Opinion ID: 1800667
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether Count I and Count II of the indictment, which resulted in conviction and sentence under both counts, are the same crime.

Text: ¶ 16. Kramm was indicted on three separate counts, Count I and Count II both being under Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30 (Rev.2004). Count I of the indictment is pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(a), and Count II of the indictment is pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(c). According to the record, Kramm did not file a motion to quash the indictment before trial. Kramm argues that the two subsections described the same crime. Kramm asserts that if both his convictions and sentences under Count I and II, along with his conviction and sentence under III of the indictment, are allowed to stand, he will qualify as a habitual status offender. ¶ 17. Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1) provides: It is unlawful for any person to drive or otherwise operate a vehicle within this state who (a) is under the influence of intoxicating liquor; (b) is under the influence of any other substance which has impaired such person's ability to operate a motor vehicle; (c) has an alcohol concentration of eight one-hundredths percent (.08%) or more for persons who are above the legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages under state law, or two one-hundredths percent (.02%) or more for persons who are below the legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages under state law, in the person's blood based upon grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath as shown by a chemical analysis of such person's breath, blood or urine administered as authorized by this chapter; (d) is under the influence of any drug or controlled substance, the possession of which is unlawful under the Mississippi Controlled Substances Law; or (e) has an alcohol concentration of four one-hundredths percent (.04%) or more in the person's blood, based upon grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath as shown by a chemical analysis of such person's blood, breath or urine, administered as authorized by this chapter for persons operating a commercial motor vehicle. (Emphasis added). ¶ 18. This Court previously has examined Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(a) and (c) to determine whether the prosecution may proceed to trial under both subsections. Young v. City of Brookhaven, 693 So.2d 1355, 1357 (Miss.1997). The Court interpreted the two subsections as merely providing two different ways to prove a single violation. Id. at 1358. The Court affirmed Young's conviction, finding no error in the prosecution's choice to proceed under both subsections rather than electing to proceed under just one. Id. The Court stated that Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30 merely sets forth numerous methods of committing the same crime. Id. ¶ 19. However, unlike the case at hand, the Court in Young did not convict and impose sentence under both subsections of Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30. Young, 693 So.2d at 1358. Accordingly, Kramm is correct that his conviction and sentence under Count I and Count II amounted to being convicted and sentenced twice for the same crime. ¶ 20. Having imposed a conviction and sentence under Count I, the trial court erred by accepting the conviction under Count II and imposing a separate twenty-year sentence under Count II. The trial court sentenced Kramm to serve a separate twenty-year sentence under Count II to run concurrently with the twenty-year sentence imposed under Count I. Therefore, the judgment of the trial court as to Count II is reversed and judgment rendered to vacate the conviction and sentence imposed under Count II. However, Kramm's twenty-year sentence under Count I and five-year sentence under Count III, to run consecutively with the sentence under Count I, for a total of twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, is affirmed.