 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Dutton v. State6/29/2001
On Rehearing Ex Mero Motu
This Court's opinion of April 27, 2001, is withdrawn and the following is substituted therefor.
John Mark Dutton was convicted in the Circuit Court of Morgan County of driving under the influence ("DUI"), a misdemeanor. At the time of the offense, Dutton had had four prior DUI convictions within the five-year period preceding the offense. Thus, under § 32-5A-191(h), he would have been sentenced for a Class C felony if he was convicted of the offense. However, by the time he was indicted, because of the lapse of time between the offense and the indictment, the earlier DUI convictions were no longer within that immediately preceding five-year period, and this offense was then his third conviction within a five-year period. Dutton pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI on September 25, 2000; he was sentenced to one year in the Morgan County jail and was ordered to pay a $200 fine and court costs. On appeal, Dutton argues that the Morgan Circuit Court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to accept his guilty plea to misdemeanor DUI. The State acknowledges that the Morgan Circuit Court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to accept Dutton's guilty plea for misdemeanor DUI.
Dutton was arrested for the present DUI on February 12, 1997. At the time of his arrest, under § 32-5A-191(h), Ala. Code 1975, a defendant convicted of a fourth DUI conviction within a five-year period was guilty of a Class C felony. However, § 32-5A-191(h), Ala. Code 1975, has been interpreted to mean that the date of conviction, rather than the date of the offense or the arrest, controls for enhancement purposes. See State v. Brooks, 701 So. 2d 56, 57 (Ala. Crim. App. 1996).
The Decatur Municipal Court transferred the case to the Morgan County Circuit Court on January 16, 1998. The grand jury returned a felony DUI indictment for this offense on May 26, 1999, and Dutton pleaded guilty on September 25, 2000. At the time of Dutton's indictment and at the time of his conviction, only two of his prior DUI convictions were within five years of the current DUI conviction. Therefore, the indictment charged only a misdemeanor DUI. In Blevins v. State, 747 So. 2d 914 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998), this Court held that a circuit court has no jurisdiction when an indictment alleges only a misdemeanor; rather "the district court has exclusive original jurisdiction of misdemeanor prosecutions for traffic infractions even when an indictment has been returned (except ordinance infractions prosecuted in municipal court)." Id. at 916, citing Wright v. State, 494 So. 2d 177, 179 (Ala. Crim. App. 1986). Rule 2.2, Ala.R.Crim.P., is consistent with this interpretation. Rule 2.2 provides, in pertinent part:
"(a) Felonies. All felony charges and misdemeanor or ordinance violations which are lesser included offenses within a felony charge or which arise from the same incident as a felony charge shall be prosecuted in circuit court, except that the district court shall have concurrent jurisdiction to receive guilty pleas and to impose sentences in felony cases not punishable by sentence of death, including related and lesser included misdemeanor charges, and may hold preliminary hearings with respect to felony charges.
"(b) Misdemeanors and Ordinance Violations. All misdemeanor offenses (including an indictment charging a traffic infraction) shall be prosecuted originally in district court or, where adopted as municipal ordinance violations, municipal court, except:
"(1) Misdemeanors for which an indictment has been returned by a grand jury.
"(2) Misdemeanors that are lesser included offenses within a felony charge as to which concurrent jurisdi
Page 1 2 3 4 Alabama DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|