Opinion ID: 1420443
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prior Convictions within Ten Years

Text: Wickenhauser argues the court erred in considering previous convictions which were more than ten years prior to this conviction in making the determination that this was his fourth offense. The applicable statute provides: ... [A]ny conviction, entry of a plea of guilty or of nolo contendere or forfeiture of bail, for the violation of any law or ordinance of this State or any municipality of this State that prohibits any person from operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, drugs, or narcotics shall constitute a prior offense for the purpose of any prosecution for any subsequent violation hereof. Only those offenses which occurred within a period of ten years including and immediately preceding the date of the last offense shall constitute prior offenses within the meaning of this section. S.C. Code Ann. § 56-5-2940 (1991). Wickenhauser maintains that under this provision, the time periods between his offenses should be measured from conviction to conviction. Since his first conviction was more than ten years before this conviction, Wickenhauser argues it should not have been considered in his sentencing. We disagree. We read the statute as limiting offenses to those which result in a conviction, entry of a plea of guilty, nolo contendere, or forfeiture of bail as offenses to be considered, not redefining the date of the offense to mean the date of the conviction, entry of a plea of guilty, nolo contendere or forfeiture of bond. Accordingly, the date of the offense remains the date on which the violation occurred. Thus, any violations which result in a conviction, entry of a plea of guilty, nolo contendere, or forfeiture of bail which occur within ten years of the date of the current offense are properly considered prior offenses. Under this interpretation, all of Wickenhauser's previous offenses occurred within ten years of this offense. Therefore, we affirm the trial court's holding that the offense at issue constitutes a fourth offense DUI conviction within the ten-year period.