State v. McCann

3 P.3d 388, 197 Ariz. 6, 335 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 23, 2000 Ariz. LEXIS 67
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 18, 2000
DocketNo. CR-99-0227-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 3 P.3d 388 (State v. McCann) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. McCann, 3 P.3d 388, 197 Ariz. 6, 335 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 23, 2000 Ariz. LEXIS 67 (Ark. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

McGREGOR, Justice.

¶ 1 In State v. Reagan, 103 Ariz. 287, 440 P.2d 907 (1968), we held that a court can use a prior conviction to enhance a sentence only if “the record of that prior conviction show[s] that [the] defendant was represented by counsel, or advised of his rights to counsel, and waived his right to counsel, before it can be used in [a] subsequent prosecution.” Id. at 289, 440 P.2d at 909. The State asks us to reconsider that holding, asserting that the United States Supreme Court overturned the basis for our Reagan decision in Parke v. Raley, 506 U.S. 20, 113 S.Ct. 517, 121 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992). We agree and, for the reasons explained below, hold that a rebutta-ble presumption of regularity attaches to pri- or convictions used to enhance a sentence or as an element of a crime.

I.

¶2 In 1997, the State charged defendant McCann with aggravated DUI, which is established if a person commits a DUI offense within sixty months of two prior DUI convictions. See Aeiz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) § 28-1383.A.2 (West Supp.1999) (formerly A.R.S. § 28-697.A.2). During trial, the court admitted into evidence certified copies of McCann’s two prior DUI convictions. The records pertaining to his 1995 DUI conviction in the Tucson City Court do not disclose whether McCann was represented by counsel or had validly waived his right to counsel.

¶3 McCann objected, claiming the State had not “authenticated” the 1995 DUI conviction. He also unsuccessfully moved for a Rule 20 judgment of acquittal based on the fact that the court records from his 1995 DUI conviction failed to show conclusively that he was represented by or had waived counsel. Therefore, he argued, the State could not use the prior conviction to satisfy an element of the offense of aggravated DUI.1

¶ 4 The court of appeals modified McCann’s conviction and remanded for re-sentencing. Although the court of appeals held for McCann, it noted that “[t]he state’s argument is not without merit,” but regarded our decision in Reagan as controlling. State v. McCann, 2 CA-CR 98-0019, slip op. at 4 (Ariz.App. May 18,1999).

¶5 The State then petitioned this Court and we granted review. Because this issue involves the interpretation of both the Arizona and Federal Constitutions, we review the trial court’s decision de novo. See Massey v. Bayless, 187 Ariz. 72, 73, 927 P.2d 338, 339 (1996). We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to article VI, section 5.3 of the Arizona Constitution and Rule 31.19 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure.

II.

A.

¶ 6 In Reagan, we essentially adopted an exception to the presumption of regularity that attaches to final judgments and presumes that judgments were constitutionally obtained. The presumption is “deeply rooted in our jurisprudence ... even when the question is waiver of constitutional rights.” Parke, 506 U.S. at 29, 113 S.Ct. at 523 (citing Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464, 468, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 1023, 1025, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938)).

¶ 7 Our Reagan decision relied upon Bur-gett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109, 88 S.Ct. 258, 19 L.Ed.2d 319 (1967), which held that certified records of a prior conviction that did not show the defendant was represented by or waived counsel raised a presumption that the defendant was denied his right to counsel. Id. at 114-15, 88 S.Ct. at 261-62. In accord with Burgett, we held that a prior conviction [8]*8could not be used to enhance a defendant’s sentence unless the record of the prior conviction affirmatively showed that the defendant either was represented by counsel or had validly waived his right to counsel. We concluded, as had the Supreme Court in Burgett, that we could not presume waiver of counsel from a silent record. See also Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 243, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 1712, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969) (holding that a valid conviction resulting from a guilty plea cannot be presumed from a silent record). Since 1968, Arizona courts have applied the Reagan rule, although not without some question as to its continued validity.2

¶ 8 In 1992, the United States Supreme Court reconsidered Burgett in Parke v. Ra-ley, 506 U.S. 20, 113 S.Ct. 517, 121 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992), and rejected the holding of Bur-gett on which our decision in Reagan relied. In Parke, the defendant challenged a Kentucky statute that enhanced sentences for repeat felons. The defendant moved to suppress two prior convictions, arguing that because the record failed to indicate whether the prior guilty pleas were knowing and voluntary, they did not comply with Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969). Under the Kentucky statute, the government retained the ultimate burden of persuasion as to prior convictions, but a presumption of regularity attached to prior final judgments. When the government proved the existence of a prior conviction, the burden shifted to the defendant to produce evidence of its invalidity. If the defendant carried his burden, the state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the validity of the prior convictions.

¶ 9 In upholding the statute, the Court held that “Boykin does not prohibit a state court from presuming, at least initially, that a final judgment of conviction offered for purposes of sentence enhancement was validly obtained.” Parke, 506 U.S. at 30, 113 S.Ct. at 524. The Court explained its rationale for departing from Burgett by noting that, at the time it decided Burgett, “state criminal defendants’ federal constitutional right to counsel had not yet been recognized, and so it was reasonable to presume that the defendant had not waived a right he did not possess.” Id. at 31, 113 S.Ct. at 524. Because Boykin rights were well established by the time the Court decided Parke, however, the state could rely upon the presumption of regularity that attaches to final judgments of conviction.

¶ 10 The defendant in Parke also challenged the Kentucky statute on the ground that it assigned to criminal defendants a burden of production. Addressing this point, the Court said, “[Ejven when a collateral attack on a final conviction rests on constitutional grounds, the presumption of regularity that attaches to final judgments makes it appropriate to assign a proof burden to the defendant.” Id.

III.

¶ 11 After the Court’s Parke decision, many of our sister jurisdictions adopted the presumption of regularity for prior convictions used to enhance sentences or as elements of a crime. For instance, in Massachusetts v. Lopez, 426 Mass. 657, 690 N.E.2d 809, 814 (1998), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said:

Many other States have specifically relied on the Parke

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Bluebook (online)
3 P.3d 388, 197 Ariz. 6, 335 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 23, 2000 Ariz. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mccann-ariz-2000.