Title: State v. Watts

State: missouri

Issuer: Missouri Supreme Court

Document:

601 S.W.2d 617 (1980)
STATE of Missouri, Respondent,
v.
Carl O. WATTS, Appellant.
No. 61158.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.
June 10, 1980.
Charles A. Powell, Jr., Macon, for appellant.
James N. Foley, Pros. Atty., Macon, for respondent.
ROBERT R. WELBORN, Commissioner.
Upon a jury waived trial, Carl O. Watts was found guilty of driving while intoxicated (first offense), § 564.440, RSMo 1969, and a fine of $170.00 was assessed. Defendant appeals.
*618 Shortly after midnight on April 26, 1977, Watts, driving south of Macon on Route 63, ran off the road into a ditch. A highway patrolman called to the scene found Watts "obviously under the influence of alcohol" and he was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated. He complained of injury from the accident, but an examining physician concluded that Watts' "only problem was that he was drunk." A breathalyzer test was administered and showed a blood alcohol level of 0.17%.
After preliminary proceedings in the Magistrate Court, not here significant, the matter came on for trial July 26, 1978. Prior to trial, defendant filed what he denominated a "Motion for Pretrial Declaratory Judgment and Order" in which he requested the court to advise whether or not, in the event of a trial by jury, defendant would be entitled to an instruction submitting the offense of operating a motor vehicle with 0.10% or more of blood alcohol content, in violation of § 564.439, RSMo 1975 Supp. That motion, as well as a motion to quash the information on constitutional grounds, to be considered herein, was overruled.
The cause was submitted on a stipulation for admission of the report of the arresting officer and of the breathalyzer test. Testifying in his own behalf, appellant admitted that he had drunk five beers and that his ability to operate a motor vehicle was "somewhat impaired."
The court found the defendant guilty. It also found that whether a charge should be filed under Section 564.440 or Section 564.439 rested in the sole discretion of the prosecutor; that the coexistence of the two statutes was not violative of constitutional due process or equal protection and that the request for a declaration of law as to what instructions would be given on a jury trial was moot.
In this Court, appellant's Point I is:
Section 564.440 provided, in part:
(Section 564.439 appears as Section 577.010 of the new Criminal Code. By that enactment, conviction for the first offense under that section is a class B misdemeanor, *619 the second, a class A misdemeanor and the third, a class D felony.)
Section 564.439, RSMo 1975 Supp. (now Section 577.012, RSMo 1978) provided, in part:
By Section 564.442, subd. 1(3), a finding of 0.10% or more by weight of alcohol in a person's blood was prima facie evidence that the person was intoxicated at the time the specimen was taken.
Convictions under Sections 564.439 and 564.440 have different effects upon the defendant's driving privileges. More than two convictions for driving while intoxicated make the defendant ineligible to receive a driver's or chauffeur's license. § 302.060(9). Conviction of such offense for the second time within a five-year period has the same effect. § 302.060(10). Under the point system, conviction for driving while intoxicated is a 12-point offense. § 302.302, subd. 1(7). Conviction for driving with blood alcohol content of 0.10% is a six-point offense for the first conviction (§ 302.302, subd. 1(8)) and a 12-point offense for the second and subsequent convictions. § 302.302, subd. 1(7). An accumulation of 12 points within a 12-month period calls for revocation of a driver's license. § 302.304.3.
Although appellant states his point in constitutional terms, he offers no authority based upon constitutional principles and his ultimate conclusion, not stated in his point, is that the enactment of Section 564.439 repealed, by implication, Section 564.440. He contends that both sections prohibit the same conduct and that the punishment and consequences of conviction under Section 564.440 are so unreasonably different from those under Section 564.439 that the sections are "irreconcilably repugnant," and that the later enactment (§ 564.439) had the effect of repealing the earlier (§ 564.440).
As appellant acknowledges, a conviction under Section 564.440 could occur although a blood alcohol test showed the defendant to have had between 0.05% and 0.09% blood alcohol (§ 564.442, subd. 1(2)) or even in the absence of a blood alcohol test result. Thus, the basic premise of appellant's argument on this score fails because Section 564.439 and Section 564.440 do not necessarily deal with the same conduct.
Answer to appellant's unsupported constitutional argument is found in United States v. Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114, 99 S. Ct. 2198, 60 L. Ed. 2d 755 (1979). In that case, the defendant was convicted of violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(h) in that as a previously convicted felon, he had received a firearm that had traveled in interstate commerce. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a) which provided a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, for violation of § 922(h).
*620 The same conduct of which the defendant was found guilty also violated 18 U.S.C. § 1202(a), enacted as part of the same act as § 922(h). Punishment upon conviction for violation of § 1202(a) was a fine of not more than $10,000 or two years' imprisonment, or both.
In affirming the conviction, the Supreme Court rejected the argument based upon implied repeal, stating (442 U.S. 122, 99 S.Ct. 2203):
The absence of legislative intent to repeal Section 564.440 by the enactment of Section 564.439 is emphasized by the re-enactment of Section 564.440 as part of the new Criminal Code. Laws of Mo. 1977, pp. 658, 716.
The Court also rejected a due process claim, based upon vagueness, not here raised by appellant, and the contention that the existence of the two statutes might "* * * implicate `due process and equal protection interest[s] in avoiding excessive prosecutorial discretion and in obtaining equal justice,' * * *." With respect to the latter, the Court said (442 U.S. 123-125, 99 S.Ct. 2203).
Batchelder is dispositive of appellant's reliance on federal constitutional guaranties of due process and equal protection. This Court will not extend the similar guaranties of the Missouri Constitution to provide appellant relief. State v. Gregori, 318 Mo. 998, 2 S.W.2d 747 (banc 1928), relied upon by appellant, is inapposite. In that case the court invalidated as violative of the equal protection clause, a statute applicable in counties of 50,000 population or more, giving juvenile courts jurisdiction of persons under 18 years of age, whereas in counties of less than 50,000 population such jurisdiction extended to persons less than 17 years of age. The court held the law not uniformly applicable because it did not "operate equally upon every citizen or inhabitant of the state." 2 S.W.2d  at 748. The statutes here involved are of general application and do not treat persons in one part of the state differently from those in another.
Appellant contends that the criteria employed by the prosecutor in determining which charge to file were arbitrary and unreasonable and violated his rights to equal protection and due process. The prosecutor stated for the record that his choice of the charge he presented involved consideration of the driving record of the defendant and his conduct at the time of his arrest. Those are not impermissible factors to be employed in guiding the prosecutor's discretion. Batchelder notes that "[t]he Equal Protection Clause prohibits selective enforcement `based upon an unjustifiable standard such as race, religion or other arbitrary classification.' Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448, 456 [82 S. Ct. 501, 506, 7 L. Ed. 2d 446] (1962)." 442 U.S. 125, fn. 9, 99 S. Ct. 2204. Appellant provides no authority for his assertion that due process requires that he have notice and opportunity to be heard on the criteria prior to the prosecutor's decision. Due process does not require a prior hearing as a prerequisite to a decision by a prosecutor as to what charge shall be filed.
Appellant complains that the trial court erred in its preliminary ruling that, in the event of a jury trial on a charge of D.W.I., defendant would not be entitled to an instruction on B.A.C. as a lesser included offense. No such ruling appears in the transcript. Appellant's "Motion for Pre-Trial Declaratory Judgment and Order" which included a request in this regard was overruled by the trial court. The basis for its ruling does not appear. The court may well have concluded that the motion was not authorized under the Rules. In any event, the question presented was answered by State v. Blumer, 546 S.W.2d 790 (Mo.App.1977). Appellant's argument that Blumer, was incorrectly decided is without merit. Blumer correctly found that driving with blood alcohol of 0.10% or more is not an essential element of driving while intoxicated under Section 564.440 and therefore the offense under Section 564.439 is not a lesser included offense of a charge under Section 564.440. See City of Mexico v. Merline, 596 S.W.2d 475, 477-478[6] (Mo.App.1980).
Judgment affirmed.
*622 PER CURIAM:
The foregoing opinion by WELBORN, C., is adopted as the opinion of the court.
All of the Judges concur.