State v. Kanikaynar

1997 NMCA 036, 939 P.2d 1091, 123 N.M. 283
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 26, 1997
DocketNo. 16327
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1997 NMCA 036 (State v. Kanikaynar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kanikaynar, 1997 NMCA 036, 939 P.2d 1091, 123 N.M. 283 (N.M. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinions

OPINION

ALARID, Judge.

1. Defendant pled guilty to aggravated driving while intoxicated (DWI) contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-102 (Repl. Pamp.1994). The basis for the aggravation was Defendant’s refusal to submit to a chemical test that would determine the alcohol concentration of his breath. See § 66-8-102(D)(3). Pursuant to Section 66-8-102(F)(2), his sentence included an additional sixty days minimum mandatory confinement. He appeals the imposition of the additional sixty days of confinement, contending the provision is unconstitutional because it infringes upon his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, violates his right to due process, is void for vagueness, and criminalizes the exercise of his right to be free from warrantless searches and seizures. Because we do not agree that the statutory scheme violated Defendant’s rights, is void for vagueness, or that the statute criminalizes the exercise of his Fourth Amendment rights, we affirm his convictions.

I. BACKGROUND

2. When Defendant entered his guilty plea to the charge of DWI, his counsel told the court that Defendant admitted that he had refused to submit to chemical testing, an element of aggravated DWI, but stated that Defendant did not concede that the increased mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated DWI was proper in this ease. The district court sentenced Defendant to 364 days in jail, suspending all but the mandatory minimum of thirty days required for a third DWI offense plus the mandatory sixty days required under Section 66-8-102(F)(2) for the aggravation of a third offense. The district court specifically stated that its intent was for Defendant to serve no more than the mandatory period of incarceration required by law, and ordered the execution of the sixty-day enhancement for the aggravation be stayed pending appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Aggravated DWI Provisions Do Not Violate Due Process

3. Under Section 66-8-102(D)(3), a person found guilty of DWI, and who refuses to submit to a chemical test to determine the concentration of alcohol in his blood or breath, is guilty of aggravated DWI. Our Implied Consent Act, NMSA 1978, §§ 66-8-105 to -112 (Repl.Pamp.1994), requires that a suspect be advised that refusal will result in a driver’s license revocation. Section 66-8-111(B). However, there is no requirement that the suspect be informed of the criminal consequences created by Section 66-8-102. Defendant contends that the aggravation of his DWI conviction for his refusal to submit to a chemical test when he was not advised of the criminal consequences of that refusal violates the due process provisions of both the United States and the New Mexico Constitutions. We do not agree.

4. An analogous issue to the argument advanced by Defendant here was argued in South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 103 S.Ct. 916, 74 L.Ed.2d 748 (1983). The Court held that there was no denial of due process where the defendant was warned that his refusal to submit to a breath alcohol test (BAT) could result in the imposition of administrative penalties, but was not warned that his refusal could be used in evidence in his prosecution. The Neville Court distinguished Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 616-20, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 2243-46, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976), which held that the warning prescribed by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 468, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1624-25, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), carried with it the implicit promise that post-arrest silence could not be used to impeach his testimony at trial. The Court recognized that while the right to silence is implicit in the Miranda warnings, the “right to refuse the blood-alcohol test, by contrast, is simply a matter of grace bestowed by the South Dakota legislature.” Neville, 459 U.S. at 565, 103 S.Ct. at 923. The Court reasoned that warning the defendant of the administrative penalties served as notice that refusal would result in adverse consequences and thus it was not necessary to give further warnings. Id. at 566, 103 S.Ct. at 924.

5. Defendant seeks to distinguish Neville by arguing that the consequences of refusal in his case have much greater significance than the issues considered in Neville. We disagree. The right of an accused to refuse the breath alcohol test has no constitutional implications. Thus, the statutory penalty arising from a refusal to take the test does not offend notions of fairness and due process. The Neville case is controlling authority in this case. The statutory scheme in New Mexico warns drivers of the administrative penalties. This warning is sufficient to notify drivers that refusal carries separate penalties.

6. In á New Mexico case in which the defendant refused to take a second test after blowing once into a breathalyzer, the defendant argued that there was no evidence that a second BAT, if given, would have been helpful on the “relation-back” issue. State v. Scussel, 117 N.M. 241, 244, 871 P.2d 5, 8 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 117 N.M. 215, 870 P.2d 753 (1994). This Court concluded:

Defendant argues that he should have been informed of all the consequences of his refusal to take a second test, and without such a warning, our holding is unfair. We disagree. We know of no requirement that a party must be informed of every possible consequence of an action before suffering the consequences of that action.

Id. at 245, 871 P.2d at 9.

7. New Mexico’s implied consent statute does not contain language requiring that a driver must be warned of all the consequences of his refusal to submit to testing.

B. Claim Of Denial Of Right To Counsel

8. A person who refuses to submit to chemical testing and then is judged to have been driving while intoxicated is subject to a mandatory jail sentence. See § 66-8-102(D)(3), (E), & (F). As a result of these potential sanctions, Defendant asserts there is a right to counsel under the New Mexico Constitution when a driver is asked to submit to chemical testing. We disagree. In this case there is no evidence that Defendant requested or was denied an attorney before he refused a breath test. Defendant therefore is arguing that the new DWI statute as written is unconstitutional because it violates the right to counsel on its face.

9. In State v. Sandoval, 101 N.M. 399, 683 P.2d 516 (Ct.App.1984), we considered the question of whether the right to counsel attaches immediately following the administration of a breath alcohol test so that a driver could be apprised of his right to an additional chemical test and advised whether or not he should take it. We stated that the issuance of a DWI citation does not amount to the “initiation of criminal proceedings” and “one-sided confrontation” in which presence of counsel is required under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Id. at 402-03, 683 P.2d at 519-20.

10.

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Bluebook (online)
1997 NMCA 036, 939 P.2d 1091, 123 N.M. 283, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kanikaynar-nmctapp-1997.