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HILLMAN v. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE6/20/1997
Alexander Hillman pleaded no contest to driving while intoxicated, a violation of Anchorage Municipal Code § 9.28.020. Because Hillman had two prior convictions for this offense, the district court ordered forfeiture of Hillman's vehicle — a required penalty under § 9.28.020(C)(5)(b).
Hillman alleges that his vehicle is worth $8000. Based on this appraisal, Hillman contends that the forfeiture of his vehicle constitutes a prohibited "excessive fine" within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 12 of the Alaska Constitution. Hillman also contends that forfeiture of an $8000 vehicle violates Alaska law because, under AS 12.55.035(b), the maximum fine for a class A misdemeanor is $5000.
We assume for purposes of deciding this case that Hillman's vehicle is indeed worth $8000. Nevertheless, as explained below, we reject both Hillman's constitutional argument and his statutory argument. We therefore affirm the forfeiture of his vehicle.
Our jurisdiction to entertain this appeal
Before addressing the merits of Hillman's arguments, we first must answer the Municipality's contention that Hillman has no right to appeal the forfeiture and that this court has no jurisdiction to hear Hillman's appeal. The Municipality relies on AS 22.07.020(c), which states:
The court of appeals has jurisdiction to review . . . (2) the final decision of the district court on a sentence imposed by it if the sentence exceeds 120 days of unsuspended incarceration for a misdemeanor offense.
The district court sentenced Hillman to 360 days' imprisonment with 300 days suspended, or 60 days to serve. Because Hillman received only 60 days of unsuspended incarceration, the Municipality argues that this court has no jurisdiction to hear his appeal.
As we explain in more detail below, we do not interpret AS 22.07.020(c) as prohibiting this court from reviewing any aspect of a district court's sentencing decision when the defendant receives 120 days or less to serve. This court retains the right to review an illegal sentence, regardless of how much (or how little) imprisonment is imposed on the defendant.
AS 22.07.020(c) was intended to restrict this court's jurisdiction to hear sentence appeals from the district court; this jurisdictional provision complements the new restrictions on district court sentence appeals embodied in the 1995 amendments to the sentence appeal statute, AS 12.55.120. Under the 1995 amendment to AS 12.55.120(d), district court defendants may not pursue a sentence appeal unless they receive more than 120 days to serve. In this context, a "sentence appeal" is an appeal in which the defendant concedes the legality of the sentence but contends that the sentencing judge abused his or her discretion by imposing an unduly harsh punishment. See Rozkydal v. State, 938 P.2d 1091, 1093 (Alaska App. 1997). The legislature's simultaneous amendment of AS 22.07.020(c) — the insertion of the phrase "if the sentence exceeds 120 days of unsuspended incarceration" — was intended as the
jurisdictional counterpart to the new restriction on sentence appeals.
Hillman's appeal, however, is not a "sentence appeal". Hillman contends that his sentence is illegal. This court continues to possess the authority to review claims that a sentence is illegal, even when the sentence does not exceed 120 days to serve. (Those readers who believe this conclusion is self-evident may skip the rest of this section.)
The current version of AS 22.07.020(c) was enacted in 1995 as part of the Alaska Legislature's re-working of various aspects of criminal procedure.
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