Court Opinion

ID: 9623461
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:33:50.719399+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:02:43.713500
License: Public Domain

RABINOWITZ, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent from the court’s conclusion that Williams made a knowing waiver of his right to the assistance of counsel. For, in my view, the inquiry by the superior court as to the benefits of counsel was inadequate *884and thus cannot sustain a finding of knowing waiver.
In Swensen v. Municipality of Anchorage, 616 P.2d 874 (Alaska, 1980), we held that Swensen had not waived his right to counsel in the circumstance where he was given no explanation of the benefits of counsel; nor was there any questioning of whether Swensen understood the benefits of the assistance of counsel. The sole distinction between the case at bar and the Swensen case is that Williams was asked if he knew what an attorney could do and said yes. This does not comport with the procedures this court articulated in O’Dell v. Municipality of Anchorage, 576 P.2d 104, 107-08 (Alaska, 1978). In that case, we stated that in certain cases, such as traffic offenses, the inquiry as to the benefits of counsel could be minimal. Williams was accused of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of AS 28.35.030. Although only a traffic offense and a misdemeanor, this is certainly one of the most serious of traffic offenses. Conviction results in revocation of the offender’s driver’s license. A first conviction carries a mandatory three days of consecutive imprisonment and subsequent convictions carry a mandatory ten-day term.1 A fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for up to a year can be imposed. This is not the type of offense as to which sufficient inquiry is met through merely asking the accused if he knows what a lawyer can do. Further inquiry is necessary so that one accused of a crime of such a serious nature and carrying such substantial potential penalties can make a reasoned decision as to whether he wishes to avail himself of the services of an attorney.2 Since this further inquiry is lacking here, I would hold that Williams did not knowingly waive his constitutional right to assistance of counsel, and thus conclude that his conviction should be reversed and the matter remanded for trial.

. AS 28.35.030(a) provides:
A person who, while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, depressant, hallucinogenic or stimulant drugs or narcotic drugs as defined in AS 17.10.230(13) and AS 17.12.-150(3) operates or drives an automobile, motorcycle or other motor vehicle in the state, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both and the court shall impose a minimum sentence of imprisonment of not less than three consecutive days. Upon a subsequent conviction within five years after a conviction under this section, the court shall impose a minimum sentence of imprisonment of not less than 10 consecutive days. The execution of sentence may not be suspended nor may probation or parole be granted until the minimum imprisonment provided in this section has been served, nor may imposition of sentence be suspended, except upon the condition that the defendant be imprisoned for no less than the minimum period provided in this section, nor may the punishment provided for in this section be reduced under AS 11.05.150. In addition, his operator’s license shall be revoked in accordance with AS 28.15.210(c). In addition, a person convicted under this statute shall undertake, for a term specified by the court, that program of alcohol education or rehabilitation which the court, after consideration of any information compiled under (b) of this section, finds appropriate.

. See the detailed inquiry set forth in the Alaska Court System’s 1980 Magistrate’s misdemeanor arraignment checklist. Swensen v. Municipality of Anchorage, 616 P.2d 874, 878-879 n.5 (Alaska, 1980). Such careful inquiry will serve to guarantee in most cases that any waiver of the right to counsel is made knowingly-