State v. Scott

773 P.2d 394, 96 Or. App. 451, 1989 Ore. App. LEXIS 566
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 10, 1989
DocketTM87-5734; CA A49380
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 773 P.2d 394 (State v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Scott, 773 P.2d 394, 96 Or. App. 451, 1989 Ore. App. LEXIS 566 (Or. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

*453 WARREN, J.

In this action for driving under the influence of intoxicants, defendant challenges conditions of probation imposed by the trial court.

After a jury verdict of guilty, the trial judge suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on probation. The terms of probation included suspension and confiscation of defendant’s California driver’s license. 1 Benton County, the county with jurisdiction over this case, is participating in a pilot program allowing the court to require an interlock device during a DUII suspension. 2 On the trial court’s notice of suspension to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the judge checked a box requiring an ignition interlock device as a requirement for a hardship permit, although that was not specified in the judgment.

Defendant first questions the court’s authority to confiscate an out-of-state driver’s license pursuant to ORS 809.250(1), 3 arguing that the confiscation conflicts with the Interstate Driver License Compact. ORS 802.540. Article III of the compact requires the licensing authority of a state that is a party to the compact to report details of a conviction to the home state of the offender, if that state is also a party to the compact. Article IV requires the home state to give the same effect to the conduct reported as it would if the conduct had occurred in the home state. Defendant argues that that language prevents the confiscation and suspension by Oregon of a California driver’s license and that those options must be left to California in applying California law to the offense.

ORS 809.250 gives an Oregon court authority to suspend driving privileges in Oregon. It also gives a court authority to confiscate an out-of-state driver’s license, if the court *454 imposes a suspension. Confiscation eliminates physical evidence of driving privileges while defendant remains in Oregon and forces the home state to review the details of the conviction, as required by Article IV of the compact, if defendant requests a replacement license. The confiscation does not conflict with the compact.

The state concedes that, under the compact, an Oregon court has no authority to suspend driving privileges in another state. The trial judge improperly interpreted ORS 809.250 to authorize suspension of driving privileges in California and probation condition (11) of the judgment must be modified to read:

“(11) Defendant’s Oregon driving privileges are suspended beginning July 13,1988 to July 13, 1989.”

Defendant also assigns as error the requirement of the ignition interlock device on the ground that the selection of Benton County to participate in the pilot program violated the constitutional principle of equal protection. The requirement that defendant install an interlock device before he could apply for a hardship permit was specified in the notice of suspension to DMV, but was not a condition of probation set out in the judgment.

An unambiguous written judgment is controlling, and we may not look beyond the judgment to determine a judge’s intention, unless a clerical error is apparent from the face of the entire court record. State v. Mossman, 75 Or App 385, 388-89, 706 P2d 203 (1985). In this case, the judge was required by statute to order the use of the device after a DUII conviction.

“[T]he court shall, in addition to any other sentence imposed, impose a requirement that an approved ignition interlock device be installed in any vehicle owned or operated by the person before the person is eligible for a hardship driver permit under ORS 807.240.” Or Laws 1987, ch 746, § 2(1) (Chapter 746).

The court is then required to send a copy of its order to install the ignition interlock device to MVD. Chapter 746, § 3(1). Because Benton County was selected to participate in the pilot program, the judge was required to order the interlock device “in addition to any other sentence imposed,” which he did in the notice of the suspension to the MVD. His actions *455 make it obvious that the judge intended that the condition be imposed as part of the sentence and his failure to do so is in the nature of a clerical error. It is necessary to remand this case to the trial court so that the error in the judgment can be corrected. For the sake of judicial economy, however, we address defendant’s constitutional arguments. We treat the interlock device requirement as part of the judgment on conviction, which is subject to our review. ORS 138.040; State v. Donovan, 307 Or 461, 475, 770 P2d 581, (1989).

Defendant argues that additional burdens are imposed on the participants in the pilot program and that the selection of Benton County to participate was “haphazard,” in violation of the Privileges and Immunities Clause, Article I, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution, and the Fourteenth Amendment.

The act establishing the pilot program directs the Traffic Safety Commission to select an appropriate number of Oregon counties to participate in the program. Chapter 746, § 1(1). The act took effect in October, 1987, and will stand repealed on June 30,1989. Chapter 746, § 12.

Article I, section 20, provides:

“No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens.”

To prove a violation of the clause, a defendant must first show that he was denied a privilege or immunity. The program requires that the offender who wants a hardship permit must pay the “reasonable costs of leasing, installing, and maintaining the device,” unless the offender is indigent. Chapter 746, § 2. Therefore, according to defendant, offenders in nonparticipating counties have the privilege of avoiding that cost.

Constitutional claims under Article I, section 20, are of two types: inequality of treatment as an individual or inequality of treatment as a class. Individual inequality occurs when “the government has made or applied a law so as to grant or deny privileges or immunities to an individual person without legitimate reasons related to that person’s individual situation.” State v. Clark, 291 Or 231, 239, 630 P2d 810 (1981); see also City of Salem v. Bruner, 299 Or 262, 269, 702 P2d 70, 74 (1985). In this case defendant is treated the same as all *456 other residents of Benton County.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
773 P.2d 394, 96 Or. App. 451, 1989 Ore. App. LEXIS 566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-scott-orctapp-1989.