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Hutchison v. State6/8/2001
We are asked to decide whether extreme intoxication can constitute a defense to a charge of failure to appear under the former (pre-September 2000) version of AS 12.30.060. As this statute was worded prior to September 4, 2000, a defendant was guilty of failing to appear if the defendant was released on bail and then "wilfully" failed to appear at a scheduled court date. Hutchison was charged with violating this statute because he failed to attend his omnibus hearing. He defended by asserting that he was so drunk on the night before the omnibus hearing that he passed out and did not regain consciousness until the next afternoon.
The legislature has provided definitions for the four culpable mental states used in Title 11 of the Alaska Statutes (see AS 11.81.900(a)(1)-(4)), but the legislature has not defined "wilfully". Definition of this term has been left to common-law development through court decisions.
In this appeal, Hutchison urges us to construe "wilfully" as being most equivalent to the culpable mental state "intentionally" codified in AS 11.81.900(a)(1). Hutchison favors this interpretation of the statute because, under AS 11.81.900(a)(1), intoxication is a potential defense when a statute requires proof that the defendant acted "intentionally".
The State, on the other hand, urges us to construe "wilfully" as being most equivalent to the culpable mental state of "knowingly" codified in AS 11.81.900(a)(2). The State favors this interpretation because AS 11.81.900(a)(2) contains a special clause stating that intoxication is not a defense when a statute requires proof that the defendant acted "knowingly".
We have examined the legislative history of AS 12.30.060, as well as several cases from other jurisdictions that address the issue of what constitutes a "willful" failure to appear. Based on our research, we agree with the State that the term "wilfully" (as used in the former version of our failure to appear statute) more closely approximates the culpable mental state of "knowingly". This, however, does not resolve Hutchison's case. The question is not whether "knowingly" or "intentionally" more closely approximates "wilfully". Rather, the question is to ascertain exactly what the legislature intended when it used the word "wilfully". We conclude that the most accurate way to translate "wilfully" is to use the current definition of "knowingly" but without the special intoxication clause (the clause declaring that intoxication is not a defense). We therefore conclude that extreme intoxication can be a defense to a charge of failure to appear under the former version of the statute.
Underlying Facts
Grant T. Hutchison was charged with felony driving while intoxicated in case number 2BA-98-646 Cr. On November 3, 1998, Hutchison failed to appear for the omnibus hearing in his case. Consequently, Hutchison was indicted for felony failure to appear under AS 12.30.060(1). At the time of Hutchison's indictment, this statute forbade a person from "wilfully fail to appear before a court or judicial officer as required".
Hutchison consented to a court trial in front of Superior Court Judge Michael I. Jeffery. Hutchison's defense was that he drank so much liquor on the night of November 2nd that he passed out and did not regain consciousness until the next afternoon - thus missing his omnibus hearing.
At the close of the trial, Judge Jeffery indicated that he found Hutchison's testimony to be credible, but he was not sure whether intoxication was a defense to the charge. The problem was that the crime of failure to appear required proof that the defendant acted "wilfully". The legislature has defined t
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