Court Opinion

ID: 9514902
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:52:26.094799+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:22.460503
License: Public Domain

SABERS, Justice
(concurring in part and dissenting in part).
[¶ 14.] I agree in part but I would modify the 15 year driver’s license revocation to add: “... or until the further order of the circuit court upon adequate proof of alcohol rehabilitation.”
[¶ 15.] I believe this modification provides some positive incentive to try to rehabilitate an otherwise hopeless case. In addition, it makes clear that the circuit court has the power to reinstate the driver’s license even after the expiration of one year. SDCL 32-23-3. See also State v. Groethe, 439 N.W.2d 554, 557 (S.D.1989). In Groethe, we modified a revocation “for the rest of his life” to include this language. It is important to note that we did this on our own motion without hiding behind the “plain error” rationale. Id.
[¶ 16.] It is not necessary to show error, it is just an improvement on the sentence. As stated in Groethe by an almost unanimous court: “We believe that such a provision will comport with the views that sentencing should be consistent with rehabilitation.” Id.