People v. Lujan

141 Cal. App. Supp. 3d 15, 192 Cal. Rptr. 109, 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 1587
CourtAppellate Division of the Superior Court of California
DecidedFebruary 18, 1983
DocketCrim. A. No. 1064; Crim. A. No. 1065; Crim. A. No. 1059
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 141 Cal. App. Supp. 3d 15 (People v. Lujan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Superior Court of California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Lujan, 141 Cal. App. Supp. 3d 15, 192 Cal. Rptr. 109, 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 1587 (Cal. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

Opinion

ZIEBARTH, J.

All of these appeals raise essentially the same issues and we have, therefore, consolidated them for purposes of this decision.

I

Facts

The facts in each of these consolidated appeals indicate that each of the appellants has suffered convictions of violations of the relatively new California drunk driving statute, Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (b) (hereafter 23152(b)). This statute, which became effective on January 1, 1982, reads as follows:

“(b) It is unlawful for any person who has 0.10 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle upon a highway or upon other than a highway in areas which are open to the general public.
“For purposes of this subdivision, percent, by weight, of alcohol shall be based upon grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.”

The appellant, Laurence Joseph Lujan, was observed by a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer on January 16, 1982, to run a red light (causing another vehicle to brake), to speed and to weave erratically. After he was stopped by the officer, Lujan was observed to be exhibiting physical symptoms of intoxication. He refused to submit to any field sobriety tests. However, he did agree to submit to a chemical test of his breath. The results of that test were .24 and .25 blood alcohol level (BA), respectively. Lujan was thereafter charged with violating Vehicle Code section 23152(b). Both sides waived trial by jury in this case. As the result of his court trial, Lujan was found guilty of the offense charged. Because Lujan had suffered a prior conviction of a violation of the previous statute, Vehicle Code section 23102, subdivision (a) (hereafter 23102(a)), on August 19, 1977, his sentence was enhanced when judgment was pronounced on him on May 14,1982.

The appellant, Raymond Frank Blaschke, was involved in a traffic collision on the streets of Victoria Avenue and Pacific Street, in the City of San Bernardino on January 17, 1982. A CHP officer observed him to be exhibiting [Supp. 19]*Supp. 19physical symptoms of intoxication. Blaschke attempted to perform some field sobriety tests, which the officer concluded he had failed. He submitted to a chemical test of his blood. The result of that test was .26 BA. Blaschke was charged with violations of Vehicle Code sections 23152 and 23152(b). Blaschke demurred to the complaint and he also filed a motion to strike prior convictions of violations of former Vehicle Code section 23102(a) on September 1 and November 25, 1981. The demurrer was overruled and the motion to strike was denied. Both sides waived trial by jury, and the case was then submitted to the trial court, sitting without a jury, on the police reports and the crime lab analysis. The trial court found Blaschke guilty as charged and on May 7, 1982, sentenced him to 120 days in the county jail in view of his prior convictions.

The appellant, Joe Louis Tucker, was stopped by a CHP officer on February 10, 1982. After he was asked to perform some field sobriety tests, he was arrested for a violation of the above quoted statute. The results of his breath tests on the gas chromatograph intoximeter were .16, .13, and .14 (BA) respectively. Both sides having waived trial by jury, he was found guilty by the trial court on June 17, 1982. Judgment was subsequently pronounced and he has appealed that judgment.

n

Contentions of the Parties

A. Contentions of the Appellants

1. Vehicle Code section 23152(b) is unconstitutionally vague.

2. Vehicle Code section 23152(b) is also unconstitutional because it is a criminal statute which in effect imposes strict liability on a defendant.

3. Enhancement of penalties for violation of Vehicle Code section 23152 based on prior convictions under Vehicle Code section 23102(a) is not authorized by the statute or by a reasonable construction thereof and, therefore, it fails to provide adequate notice to the defendant that he may be violating the law.

4. The prior convictions under Vehicle Code section 23102(a) were invalid because inadequate waivers of rights were obtained from the appellants in question.

[Supp. 20]*Supp. 20B. Contentions of the Respondents

1. Section 23152(b) fulfills constitutional due process requirements, and provides adequate notice to persons engaging in the proscribed activity.

2. Section 23152(b) is not an invalid strict liability statute, because it fulfills the required union of act and intent.

3. Vehicle Code section 23170’s mandatory sentencing requirements are applicable to a defendant convicted under section 23152(b) who has a prior conviction under former section 23102(a).

4. There was an adequate finding that each of the appellants in question knowingly and intelligently waived his constitutional rights in his prior case/cases.

m

Issues

A. Are the provisions of Vehicle Code section 23152(b) so vague that they fail to give those persons subject to its provisions adequate notice thereby violating the due process requirements of both the United States and California Constitutions?

B. Is Vehicle Code section 23152(b) unconstitutional because it is a criminal statute which has the effect of imposing strict liability on a defendant?

C. Can prior convictions under former Vehicle Code section 23102, (a) or (b) be properly used to enhance the penalty for a violation of Vehicle Code section 23152(b)?

D. Did each of the appellants who had suffered a prior conviction validly waive his constitutional right before entering a plea of guilty to the prior charge?

IV

Discussion

A.

The appellants contend first of all that Vehicle Code section 23152(b) is unconstitutionally vague because it fails to give an accused adequate notice of the conduct proscribed.

[Supp. 21]*Supp. 21The appellants point out that the due process clause of the United States Constitution requires that a statute sufficiently define a crime so as to give adequate notice of the conduct which is proscribed. In the case of Connally v. General Const. Co. (1926) 269 U.S. 385, 391 [70 L.Ed. 322, 328, 46 S.Ct. 126] the United States Supreme Court stated that: “. . . [A] statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application violates the first essential of due process of law.”

The applicants argue that section 23152(b) fails to meet both requirements of the due process standard established in Connally. They argue that the new statute is so technical that persons without some background in science or chemistry would have no real understanding of its meaning. Furthermore, the statute defines the crime in terms of an internal physical state which can only be measured by sophisticated scientific procedures. Therefore, it is argued that a potential defendant has no way of determining when he may be violating the law.

The appellants have cited as authority for these contentions the case of People

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
141 Cal. App. Supp. 3d 15, 192 Cal. Rptr. 109, 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 1587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-lujan-calappdeptsuper-1983.