Opinion ID: 1298515
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was the crime one punishable as a felony under Arizona law?

Text: Unfortunately, this issue is not clear-cut. Arizona law criminalizes the knowing possession of marijuana. See A.R.S. § 13-3405(A)(1). Subsection (B)(1) classifies the offense as a class 6 felony. However, the sentencing statute, which is part of the same title of the code, provides in part: Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, if a person is convicted of any class 6 felony ... and if the court ... is of the opinion that it would be unduly harsh to sentence the defendant for a felony, the court may enter judgment of conviction for a class 1 misdemeanor and make disposition accordingly.... A.R.S. § 13-702(H). The statute further provides that [w]hen a crime or public offense is punishable in the discretion of the court by a sentence as a class 6 felony or a class 1 misdemeanor, the offense shall be deemed a misdemeanor if the prosecuting attorney: 1. Files an information in superior court designating the offense as a misdemeanor; 2. Files a complaint in justice court or magistrate court designating the offense as a misdemeanor. Id. Thus, the statutes permit the offense to be either charged as a felony and subsequently treated as a misdemeanor or, at the prosecutor's discretion, initially charged as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. At the Commission hearing, the Maricopa County Attorney testified that under its written procedures his office would not have treated respondent's conduct as a felony. The county attorney also testified that a defendant such as respondent would usually be charged with a felony but referred to an adult diversion program rather than being prosecuted to final conviction. Respondent argues this testimony compels a finding that the crime was not punishable as a felony. We disagree. We do not believe the definition of what is punishable as a felony may vary with the policies and procedures adopted or discarded from time to time by the particular county attorney having jurisdiction over the offense and offender. In our view, the words punishable as a felony refer to the maximum punishment that might be imposed for the conduct involved and not to the usual routine of prosecutorial discretion on how or whether to charge at all. State v. Mileham, 1 Ariz. App. 67, 69, 399 P.2d 688, 690 (1965) (punishable is defined as the statutory maximum which could be imposed for the offense which was charged ) (emphasis added); cf. 1962 Ariz. Sess. Laws (1961 1st Spec.Sess.) ch. 1, § 1 (amending A.R.S. § 36-1001(33) to define punishable as a felony to include imprisonment in the state prison as either an alternative or the sole penalty) (repealed by 1979 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 103, § 14). As the Commission argues, other courts have consistently held the maximum penalty that could be imposed for the conduct involved determines the class of crime. See Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc., 460 U.S. 103, 103 S.Ct. 986, 74 L.Ed.2d 845 (1983); United States v. Tallmadge, 829 F.2d 767 (9th Cir.1987) (the cited cases illustrate that where the predicate conviction is for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, it is considered a felony conviction even though the specific defendant was not sentenced to prison but instead was given probation and his conviction later expunged or reduced under state procedures); see also United States v. Pruner, 606 F.2d 871 (9th Cir.1979). Thus, we agree with the Commission's view: the maximum punishment imposable under Arizona law for the conduct involved, and not speculation as to how the case otherwise might have been handled, determines whether the crime charged was one punishable as a felony [3] within the meaning of art. 6.1, § 3. [4] The fact respondent was actually tried and convicted on a Texas misdemeanor charge presents some difficulty. Nevertheless, we believe the better interpretation, and that demanded by the constitutional text, is simply that respondent falls within the ambit of sections 2 and 3 so long as respondent's Texas conviction was for a crime that when committed in Arizona might be punished as a felony in Arizona.