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Busby v. State2/1/2002
a, without the need for a new judicial or administrative proceeding.
Summary of our conclusions regarding Article 24, Section 5 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic
Under Article 24, Section 5 of the Convention on Road Traffic, signatory countries (and their political subdivisions) retain the right to enforce license suspensions or revocations, even when the motorist whose license was suspended or revoked later obtains an international driving permit from another government. If, during the term of the suspension or revocation, the motorist returns to the country or state that imposed the suspension or revocation and drives a motor vehicle within its territory, that country or state can prosecute the motorist for driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Busby's Alaska driver's license was revoked while he was living here. Even though Busby later obtained a valid international driving permit from another government, his driver's license remained revoked in the State of Alaska, and the Convention on Road Traffic does not bar the State of Alaska from enforcing Busby's pre-existing license revocation.
Thus, even though Busby possessed an international driving permit, he could not lawfully drive within the borders of this state. Accordingly, we uphold the State of Alaska's authority to prosecute Busby for driving with a revoked license.
Busby's Remaining Arguments
Busby asserts that the trial judge committed three errors during his trial that require reversal of his conviction. The first two alleged errors involve Busby's attempt to argue to the jury that he should be acquitted because he mistakenly but in good faith believed that he was entitled to drive in Alaska despite the fact that his license was revoked.
First, Busby contends that the trial judge improperly limited Busby's testimony concerning his efforts to research the Convention on Road Traffic - specifically, his research into whether his international driving permit gave him the right to drive in Alaska even though his Alaska driver's license was revoked. Apparently, the trial judge allowed Busby to generally describe his legal research to the jury, but the judge prevented Busby from going into detail about the specific sources he consulted and what he gleaned from those sources.
Second, Busby contends that the trial judge committed error by instructing the jury that "it is no defense that [Busby] believed [his act] to be lawful".
Both of Busby's arguments are premised on his assertion that, in a prosecution for driving with a revoked license, the government was obliged to prove that Busby acted with "knowledge" of his license status. Busby's arguments are further premised on the assumption that the term "license status" includes the legal relationship between his revoked Alaska driver's license and his later-issued international driving permit. Both of these premises are incorrect.
In prosecutions for driving with a suspended or revoked license, the government must indeed prove that the defendant acted with a culpable mental state regarding the fact that their license was suspended or revoked, but that culpable mental state is "criminal negligence", not "knowledge". We expressly held in Gregory v. State, 717 P.2d 428, 431 (Alaska App. 1986), that "proof of criminal negligence is the required mental state to show a violation of AS 28.15.291".
In other words, the State did not need to prove that Busby was subjectively aware that his license was revoked. Indeed, the government did not even have to prove that Busby was subjectively aware of a risk that his license was revoked. Instead, the State mere
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