Opinion ID: 2570469
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Severity of Penalty

Text: ¶ 13 In accordance with Strohson, we assess severity of the penalty by looking to the potential jail time and fines set by the legislature. 190 Ariz. at 124, 945 P.2d at 1255. Because the offense, driving on a suspended driver's license, is designated a class one misdemeanor, we refer to the maximum imprisonment for a class one misdemeanor, six months, see A.R.S. § 13-707, and the maximum fine, $2500, see A.R.S. § 13-802(A). [2] Whether a defendant in fact receives the maximum sentences is immaterial; we look to potential penalties. As a general rule, the penalties attendant to misdemeanor offenses in this state are, of themselves, not enough to secure a jury trial. See State ex rel. Baumert v. Superior Court, 127 Ariz. 152, 155, 618 P.2d 1078, 1081 (1980) (maximum six-month sentence and $1000 fine in 1980 did not establish severe penalty for disorderly conduct); Spitz v. Municipal Court of Phoenix, 127 Ariz. 405, 408, 621 P.2d 911, 914 (1980) (liquor license suspension for selling liquor to minor not jury eligible where the penalty was less than six months and the maximum fine was $300 in 1980); O'Neill v. Mangum, 103 Ariz. 484, 485, 445 P.2d 843, 844 (1968) (maximum penalty of six months and $300 fine for drunk and disorderly conduct in 1968 insufficient for jury eligibility); see also Mungarro v. Riley, 170 Ariz. 589, 590, 826 P.2d 1215, 1216 (App.1991) (possible six-month prison sentence and $2500 fine did not make false reporting to a law officer jury eligible, though moral turpitude inherent in the offense justified jury trial). On the record before us, applying our own precedent, the penalties imposed on Benitez are insufficient to warrant trial by jury. The maximum fine and incarceration in a case of this nature simply do not rise to that level.