Opinion ID: 2621830
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Authorized penalty for the offense.

Text: Under the third and final Nakata factor, we examine the authorized penalty for the offense. Nakata, 76 Hawai`i at 367, 878 P.2d at 706. As noted earlier, the maximum authorized term of incarceration under HRS § 291-7 for a first DUI-DRUGS offense does not exceed the thirty-day threshold as set forth by this court in Lindsey. Therefore, we consider the possible additional statutory `mix of penalties' that may attach to the offense. Id. Pursuant to HRS § 291-7(b)(1), the following mix of penalties for a first offense or any offense not preceded within a five-year period by a conviction under this section, includes: (A) A fourteen-hour minimum drug abuse rehabilitation program, including education and counseling, or other comparable programs deemed appropriate by the court; and (B) Ninety-day prompt suspension of license, with absolute prohibition from operating a motor vehicle during suspension of license, or the court may impose, in lieu of the ninety-day prompt suspension of license, a minimum thirty-day prompt suspension of license with absolute prohibition from operating a motor vehicle and, for the remainder of the ninety-day period, a restriction on the license that allows the person to drive for limited work-related purposes and to participate in drug treatment programs; and (C) Any one or more of the following: (i) Seventy-two hours of community service work; (ii) Not less than forty-eight hours and not more than five days of imprisonment; or (iii) A fine of not less than $150 but not more than $1,000. In O'Brien and Nakata, we addressed a similar mix of penalties. In O'Brien, we held that a violation of a DUI-license suspension, where a violator was subject to a license suspension of a year, a fine of up to $1,000.00, and imprisonment of up to sixty days, constituted a petty offense. 68 Haw. at 44, 704 P.2d at 887. In Nakata, we also deemed a first-time DUI-ALCOHOL offense to be petty, where an offender faced a ninety-day license suspension, a fine of up to $1,000.00, compulsory rehabilitation and community service, and reimbursement for the cost of implementing the penalties. 76 Hawai`i at 380, 878 P.2d at 719. In light of these holdings and our strongly-held view that [p]enalties such as probation or a fine may engender `a significant infringement of personal freedom,' but they cannot approximate in severity the loss of liberty that a prison term entails, Nakata, 76 Hawai`i at 368, 878 P.2d at 707 (quoting Blanton, 489 U.S. at 542, 109 S.Ct. 1289), we do not believe that a first-time DUI-DRUGS offense is an extraordinary case where consideration of the mix of penalties unequivocally demonstrates that society demands that persons charged with the offense at issue be afforded the right to a jury trial. Lindsey, 77 Hawai`i at 165, 883 P.2d at 86. Based on the foregoing discussion, we hold that a first-time DUI-DRUGS offense under HRS § 291-7 is not a constitutionally serious offense and that Sullivan was not entitled to a jury trial.