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Frazier v. People5/17/2004
ii. Consequences of a Particular Construction
When we examine the consequences of construing Senate Bill 01-168 as Frazier proposes, we find further support for our conclusion. A statutory interpretation leading to an illogical or absurd result will not be followed. State v. Nieto, 993 P.2d 493, 501 (Colo.2000). This rule of statutory construction supports our holding for two reasons.
First, Senate Bill 01-168 only makes reference to the statutory provision pertaining to DUI vehicular homicide. The statutory provision relating to reckless vehicular homicide remained unaltered. To construe Senate Bill 01-168 as mandating a one year county jail sentence for DUI vehicular homicide, while reckless vehicular homicide remained a class four felony subject to two to six years in the Department of Corrections, would require courts to recognize the presence of drugs or alcohol as a mitigating factor in vehicular homicide cases. Clearly, the legislature expressed no such intent; Title 18 has at all times treated DUI vehicular homicide as a more serious offense than reckless vehicular homicide.
Second, Frazier's interpretation would require us to conclude that the General Assembly intended for certain felony offenses to be punishable by one year or less in county jail. Traditionally, and by constitutional mandate, a sentence in county jail applies to misdemeanor offenses only. Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 4 ("The term felony, wherever it may occur in this constitution, or the laws of the state, shall be construed to mean any criminal offense punishable by death or imprisonment in the penitentiary, and none other."); Brooks v. People, 14 Colo. 413, 24 P. 553 (1890) ("[U]nder our constitution the test by which to determine whether an offense less *812 than capital shall be deemed a felony or a misdemeanor is made to depend upon whether the same is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary or in the county jail."); Eckhardt v. People, 126 Colo. 18, 247 P.2d 673, 677 (1952) (holding that if the penalty for a crime is imprisonment in the county jail, then the crime is a misdemeanor); see also LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 1.6(a) (2d ed.2003) (discussing the historical and practical distinction between felonies and misdemeanors).
Nowhere does Senate Bill 01-168 change the classification of vehicular homicide to a misdemeanor, or change the place of incarceration for a felony conviction from the penitentiary to the county jail.
For both of these reasons, we determine that Frazier's construction of Senate Bill 01-168 would lead to an illogical and unsupportable result.
iii. Goal of Statutory Scheme
Finally, we examine the goals of the statutory scheme and conclude that Senate Bill 01-168 was not intended to alter the sentences for criminal offenses defined in Title 18. Section 42-4-1301, to which Senate Bill 01-168 pertains, appears within the vehicle and traffic regulation portion of the statutes. It deals with misdemeanors, driving under the influence, and driving while ability impaired offenses. Senate Bill 01-168 is titled "[c]oncerning the requirement of completion of level II alcohol treatment for persistent drunk drivers, and making an appropriation therefor." Conversely, Title 18 of the Colorado Revised Statutes addresses the substantive elements of criminal offenses and the corresponding penalties. Thus, as the People point out in their briefs to this court, the traffic code and the criminal code are directed at different societal harms. See Daniels v. People, 159 Colo. 190, 411 P.2d 316, 318-19 (1966) (indicating that traffic laws are enacted "for the purpose of regulating the movement of vehicular traffic on our streets and highways" whereas criminal laws evidence a legislative concern for the results that flow from v
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