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Raye v. Jones9/23/2003
The question presented is whether a person charged with violating Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 4-244(33) (2002) is entitled to a trial by jury. We hold that this offense, often called "underage drinking and driving," is not a jury eligible offense.
Leander D. Raye was twenty years old when cited for violating A.R.S § 4-244(33), which makes it unlawful for "a person under the age of twenty-one years to drive or be in physical control of a motor vehicle while there is any spirituous liquor in the person's body." The municipal court denied Raye's motion for a jury trial and found him guilty. Raye appealed to the superior court, which affirmed the judgment of the municipal court. Raye seeks special action relief and argues that he should be entitled to a jury trial on the offense of underage drinking and driving. We accept jurisdiction but deny relief.
JURISDICTION
We accept jurisdiction because Raye presents a pure legal question of first impression and has no further remedy by appeal. See Guthrie v. Jones, 202 Ariz. 273, 274, 4, 43 P.3d 601, 602 (App. 2002); A.R.S. § 22-375 (2002) (No appeal may be taken from the judgment of the superior court acting as an appellate court unless the action involves the "validity of a tax, impost, assessment, toll, municipal fine or statute."). Also, we have previously held that " pecial action review is an appropriate means to determine whether there is a right to a jury trial." Campbell v. Superior Court, 186 Ariz. 526, 527, 924 P.2d 1045, 1046 (App. 1996).
ANALYSIS
Raye contends that underage drinking and driving is a jury eligible offense because it is a "no tolerance DUI statute" for persons under the age of twenty-one and as such carries the same moral quality as driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor ("DUI"), an offense that is jury eligible under Rothweiler v. Superior Court, 100 Ariz. 37, 410 P.2d 479 (1966). The State argues in response that under Rothweiler, State ex rel. Dean v. Dolny, 161 Ariz. 297, 778 P.2d 1193 (1989), and Benitez v. Dunevant, 198 Ariz. 90, 7 P.3d 99 (2000), the offense of underage drinking and driving does not meet the test for jury eligibility.
The right to a jury trial for "serious" offenses has been preserved for criminal defendants by both our federal and state constitutions. See Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 155-58 (1968) (holding that the Sixth Amendment, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, requires that defendants accused of serious crimes be afforded the right to a jury); Benitez, 198 Ariz. at 93-94, 4, 7 P.3d at 101-02 (stating that the right to a jury trial enumerated in Article 2, Sections 23 and 24 of the Arizona Constitution, preserves the right to a jury trial in non petty offenses). Thus, "serious" offenses are jury eligible while "petty" offenses are not. Id.
In distinguishing between "serious" and "petty" offenses, our supreme court in Benitez discussed and applied the test for determining whether an offense was jury eligible under Rothweiler. The three factors to be considered in deciding jury eligibility are:
(1) the relationship of the offense to common law crimes;
(2) the severity of the potential penalties made available by statute; and
(3) the moral quality of the offense.
Benitez, 198 Ariz. at 93, 7, 7 P.3d at 102 (citing Rothweiler, 100 Ariz. at 47, 410 P.2d at 486). The court stated that the most significant factor among the three is the maximum potential penalty authorized by the statute, and that the "moral quality" factor is more flexible, requiring careful analysis in its application. Id. at 9
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