Opinion ID: 1424731
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: DWI under Section 66-8-102.

Text: Section 66-8-102 in pertinent part provides that [i]t is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of intoxicating liquor to drive any vehicle within this state     (Emphasis added). Our Motor Vehicle Code, NMSA 1978, §§ 66-1-1 to 66-8-140 (Orig.Pamp., Repl.Pamp. 1984 and Cum.Supp. 1986), defines driver as any person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. See NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4(B)(18) (Repl.Pamp. 1984). We hold, as a matter of law, that the meaning of drive in Section 66-8-102 is unclear; therefore, we may resort to the principles of statutory construction in order to resolve the ambiguity. See New Mexico State Board of Education v. Board of Education, 95 N.M. 588, 590, 624 P.2d 530, 532 (1981). We must ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature. Board of Education v. Jennings, 102 N.M. 762, 765, 701 P.2d 361, 364 (1985). Defendant draws our attention to the fact that prior to 1979, Section 66-8-102 made it unlawful for any person under the influence to drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle     NMSA 1978, § 66-8-102, amended by 1979 N.M. Laws, ch. 71, § 7 (codified at NMSA 1978, § 66-8-102 (Cum.Supp. 1986)). He argues that adoption of an amendment is evidence that the Legislature intended to make a substantive change in the law, Stang v. Hertz Corporation, 81 N.M. 69, 73, 463 P.2d 45, 49 (Ct.App. 1969), aff'd on other grounds, 81 N.M. 348, 467 P.2d 14 (1970), and that the 1979 elimination of the phrase or be in actual physical control of indicates the Legislature's intention to narrow the scope of the statutory offense. We disagree. From 1953 until 1978, our Motor Vehicle Code made it unlawful for any person under the influence of intoxicating liquor to drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this state. 1953 N.M. Laws, ch. 139, § 54 (codified as amended at NMSA 1953, 2d Repl.Vol. 9, Part 2 (1972), § 64-22-2). Consistent with the DWI provision, the Motor Vehicle Code defined driver as [e]very person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. 1953 N.M. Laws, ch. 139, § 11 (codified at NMSA 1953, 2d Repl.Vol. 9, Part 2 (1972), § 64-14-13). In 1978, the Motor Vehicle Code was rewritten substantially, and the definition of driver was amended to encompass every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle    or who is exercising control over, or steering, a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. 1978 N.M. Laws, ch. 35, § 4(B)(17) (codified as amended at NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4(B)(18) (Repl.Pamp. 1984)). The new definition was inconsistent with the unchanged DWI section in its references to motor vehicles but not in its use of the phrase drives or is in actual physical control of. See 1978 N.M. Laws, ch. 35, § 510 (codified at NMSA 1978, § 66-8-102 (Orig.Pamp.) (recompilation of DWI provision)). The Legislature could have conformed Section 66-8-102 to the definition by adding the appropriate references to motor vehicles and towed vehicles. Instead it chose to streamline and clarify the DWI section by using only the statutorily defined term, drives. See NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4(A) (Repl.Pamp. 1984) (applicability of definitions); cf. Commonwealth v. Kloch, 230 Pa.Super. 563, 575-76, 327 A.2d 375, 383 (1974) (definition of nouns operator and operation apply to verb operate). But cf. State v. Williams, 20 Ohio Misc. 51, 251 N.E.2d 714 (C.P. 1969) (similar amendment requires motion of vehicle). We believe that the 1979 amendment was intended to rectify the inconsistency between the updated definition and the language of the DWI section and to make clear that the Legislature's definition of driver applies to the offense of DWI. We therefore hold that Section 66-8-102 makes it unlawful for any person who is under the influence of intoxicating liquor to drive or be in actual physical control of a motor vehicle or to exercise control over or steer a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle; motion of the vehicle is not a necessary element of the offense. [1]