State v. Holder

2011 WI App 116, 803 N.W.2d 82, 337 Wis. 2d 79, 2011 Wisc. App. LEXIS 601
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 28, 2011
DocketNo. 2009AP2952-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 2011 WI App 116 (State v. Holder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Holder, 2011 WI App 116, 803 N.W.2d 82, 337 Wis. 2d 79, 2011 Wisc. App. LEXIS 601 (Wis. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

SHERMAN, J.

¶ 1. Andrew C. Holder appeals a non-final order of the circuit court denying his pretrial motion to strike, for purposes of prosecution and sentence enhancement on presently charged offenses, a prior conviction for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI).1 The two prior convictions arose out of Holder's decision to drink an excessive amount of alcohol and drive from Michigan to Wisconsin, thereby violating the OWI laws of both states. Holder contends that these two prior convictions arose out of the same incident within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2)(am), and, therefore, may only be counted as one prior conviction for sentencing purposes under that statute.2 We disagree and therefore affirm.

[81]*81BACKGROUND

¶ 2. In July 2009, Holder was charged with OWI, fifth or sixth offense. Two of Holder's underlying offenses, one in Wisconsin and one in Michigan, stemmed from a continuous episode of intoxicated driving in February 2005. The facts underlying those convictions are undisputed.

¶ 3. In February 2005, Holder was operating a motor vehicle in Menominee, Michigan, when a sergeant with the Menominee Police Department attempted to make an investigatory traffic stop of Holder's vehicle. Holder failed to stop and continued over a bridge connecting Menominee to Marinette, Wisconsin. After crossing the bridge, Holder stopped his vehicle and attempted to flee on foot. The sergeant caught Holder and received assistance from the Marinette Police Department. Holder was eventually arrested in Wisconsin and convicted of second offense OWI in Wisconsin and, separately, of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor (OUIL) in Michigan.

¶ 4. In the present proceeding, Holder moved the circuit court to strike either his second offense OWI conviction in Wisconsin or his Michigan conviction for purposes of sentence enhancement on his July 2009 OWI offense on the basis that those offenses arose out of the same incident and could therefore be counted as [82]*82only one offense under Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2)(am)5. The court denied the motion. The court concluded that Holder's second offense OWI conviction in Wisconsin and his OUIL conviction in Michigan were not identical in either fact or law, and that § 346.65(2)(am) does not apply to situations where a defendant receives multiple convictions from multiple states.

¶ 5. Holder petitioned this court for leave to appeal the circuit court's denial of his motion to strike. We granted Holder's petition.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. Holder contends that the circuit court erred in determining that his second offense OWI conviction in Wisconsin and his Michigan OUIL conviction count as two separate convictions for purposes of Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2)(am)5. because they arose out of the same incident or occurrence. To determine whether Holder is correct, we must interpret and apply § 346.65(2)(am)5. to the undisputed facts of this case. "Interpretation and application of a statute to undisputed facts are ordinarily questions of law that this court decides independently of the circuit court.. . ." State v. Carter, 2010 WI 132, ¶ 19, 330 Wis. 2d 1, 794 N.W.2d 213.

¶ 7. In Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2), the legislature established graduated penalty structure for OWI offenses. Carter, 330 Wis. 2d 1, ¶ 2. "The severity of a defendant's penalty for OWI is based on the number of prior convictions under [Wis. Stat.] §§ 940.09(1) and 940.25 'plus the total number of suspensions, revocations, and other convictions counted under Wis. Stat. § 343.307(1).'" Id. (quoting § 346.65(2)(am)2. - 7.) Section 346.65(2)(am)(5) provides for the imposition of an enhanced penalty for a [83]*83present OWI conviction in the event that the defendant has five or six prior prescribed convictions (including OWI convictions), suspensions, or revocations.3 Section 346.65(2)(am)5. further provides, however, that "convictions arising out of the same incident or occurrence shall be counted as one." (Emphasis added). The question in this case is whether Holder's Michigan and Wisconsin convictions arose out of "the same incident or occurrence." To answer that question, we look to how the terms have been interpreted in an analogous context.

¶ 8. In State v. Ellis H., 2004 WI App 123, ¶ 1, 274 Wis. 2d 703, 684 N.W.2d 157, we addressed whether a juvenile had committed one continuous act, which would have subjected him to one secured detention, or multiple acts, which would have subjected him to more than one separate secured detention. We looked in Ellis H. at how terms similar to "incident" have been defined in other contexts to determine whether the juvenile's acts constituted a single incident, or multiple incidents. Id., ¶ 16. Our review of Harrell v. State, 88 Wis. 2d 546, 277 N.W.2d 462 (Ct. App. 1979), and a number of other cases led us to conclude:

[T]he proper question to ask when determining whether a juvenile's conduct constitutes separate "incidents," or separate units of experience permitting multiple sanctions, or a continuous "incident," or a single unit of experience permitting only one sanction, is whether the juvenile came to a [proverbial] "fork in the road" and nevertheless "invade[d] a different interest." [84]*84This means we must determine whether the juvenile's course of conduct is marked by different and distinct volitional acts in between which the juvenile had sufficient time to reflect and choose to commit himself or herself to a particular act.
If the juvenile comes to the "fork in the road" and his or her intent is to "invade a different interest," the juvenile has ended one incident and begun another and the juvenile may be additionally sanctioned for a subsequent condition violation. On the other hand, if the juvenile comes to the "fork in the road" and does not intend to "invade a different interest," the incident is still ongoing and all subsequent condition violations are incidental to or are part and parcel of that same incident and only one sanction is permitted.

Ellis H., 274 Wis. 2d 703, ¶¶ 21-22.

¶ 9. Although we deal here with the penalty structure under Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2), and not the imposition of a secured detention under Wis. Stat. § 938.355(6)(d), which was the focus of Ellis H., the court's rationale in Ellis H. is equally applicable here.

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Related

State v. Anderson
2005 WI 54 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Jorgensen
2008 WI 60 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2008)
Harrell v. State
277 N.W.2d 462 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1979)
State v. ELLIS H.
2004 WI App 123 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2004)
People v. Blume
505 N.W.2d 843 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1993)
State v. Carter
2010 WI 132 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
2011 WI App 116, 803 N.W.2d 82, 337 Wis. 2d 79, 2011 Wisc. App. LEXIS 601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-holder-wisctapp-2011.