State v. Cain

2006 ME 1, 888 A.2d 276, 2006 Me. LEXIS 5
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJanuary 9, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2006 ME 1 (State v. Cain) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Cain, 2006 ME 1, 888 A.2d 276, 2006 Me. LEXIS 5 (Me. 2006).

Opinion

ALEXANDER, J.

[¶ 1] Dow Cain appeals from a judgment of the District Court (Bangor, Murray, J.) sentencing him to ten days in the Penob-scot County Jail, a $600 fíne, and a ninety-day license suspension, after his plea to a charge of operating under the influence, 29 M.R.S.A. § 2411 (1996 & Supp.2004). Cain argues that the court violated his Sixth Amendment rights by sentencing him beyond the mandatory minimum penalties prescribed by 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411. Finding no Sixth Amendment violation, we affirm the judgment.

I. CASE HISTORY

[¶ 2] In August 2004, Cain was stopped by police and cited for operating under the influence, and operating without a license. Cain was subsequently charged by a two-count complaint, with Count I, operating under the influence, 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(1-A) (Supp.2004); and Count II, operating without a fícense, 29-A M.R.S.A. § 1251(1)(A) (Supp.2004). Cain waived reading of the complaint and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

[¶ 3] The OUI charge in Count I was pleaded as a first offense, with no allegation of aggravating factors or prior offenses. Because first offense OUI is a Class D crime, the maximum sentence that a court may impose upon conviction is 364 days imprisonment in the county jail and a $2000 fine. 17-A M.R.S.A. §§ 1252(2)(D), 1301(1-A)(D) (1983 & Supp.2004). The mandatory minimum penalty for a first offense, without aggravating factors or pri- or offenses, is a $500 fine and a ninety-day license suspension. 29-A M.R.S.A § 2411(5)(A) (Supp.2004). As charged, the offense required no mandatory minimum jail time.

[¶ 4] Prior to trial, a plea agreement was reached in which Cain pleaded guilty to Count I, the OUI charge, and Count II was dismissed. Under the plea agreement, the State recommended a maximum of ten days in jail and a $700 fine, with an eighteen-month license suspension. The State’s recommendation was based on the fact that Cain had prior OUI convictions in 1989 and 1996.

[¶ 5] At the plea hearing in December 2004, Cain’s counsel raised the Sixth Amendment1 sentencing issue addressed by Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004). The court (Stitham, J.) requested briefs on [278]*278the issue and a briefing schedule was set. At the hearing following briefing, the State urged the court to impose a ten-day jail sentence, a fine of $700 plus surcharges, and an eighteen-month license suspension. Cain asserted that the mandatory minimum sentence was required, unless he was accorded a jury trial to find facts justifying a sentence above the minimum. On February 9, 2005, the court (Murray, J.) sentenced Cain to ten days in the county jail, a $600 fine, and a ninety-day license suspension. The sentence was stayed pending this appeal.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

[¶ 6] Cain does not challenge his conviction. Cain contends that he has a constitutional right to have a jury determine any facts justifying a sentence above the minimum sentence, relying on opinions of the United States Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), and United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005).

[¶ 7] Our standard of review as to whether there was a constitutional violation in the sentencing is de novo. See State v. Hodgkins, 2003 ME 57, ¶¶ 7-11, 822 A.2d 1187, 1191-93. Review of application of discretionary sentencing factors is under an abuse of discretion standard. See State v. Cookson, 2003 ME 136, ¶ 38, 837 A.2d 101, 112.

[¶ 8] Cain makes two arguments as to why there was a constitutional violation in sentencing him to ten days in jail and a $600 fine.2 First, Cain argues, citing Landry v. State, 575 A.2d 315 (Me.1990), that prior convictions used in determining whether or not an enhanced sentence is appropriate must be pleaded and proved to a jury. He asserts that the State was recommending an enhanced sentence pursuant to 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(5)(B),3 requiring the State to plead the prior convic[279]*279tions in the complaint. See 17-A M.R.S.A. § 9-A(l) (Supp.2004); M.R.Crim. P. 3(a).

[¶ 9] Second, Cain argues that this case is factually and legally analogous to Blakely because the combination of 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1252 (1983 & Supp.2004) and 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1301 (1983 & Supp.2004), that set up the basic regime for sentencing and fines, and 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(5), that provides for minimum penalties for criminal OUI, is a similar scheme to that at issue in Blakely. Cain asserts that the fact of his prior convictions must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt because they enhanced his sentence, and that the maximum sentence that could have been imposed without additional facts admitted or proved beyond a reasonable doubt would be the minimum $500 fine and a ninety-day license suspension.

[¶ 10] The sentencing court did not consider itself to be sentencing Cain pursuant to 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(5)(B), the section setting mandatory minimum penalties for a person with a prior OUI conviction within a ten-year period. The court stated:

I’m going to base my sentence in this case on the fact that there were prior convictions for OUI, one within the ten-year period, and I believe the other was fairly substantially outside ... the ... ten-year period. So, in this case, it seems to me that it is the prior conviction or convictions which I am considering. Moreover, the maximum sentence a Maine court can impose in an OUI case under the complaint as written in this case is three hundred and sixty-four days in jail and a two-thousand-dollar fine. I am considering the prior convictions in this case not pursuant to 29-A M.R.S.A Section [2411(5)(B) ], but I am considering them ... to determine what I believe to be the proper exercise of discretion within the maximum sentence of three hundred and sixty-four days and a two-thousand-dollar fine.4

[¶ 11] Although the prosecution may have recommended the penalties included in section 2411(5)(B), the sentencing court sentenced Cain pursuant to 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(5)(A), that subjects a defendant to the penalties for a Class D crime.

[¶ 12] The opinions of the United States Supreme Court in Blakely, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403, and Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621, have required substantial review and reexamination of sentencing practices in many jurisdictions. See, e.g., State v. Schofield, 2005 ME 82, 876 A.2d 43, 2005 WL 1529678 (2005).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Maine v. Rayshaun Moore
2023 ME 18 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2023)
State of Maine v. Kenneth Frisbee
2016 ME 83 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2016)
State of Maine v. Thomas Bennett
2015 ME 46 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2015)
State v. Harrell
2012 ME 82 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2012)
State v. Willey
44 A.3d 431 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 2012)
Libby v. State
2007 ME 80 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2006 ME 1, 888 A.2d 276, 2006 Me. LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cain-me-2006.