State of Tennessee v. Daniel Patrick Byrd

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 3, 2000
DocketE1999-01483-CCA-R3-CD
StatusPublished

This text of State of Tennessee v. Daniel Patrick Byrd (State of Tennessee v. Daniel Patrick Byrd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Tennessee v. Daniel Patrick Byrd, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE May 2000 Session

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANIEL PATRICK BYRD

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Anderson County No. 98CR0052 James B. Scott, Judge

No. E1999-01483-CCA-R3-CD October 3, 2000

The defendant was convicted of driving under the influence, second offense, and received a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days. The defendant was ordered to serve forty-five days in continuous confinement and five days on the weekends, with the remainder of his sentence to be served on probation. In this appeal as of right, the defendant makes the following allegations of error: (1) the trial court used an invalid judgment to elevate his DUI charge to a DUI second; (2) the trial court’s initial denial of an appeal bond violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions; and (3) the trial court incorrectly concluded it was not authorized to grant work release or periodic confinement during the defendant’s mandatory minimum period of incarceration for DUI. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude the trial court did not commit the above errors and affirm the defendant's conviction and sentence.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed

ALAN E. GLENN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which THOMAS T. WOODALL and JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, JJ., joined.

J. Thomas Marshall, Jr., District Public Defender; and Nancy Meyer, Assistant District Public Defender, Clinton, Tennessee, for the appellant, Daniel Patrick Byrd.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; James N. Ramsey, District Attorney General; and Jan Hicks, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

BACKGROUND

The defendant was charged with driving under the influence (DUI), second offense. At trial, a prior judgment of conviction against the defendant for DUI was admitted to elevate the defendant's current charge to a DUI, second offense. The defendant was convicted of DUI, second offense and received a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days. The defendant was ordered to serve forty-five days in continuous confinement and five days on weekends, with the remainder of his sentence to be served on probation. After the jury conviction for DUI, the trial court refused to allow the defendant to remain on his existing bond and set a hearing for three days later to set bond. Therefore, the defendant was taken into custody. Three days later the trial court set bond at $3,000, and the defendant's mother agreed to act as surety.

VALIDITY OF PRIOR JUDGMENT

The defendant argues the trial court improperly admitted a prior general sessions court judgment indicating he had a previous DUI conviction. The defendant argues the judgment was facially invalid because it did not show that he was represented by counsel or that his right to counsel had been waived. He acknowledges that there is a signed waiver form stapled to the judgment. However, he argues that extraneous documentation is not satisfactory, but rather the waiver must be evident on the face of the judgment. Thus, he argues the judgment should not have been used to elevate his current charge to a DUI, second offense.

A previous DUI conviction cannot be used to enhance the punishment for a subsequent DUI conviction, unless the record of the first conviction affirmatively demonstrates that the defendant was either represented by counsel or waived his right to counsel. State v. O’Brien, 666 S.W.2d 484, 485 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1984); State v. James Todd Atkinson, No. 01C01-9712-CC-00558, 1999 WL 97916 (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville, Feb. 18, 1999). Presuming waiver of counsel from a silent record is impermissible. O’Brien, 666 S.W.2d at 485 (citing Burgett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109, 88 S. Ct. 258, 262, 19 L. Ed. 2d 319 (1967)). However, the record in this case includes a signed waiver attached to the judgment. Although it may be a better practice for general sessions courts to also secure the defendant’s signature on the judgment sheet, we consider the attachment sufficient. The judgment with the attachment is not facially invalid or void. Thus, the trial court did not err in allowing the State to use the prior conviction.

DENIAL OF APPEAL BOND

The defendant argues that the trial court’s revocation of bond after the jury verdict and refusal to set bond for three days resulted in a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. Thus, he argues the three days he spent in incarceration amounts to additional punishment and bars further punishment for the same conviction.

The trial judge, upon receiving the jury verdict, “revoked” bond and stated “[the defendant] will be in the custody of the sheriff.” Upon being requested to set bond as a matter of right, the trial judge stated, “ I am not refusing to set bond, I am not going to set one at this time.” The trial judge subsequently explained that, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-11-130, he was required “to revoke a bond unless there is proof that the person can be on the bond that was made for his appearance . . . [T]he defendant must make a new bond for appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals unless the judge specifically finds the bond to be sufficient.” The trial judge also stated that it could

-2- not force the current bonding company to remain on the bond. The court stated, “I don’t think I can say to them: if they made a contract with this young man, it is to follow all the way through the system.” The trial judge agreed to set bond three days later, which he did. The defendant was incarcerated during this three-day period.

A. Right to Bond

We respectfully disagree with the trial court’s interpretation of Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-11-130. Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-11-130(a) provides as follows:

Where the defendant in a criminal case executes a bond or recognizance before any court or other person authorized by law to take the same for the defendant’s personal appearance before a court to answer a criminal charge, such bond or recognizance shall be valid and binding upon the defendant and the defendant’s sureties thereon until the time allowed by law for the defendant to appeal a finding of guilt to the court of criminal appeals. If the defendant timely appeals, the defendant shall be required to make a new bond to the court of criminal appeals unless the trial judge, after examination of the original bond, shall set out in a written order that such original bond is sufficient. The court shall use its discretion in determining whether the bond at issue should be changed. No presumption is otherwise intended to be raised in this section. If the time for appealing to the court of criminal appeals expires and the defendant has not filed an appeal, the bondsman may be required to surrender the defendant to the court for service of sentence.

Thus, an appearance bond is binding upon the bondsman until the time allowed for the defendant to appeal the finding of guilt. Id. A new bond “shall be required” if the defendant appeals unless the trial judge determines the original bond is insufficient. Id.

The trial court was not required to revoke bond. We do note, however, that the trial court retains authority to increase or decrease bond pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 40-11- 113(a)(3) and 143, and sureties have the authority to surrender a defendant and be released on the bond, provided statutory procedures are followed. See Tenn. Code Ann.

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Related

Burgett v. Texas
389 U.S. 109 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Breed v. Jones
421 U.S. 519 (Supreme Court, 1975)
State v. Pennington
952 S.W.2d 420 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. O'BRIEN
666 S.W.2d 484 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1984)
State v. Gurley
691 S.W.2d 562 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1984)
State v. Coolidge
915 S.W.2d 820 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
State of Tennessee v. Daniel Patrick Byrd, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-tennessee-v-daniel-patrick-byrd-tenncrimapp-2000.