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State v. Frost11/14/2002
The State appeals the trial court's order authorizing Defendant to serve the last four months of his six-month mandatory "jail term" as a DWI repeat offender in an electronic monitoring program (EMP) administered by the Chaves County Detention Center (CCDC). Based on the statutory authority for inmate release programs at local jails and our holding in State v. Guillen, 2001-NMCA-079, 11, 130 N.M. 803, 32 P.3d 812, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
Defendant entered a nolo contendre plea to fourth-degree felony driving while intoxicated (DWI) under NMSA 1978, § 66-8-102(G) (1999). The trial court sentenced Defendant to eighteen-months imprisonment, suspended twelve months of the sentence, and ordered the twelve-month suspended sentence to be served on probation. Neither party contends that there was any illegality in the original judgment and sentence entered by the court. For medical reasons, Defendant began serving his probation immediately. Defendant violated the terms of his probation, his probation was revoked, and he was placed in the CCDC in August 2000 to begin serving the last four months of his six-month jail term.
Defendant pled guilty to violating his probation, and during the hearing on his sentencing, Defendant asked the trial court to allow him to serve the remainder of his jail term in the CCDC EMP. Motivated by the fact of Defendant's medical condition which "posed an unreasonable burden on the county if he continues to be in the confinement," the court agreed with Defendant's request. The trial court ordered that Defendant "may serve" his sentence in the EMP under the supervision and control of the CCDC "if deemed appropriate by the Jail Administrator" with the condition that Defendant reside with his daughter Betty and be supervised by either of his two daughters at all times. The trial court determined that, because the EMP would be administered by the detention center, Defendant was in the "custody" of the detention center for purposes of satisfying his six-month "jail term."
The State objected to the sentencing order prepared by Defendant. At the presentment hearing, the State argued that the DWI statute is one of a small number of statutes that mandate jail time and that participation in the EMP would not meet the requirements of a mandatory six-month "jail term" imposed by Section 66-8-102(G). The trial court disagreed with the State, and the order was entered.
I. Standard of Review
Section 66-8-102(G) relates to DWI convictions and states as follows:
Upon a fourth or subsequent conviction under this section, an offender is guilty of a fourth degree felony, as provided in Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978, and shall be sentenced to a jail term of not less than six months, which shall not be suspended or deferred or taken under advisement. (Emphasis added.)
The issue of whether the trial court's sentence satisfied the requirement of a six-month jail term for a felony DWI offender presents us with a question of statutory interpretation that this Court reviews de novo. See State v. Rowell, 121 N.M. 111, 114, 908 P.2d 1379, 1382 (1995) ("Interpretation of a statute is an issue of law, not a question of fact."); State v. Perez, 2002-NMCA-040, 10, 132 N.M. 84, 44 P.3d 530 (stating that issues of statutory interpretation are reviewed de novo).
II. Discussion
On appeal, the State makes two main arguments: (1) the legislature did not authorize trial courts to allow felony DWI offenders to serve their mandatory six-month "jail term" anywhere other than jail; and (2) the actual program to which Defendant was admitted is not a statutorily authorized alternative
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