
(Emphasis added.) Brooks had in fact been previously convicted of OUI on December 12, 1986, stemming from a January 1985 incident.
Following the transfer of the case to the Superior Court, see M.R.Crim.P. 22, Brooks entered a plea of guilty on June 21, 1993. Prior to entering the guilty plea, Brooks engaged in a colloquy with the court and with the prosecutor on the question of whether it was the date of the previous conviction or the date of the previous offense that had to occur within six years of the recent offense for the enhanced sentence to be triggered. Brooks was fully aware of the particulars of his prior OUI record and its legal significance to the subsequent prosecution. After entering his plea but before being sentenced, Brooks argued that he should not be subject to the enhanced punishment provision of section 1312-B because his previous conviction had not been adequately alleged in the complaint. The court rejected his contention and imposed a mandatory minimum sentence pursuant to section 1312-B(2)(C) of seven days in jail, a fine of $600, and a one-year license suspension. Brooks filed this appeal, and the sentencing court stayed execution of the sentence pending the outcome of the appeal.
29 M.R.S.A. § 1312-B(2)(C) provides as follows:
C. In the case of a person having one previous conviction of
operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs,
or a combination of liquor or drugs, or with an excessive
blood-alcohol level, or having at least one previous suspension
for failure
By contrast, section 1312-B(2)(B) provides for mandatory minimum penalties of 48 hours in jail, a $300 fine and a 90-day license suspension for a person who refuses a blood-alcohol test, but who has no previous OUI convictions within a six-year period. Brooks does not seek to vacate his conviction, but contends that he should not have been sentenced pursuant to section 1312-B(2)(C) because the complaint alleged only that he had a previous OUI conviction and failed to specify that the conviction was within the past six years.
Maine's constitution confers on an accused the right " o demand the nature and cause of the accusation." Me. Const. art. 1 § 6. 15 M.R.S.A. § 757(1) (Supp. 1994) provides that when a sentence will be enhanced based on a prior conviction, the prior conviction must be specially "alleged as part of a count in the complaint, information or indictment" or in an ancillary charging instrument that "may be filed with the court at any time prior to the imposition of the sentence." Id. Thus,
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