Kolberg v. State

1996 OK CR 41, 925 P.2d 66, 67 O.B.A.J. 2591, 1996 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 42, 1996 WL 490426
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedAugust 22, 1996
DocketF-95-1355
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1996 OK CR 41 (Kolberg v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kolberg v. State, 1996 OK CR 41, 925 P.2d 66, 67 O.B.A.J. 2591, 1996 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 42, 1996 WL 490426 (Okla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

SUMMARY OPINION

LUMPKIN, Judge:

Appellant John David Kolberg was tried by jury in Pottawatomie County Case No. CRF-95-415 and convicted of Count I, Escape from. Arrest or Detention (21 O.S.1991, § 444(C)) and Count II, Driving While Under the Influence of Intoxicating Beverage, second and subsequent offense (47 O.S.Supp. 1995, § 11-902). The jury recommended he be sentenced to a term of five (5) years imprisonment on Count I and seven (7) years imprisonment and a five-thousand-dollar ($5,000) fine on Count II. The trial court sentenced accordingly, ordering the sentences to be served consecutively. It is from this judgment and sentence that Appellant appeals. We publish because of two issues of first impression.

In his first proposition of error, Appellant claims because he had not been convicted of driving under the influence within ten years before his present conviction, this conviction should be modified to a misdemeanor. We agree.

The felony conviction for driving under the influence of an intoxicating beverage to which Appellant pled guilty was dated January 11, 1984. This offense occurred on October 11, 1995. The applicable statute reads in pertinent part:

C. ... Any person who, within ten (10) years after a previous conviction of a violation of this section or a violation pursuant to the provisions of any law of another state prohibiting the offense provided in subsection A of this section [driving while under the influence], is convicted of a second offense ... shall be deemed guilty of a felony....

47 O.S.Supp.1995, § 11-902. Appellant points to the language “[a]ny person who, within ten (10) years after a previous conviction of a violation of this section ..., is convicted of a second offense ... shall be deemed guilty of a felony....” He argues the use of the word “conviction” indicates that for a prior DUI to be used for enhancement, the “conviction,” not the expiration of sentence, must have occurred within 10 years before the commission of the subsequent crime. We agree.

The State cites to the general enhancement provision, which reads:

No person shall be sentenced as a second and subsequent offender under Section 51 of Title 21, or any other section of the Oklahoma Statutes, when a period of ten (10) years has elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed on the former conviction; provided, said person *68 has not, in the meantime, been convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or felony.

21 O.S.1991, § 51A. Pointing to the language “the completion of the sentence” and “or any other section of the Oklahoma Statutes,” the State argues this provision encompasses the DUI statute which is in “any other section” of the statutes. The State argues that since Appellant received a two-year sentence for his January 1984 DUI, his sentence had not expired at the time he was arrested for this crime, and enhancement was proper.

Specific provisions control over general. See 21 O.S.1991, § 11. Concerning the DUI statute, this Court has specifically held that the provisions of the general statute (21 O.S.1991, § 51) are inapplicable to offenses under Section 11-902 of Title 47. Broome v. State, 440 P.2d 761, 763 (Okl.Cr.1968). In Thorp v. State, 96 Okl.Cr. 135, 250 P.2d 66 (1952), we addressed the DUI provision from a different perspective. In that case, a person charged with driving under the influence in OHahoma had a previous conviction for the same offense in Texas. The trial court allowed use of the Texas conviction to enhance the charge to a felony. This Court addressed it from the question whether the district court had jurisdiction (this was before statutory and constitutional changes gave district courts general jurisdiction over all misdemeanors filed). However, the language the Court used is illustrative.

In the statute under consideration the following language is controlling “Any persons found guilty of a second offense under the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a felony and upon conviction therefor shall be punished_” ... The plain language of the provisions of Title 47, § 93, O.S.A.1941, limits second offenses to those within the provisions of this act. It is therefore apparent that the prior Texas violation not being within the provisions of our drunken driving statute does not form a proper predicate for the second offense charged herein. Moreover the drunken driving statute is special legislation and being such, we are confronted with the provisions of Title 21, § 11, O.S.A.1941, as follows:
[the statute was quoted]
Thus it clearly appears that the general provisions of the penal code, Title 21, §§ 51, 54, O.S.A.1941, covering second and subsequent offenses and extending jurisdiction to cover convictions had in other states, cannot be invoked because of the provisions of the special statute, Title 47, § 93, O.S.A.1941, to which the state in this instance is limited and because of the provisions of Title 21, § 11, O.S.A.1941, supra, the state is not permitted to invoke the provisions of the general statute.

Id. at 136-37, 250 P.2d at 68 (emphasis added). Based on this reasoning, the conviction was reversed.

The same rationale applies here. The specific section dealing with enhancement for driving under the influence takes precedence over the general statute contained at 21 O.S. 1991, § 51. Had the Legislature intended to encompass the sentence being served into the time constraints of 47 O.S.Supp.1995, § 11-902, it would have done so.

Appellant did not object at trial to the procedure, and did not call this flaw to the trial court’s attention. He has therefore waived it for all but plain, reversible error. Here, it is. There can be no “grave doubt” this error exerted “substantial, influence” on the outcome of the trial. Simpson v. State, 876 P.2d 690, 702 (Okl.Cr.1994).

Based on the above analysis, we find merit to the first proposition of error. Appellant does not seek reversal, only that his conviction be modified to a misdemeanor. Given that the jury decided at trial the maximum punishment was appropriate, we hereby order MODIFIED the judgment and sentence in Count II, Driving while Under the Influence of Intoxicating Beverage, to reflect a misdemeanor conviction. We order Appellant be sentenced to one (1) year in the county jail and pay a fine of $1,000.00.

In his second proposition, Appellant argues because he was under arrest for a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence, his escape from that arrest was also a misdemeanor; therefore, his conviction *69 for felony escape must be modified to a misdemeanor. We agree. There being no felony charge or conviction for driving under the influence, there can be no felony escape based on that charge. The statute under which he was charged reads:

A.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1996 OK CR 41, 925 P.2d 66, 67 O.B.A.J. 2591, 1996 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 42, 1996 WL 490426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kolberg-v-state-oklacrimapp-1996.