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Casaday v. State3/1/2002
Richard Adam Casaday entered a guilty plea and was convicted of the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI"), a violation of § 32-5A-191(a)(2), Ala. Code 1975. Because this was Casaday's fourth DUI conviction, he was sentenced in accordance with § 32-5A-191(h), Ala. Code 1975, the recidivist portion of the statute commonly referred to as the "felony DUI" statute, to four years' imprisonment; that sentence was split so that he would serve one year. He was also ordered to pay all applicable statutory fines, court costs, and a victim's restitution assessment. At his guilty plea hearing, Casaday specifically preserved his right to appeal the single issue that he presents herein: whether the conviction of a person under the age of 21, under § 32-5A-191(b), Ala. Code 1975, constitutes a prior conviction for sentence-enhancement purposes under § 32-5A-191(h), Ala. Code 1975.
The record shows that, including the violation at issue in the instant appeal, Casaday had been convicted of driving under the influence a total of four times within a two-year period. One of those convictions resulted from a violation of § 32-5A-191(b), Ala. Code 1975, which provides as follows: "A person who is under the age of 21 years shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle if there is .02 percentage or more by weight of alcohol in his or her blood." Casaday argues that his prior conviction under this section should not have been considered by the trial court for purposes of enhancing his sentence to a Class C felony conviction under § 32-5A-191(h) Ala. Code 1975. Thus, he contends, the trial court should have sentenced him as if the present offense was his third DUI conviction, rather than his fourth.
We note that, although Casaday reserved for appellate review his claim that a DUI conviction under § 32-5A-191(b) should not have been regarded for sentencing purposes, the record reflects that defense counsel stipulated to the validity of the remaining two prior convictions used by the State to invoke § 32-5A-191(h), Ala. Code 1975. Therefore, he is barred from further challenging the validity of those convictions on appeal.
Section 32-5A-191(h) states, in pertinent part:
"(h) On a fourth or subsequent conviction, a person convicted of violating this section shall be guilty of a Class C felony and punished by a fine of not less than four thousand one hundred dollars ($4,100) nor more than ten thousand one hundred dollars ($10,100) and by imprisonment of not less than one year and one day nor more than 10 years. ..."
"Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Alabama habitual felony offender law shall not apply to a conviction of a felony pursuant to this subsection, and a conviction of a felony pursuant to this subsection shall not be a felony conviction for purposes of the enhancement of punishment pursuant to Alabama's habitual felony offender law."
In denying Casaday's claim, the trial court noted that there was no express language within the statute itself to prohibit the use of a prior conviction under § 32-5A-191(b) from being considered when a trial court reviews the number of prior convictions that may invoke § 32-5A-191(h). The trial court stated:
"THE COURT: To the extent that the legislature has any intent at the time they pass statutes it's unclear. It would have been easy for them to insert a sentence which stated that this, that a conviction under this part of the statute would not be used for enhancement purposes but they didn't do so. That being the case, it seems to me it will have to be a matter for the appellate courts to deal with. And in absence of any other language indicating it's not to b
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