Powell v. State4/9/2004
ed that, starting in the year 1983, the average span between Powell's release from custody and his next DWI offense was 88 days.
In addition, Powell has eight prior convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license, one conviction for reckless driving, and one conviction for leaving the scene of an accident. Indeed, a witness who observed Powell at the scene of the accident in the present case testified that Powell was trying to restart his car and drive away. At the time of his current offenses, Powell's driver's license had already been revoked well into the twenty-second century-- i.e., past the year 2100.
Unfortunately, the two preceding paragraphs only begin to tell the story. Aside from his many driving offenses, Powell had several prior convictions for assault, and he also had convictions for disorderly conduct, making a false report, carrying a concealed weapon, resisting arrest, failure to appear, shoplifting, eluding a police officer, unsworn falsification, and criminal trespass.
Between 1978 and 1982 (that is, when Powell was between the ages of 17 and 21), Powell had two convictions for DWI, plus convictions for reckless driving, resisting arrest, and assault (for siccing a dog on two little girls). By 1983, Powell had accumulated his third and fourth DWI convictions, and he was ordered into alcohol treatment at Humana Hospital.
Between 1984 and 1985, Powell was convicted of eight more misdemeanors: a second reckless driving, plus disorderly conduct, making a false report, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, assault, and assault on a police officer.
In 1985, Powell was arrested on two counts of selling cocaine. Following his arrest, Powell posted bail and then absconded to California. He committed his fifth DWI in Redding, California; when he was arrested, he gave the California authorities a false name. Then, after getting out of jail in California, Powell fled to Florida--where he committed his sixth DWI. As he had done in California, Powell gave a false name to the Florida authorities. And after the Florida court released him on probation, he absconded again.
In early 1986, Powell was making his way back to Alaska. In March, he was arrested in the State of Washington for driving with a suspended license. Later, he arrived in Haines--where he was convicted of assault. (The district court was apparently unaware of Powell's record, because he received a suspended imposition of sentence for this crime.)
In May 1986, Powell was arrested in Anchorage on the felony warrant that had been issued the previous year when he jumped bail. Soon afterward, Powell was convicted of his first two felonies (two counts of third-degree controlled substance misconduct), but he received a relatively lenient sentence--130 days in jail, with no probation. He was released from prison in September 1986. Seven months later, in April 1987, Powell committed another DWI, although he was never convicted of this charge. (The charge was ultimately dismissed in January 1988 because Powell was in federal prison, as described in the next paragraph.)
*535 In June 1987, Powell got drunk at the Russian River and assaulted a federal fish and wildlife officer. The federal district court released Powell to the Glennwood Center (a treatment center), but Powell absconded. He fled Alaska, but he was soon arrested for shoplifting in Reno, Nevada--where he again gave a false name to the authorities. After serving his sentence in Nevada, Powell returned to Alaska (still on the run from his federal charges). He was arrested by federal marshals in October 1987, and the federal district court sentenced Powell to serve 11 months in prison. (This is apparently why the Municipality of Anchorage dismissed
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