State v. Auen

342 N.W.2d 236, 1984 S.D. LEXIS 233

• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court
• Decided: January 11, 1984
• Docket: 14191
• Status: Published

Opinions

FOSHEIM, Chief Justice.

Hugo A. Auen appeals a conviction of speeding in violation of SDCL 32-25-8. We affirm.

Mr. Auen was issued a uniform traffic ticket by a Sturgis city policeman for allegedly traveling 67 m.p.h. in a 55 m.p.h. speed zone. He pled not guilty and requested a jury trial. The law-trained magistrate stated he intended to impose no jail sentence and denied the request. Mr. Auen was tried without a jury, found guilty, and fined $50. Costs of $2.50 were added. The decision of the magistrate was affirmed on appeal to the circuit court.

Mr. Auen appeals, urging that he was wrongfully denied the jury trial guaranteed in all criminal prosecutions by Article VI, Section 7 of the South Dakota Constitution. He correctly indicates that a proceeding against a speeder is a criminal prosecution for which a direct penalty of incarceration is authorized.

* On the strength of this statutory classification, Mr. Auen contends the criminal nature of the offense and the potential penalty entitle him to a jury trial notwithstanding the no-jail assurance of the magistrate at arraignment.

The Supreme Court of the United States decided long ago that the constitutional jury trial guarantee “in all criminal prosecutions” extends only to the prosecution of serious crimes. See Callan v. Wilson, 127 U.S. 540, 8 S.Ct. 1301, 32 L.Ed. 223 (1888); District of Columbia v. Colts, 282 U.S. 63, 51 S.Ct. 52, 75 L.Ed. 177 (1930); District of Columbia v. Clawans, 300 U.S. 617, 57 S.Ct. 660, 81 L.Ed. 843 (1937). More recently, a plurality of the Court in Baldwin v. New York, 399 U.S. 66, 90 S.Ct. 1886, 26 L.Ed.2d 437 (1970), held that a crime can be viewed as petty and not requiring a jury trial where the accused cannot possibly face more than a six month imprisonment. In State v. Wikle, 291 N.W.2d 792 (S.D.1980), we chose to align ourselves with the concurring opinion of Justices Black and Douglas in Baldwin. We stated, in dictum, at 794: “in any criminal prosecution, whether for violation of state law or city ordinance, in which a direct penalty of incarceration for any period of time could be imposed, the accused is entitled to trial by jury upon demand.” Our Wikle statement ostensibly includes speeding and similar traffic misdemeanors within the scope of the right to jury trial, since they are crimes and carry a possible jail sentence.

In view of the limited degree of social opprobrium associated with such offenses and the impractical court burden of jury trials for these cases, we feel compelled to review our alliance in Wikle with the concurring opinion -to Baldwin. We hold that a court may deny a jury trial request in a criminal prosecution when the court assures the defendant at the time of request that no jail sentence will be imposed. This is, of course, limited to prosecution of offenses with maximum authorized jail sentences of less than six months. We are in accord with the comment of the plurality in Baldwin that any disadvantages of limited access to jury trials for petty crimes, onerous as they may be, are outweighed by the benefits that result from speedy and inexpensive nonjury adjudications. Our decision in Wikle is modified to the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion.

Affirmed.

DUNN and MORGAN, JJ., concur. WOLLMAN and HENDERSON, JJ., dissent.

Speeding has been classified by the legislature as a class 2 misdemeanor, SDCL 32-25-20, and is therefore a crime, SDCL 22-1-4. A violation of the speeding statute, SDCL 32-25-8, carries a maximum penalty of thirty days imprisonment in a county jail or one hundred dollars fine, or both. SDCL 22-6-2(2).