State v. Agee

887 P.2d 588, 181 Ariz. 58, 170 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 62, 1994 Ariz. App. LEXIS 156
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedAugust 2, 1994
DocketNo. 1 CA-CR 93-0354
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 887 P.2d 588 (State v. Agee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Agee, 887 P.2d 588, 181 Ariz. 58, 170 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 62, 1994 Ariz. App. LEXIS 156 (Ark. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

NOYES, Judge.

John'Allen Agee appeals from convictions for aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and aggravated driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .10 or more, class five felonies in violation of Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) sections 28-697(A)(1), -692(A)(1), -692(A)(2), and -445. The charges were felonies because the driving allegedly took place while Appellant’s license to drive was suspended.

Appellant argues that the trial court erred by refusing two jury instructions, one regarding the “knowledge” element of the crime of driving on a suspended license and the other regarding Appellant’s theory of the case, which was that he knew his license was suspended but he thought it had been reinstated to allow him to drive to and from work. Because we conclude that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the “knowledge” element of the crime of driving on a suspended license, we reverse and remand.

BACKGROUND

At 3:30 a.m. on October 24, 1992, a police officer noticed Appellant driving erratically through a residential neighborhood in Mesa. The officer followed Appellant, and when Appellant eventually pulled over and parked, the officer did likewise. When the officer approached Appellant and asked for a driver’s license, Appellant produced an expired temporary license and said that he knew his driver’s license was suspended but he thought it had been reinstated on a restricted basis that allowed him to drive to and from work.

Appellant was arrested after he failed the customary sobriety field tests. He agreed to give a blood sample and was taken to a hospital for that purpose. A criminalist testified at trial that the alcohol concentration in Appellant’s blood sample was .167. The criminalist also testified that, taking into consideration certain evidence regarding what Appellant ate and drank before driving and [60]*60when, his BAC at the time of driving was either .133 or .155.

Appellant’s defense centered on a restricted driver’s license he had received in the mail on October 20, 1992 from the Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”). Pertinent portions of this restricted license are reproduced below, in a style and format approximating that of the original, although we omit Appellant’s social security number and residence address:

ORDER OF RESTRICTION CASE NO YR0666
TO: JOHN,ALLEN,AGEE 08/30/64
RESTRICTED DRIVER LICENSE **•
THIS IS YOUR RESTRICTED DRIVER’S LICENSE AND
DRIVER LICENSE NUMBER XXXXXXXXX MUST BE CARRIED AT ALL TIMES WHILE OPERATING A
IDENTIFICATION LICENSE NUMBER VEHICLE. IT IS ONLY VALID TO TRAVEL BETWEEN
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER XXXXXXXXX WORK AND HOME AND DURING SPECIFIED PERIODS OF
DATE OF BIRTH 08/30/64 TIME ON THE JOB. TO TRAVEL BETWEEN SCHOOL
DATE OF NOTICE 10/19/92 AND HOME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORK OR SCHOOL
DATE ACTION BEGINS 10/26/92 SCHEDULE. TO TRAVEL BETWEEN HOME AND A
DATE ACTION ENDS 12/25/92 TREATMENT FACILITY FOR SCHEDULED APPOINTMENTS.
DATE ELIGIBLE TO END ACTION
STATUTORY AUTHORITY 28-694
THIS RESTRICTED LICENSE IS VALID FROM THE “DATE
ACTION BEGINS” THROUGH THE “DATE ACTION ENDS”,
UNLESS YOUR DRIVING PRIVILEGE HAS BEEN WITH-
DRAWN FOR SOME OTHER REASON.

Appellant testified that he thought the restricted license allowed him to drive to and from work beginning October 19 and that the October 26 “Date Action Begins” was the effective date of additional restrictions and instructions that DMV would be sending him. Appellant also testified that he was on his way to work when arrested on October 24.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts. The trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Appellant on probation for three years, with one condition being a term of six months imprisonment. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.

The “Knowledge” Element

Appellant requested and the trial court refused the following jury instruction:

In order for the State to show that the defendant was driving while his license was suspended, the evidence must show beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew or should have known that the license had been suspended.

As source for the instruction, counsel cited State v. Williams, 144 Ariz. 487, 698 P.2d 732 (1985), State v. Jennings, 150 Ariz. 90, 722 P.2d 258 (1986), State v. Johnston, 152 Ariz. 273, 731 P.2d 638 (App.1987), and State v. Corrales, 161 Ariz. 171, 777 P.2d 234 (App. 1989).

Each of these cases is properly cited for the proposition that one element of the crime of driving on a suspended license is that defendant knew or should have known that his license was suspended. What complicates the applicability of this authority is that these eases were decided before A.R.S. section 28-445, the statute at issue in this appeal, was amended by the addition of subsection B, which provides: “Compliance with the mailing provisions of § 28-453 constitutes notice of the revocation for purposes of prosecution under § 28-473 or 28-692.02 [now 28-697]. The state is not required to prove actual receipt of the notice or actual knowledge of the revocation.” A.R.S. § 28-445(B) (Supp.1993).

The State argued and the trial court agreed that the amendment to section 28-445 rendered the Williams and Jennings line of cases inapplicable. Accordingly, the trial court’s jury instructions contained no “knowledge” element concerning the crime of driving on a suspended license. On this charge, the jury was merely instructed that the State had to prove that “the defendant’s operator’s license was suspended.”

[61]*61The State argues that there is no mens rea element to the crime of driving on a suspended license and that State v. Williams and State v. Jennings are “no longer good law.” We conclude otherwise. In Jennings, the Arizona Supreme Court held that A.R.S. section 28-446(B)1 did not make A.R.S. section 28-692.02 (now section 28-697) a strict liability crime:

Strict liability offenses are the exception rather than the rule and will only be found where there is clear legislative intent not to require any degree of mens rea. In the instant case, the legislative intent to make A.R.S. § 28-692.02 a strict liability offense is not clear. Admittedly, A.R.S. § 28-446

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 P.2d 588, 181 Ariz. 58, 170 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 62, 1994 Ariz. App. LEXIS 156, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-agee-arizctapp-1994.