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State v. Sisson3/4/2003
On August 22, 1999, the appellant committed the D.U.I. offense that is the subject of this appeal. At the time of the commission of the offense the appellant had two separate D.U.I. convictions based on guilty pleas entered in court on December 7, 1987, and February 28, 1996. On July 9, 2001, the appellant pleaded guilty to D.U.I. third offense and, as noted earlier, reserved a certified question of law, to wit:
Whether the provisions of T.C.A. 55-10-403 as applied to the defendant's prior convictions on February 28, 1996 and December 7, 1987, operate as a violation of due process and/or an ex post facto law in elevating or enhancing the current offense, committed on August 22, 1999, to a third offense DUI, particularly where the law under which the Defendant was previously convicted provided convictions for enhancement purposes up to ten (10) years as opposed to a maximum of twenty (20) and/or whether the current offense should be treated as a third offense.
Prior to entry of his guilty plea on July 9, 2001, the appellant had filed a motion to dismiss that portion of the indictment elevating this offense to a third offense. The motion was based on the grounds noted above. At the hearing on the motion to dismiss the appellant testified that when he pleaded guilty to D.U.I. in 1987 and 1996 he was advised by both his attorneys and the trial judges that those convictions could only be used for ten (10) years to enhance any subsequent D.U.I. conviction. He also testified that he probably would not have entered guilty pleas in 1997 and 1999 had he known the law might change to permit the use for sentence enhancement of those convictions for twenty (20) years. The trial court denied the appellant's motion.
DISCUSSION
Offenders who commit multiple D.U.I. offenses are subject to having their sentences enhanced. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403(a)(1) (1997 & Supp. 2001). Under the present version of the code, in order to enhance the defendant's sentence as a multiple offender, the previous D.U.I. offense must have occurred within ten years of the present violation. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403(a)(3) (1997 & Supp. 2001). If the defendant's record satisfies this condition, then "every conviction for a violation of § 55-10-401, within ten (10) years of the immediately preceding violation shall be considered in determining the number or prior offenses." Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403(a)(3) (1997 & Supp. 2001). The present version of the code specifically forbids the usage of "a conviction occurring more than twenty (20) years from the date of the instant conviction" for enhancement purposes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403(a)(3) (1997 & Supp. 2001). Whereas under the present statute, the defendant's prior D.U.I. convictions could be considered within twenty years if some conditions were satisfied, pursuant to the 1987 version, under no condition may convictions occurring after ten years be considered. Compare Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403(a)(3) (1997 & Supp. 2001) with Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-403(a)(3) (1987).
Although the defendant claims that the amendments to Section 55-10-403(a)(3) violate his due process rights to fair notice and the ex post facto provisions of the federal and state constitutions, it appears that this Court has repeatedly rejected such claims. State v. Janice Carol Biskner, No. E2000-01440-CCA-R3-CD, 2001 WL 1408510 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Knoxville, Nov. 13, 2001); State v. Clever, 70 S.W.3d 771, 776 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2001). Moreover, it is well established that statutes such as the one at issue here merely enhance the sentence for the triggering offense rather than punish the prior offenses and therefore do not violate constituti
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