State v. Sell

43 P.3d 1246, 110 Wash. App. 741
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided April 1, 2002·No. 48017-1-I, 48018-9-I·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

43 P.3d 1246 (2002)
110 Wash.App. 741

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Robert SELL and Heidi Gillenwater, Petitioners.

Nos. 48017-1-I, 48018-9-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

April 1, 2002.

*1247 Tom P. Conom, Edmonds, for Appellants.

Deanna Jennings Fuller, Allyson K. Zerba, King County Prosecuting Attorneys, Seattle, for Respondent.

COLEMAN, J.

Heidi Gillenwater and Robert Sell petitioned for deferred prosecution for driving under the influence (DUI) in 1999. RCW 10.05.010, effective January 1, 1999, allows a deferred prosecution for such a charge not "more than once." On a RALJ appeal, the court below denied their petitions for deferred prosecution because they had received deferred prosecutions in the past. They argue that they earned eligibility for deferred prosecution before 1999 under the previous statute and that applying the present statute retroactively violates ex post facto, due process, and equal protection clauses of the federal and state constitutions. Because the present statute applies to appellants' 1999 DUI charges prospectively and does not violate constitutional guarantees, we affirm.

FACTS

Heidi Gillenwater received a deferred prosecution in 1989 for driving while intoxicated (DWI). Ten years later, on September 9, 1999, a state patrol officer arrested Gillenwater for driving under the influence (DUI) and reckless driving. After being charged by the State for DUI, Gillenwater petitioned for deferred prosecution. The district court granted Gillenwater deferred prosecution. The State appealed.

Similarly, Robert Sell received a deferred prosecution in 1989 for DWI. On June 22, 1999, authorities cited him for DUI and hit/ run attended. The district court denied Sell's petition for deferred prosecution because he received deferred prosecution in the past. Sell appealed to the King County Superior Court. The court consolidated the appeals.

In affirming the decision in Sell's case and reversing Gillenwater's deferred prosecution, the court adopted the reasoning of the RALJ decision in State v. Mitzel, No. 00-1-02238-3 (King County Super. Ct. Feb. 27, 2001). In Mitzel, the court found that the defendant was not eligible for more than one deferred prosecution under the newly amended RCW 10.05.010. In its oral decision in this case, the court concluded that the statute was unambiguous in stating that a person could receive a deferred prosecution only one time. Gillenwater and Sell appealed to this court. A commissioner of this court has stayed the separate appeal in Mitzel pending our discretionary review of this consolidated case.

*1248 DISCUSSION

I. Deferred Prosecution

Gillenwater and Sell argue that they earned eligibility for deferred prosecution before the Legislature amended RCW 10.05.010 in 1999. We review issues regarding statutory construction de novo. City of Walla Walla v. Topel, 104 Wash.App. 816, 819, 17 P.3d 1244 (2001). When a statute is unambiguous, we derive its meaning from the plain language of the statute alone. Topel, 104 Wash.App. at 820, 17 P.3d 1244. RCW 10.05.010 states: "A person charged with a traffic infraction, misdemeanor, or gross misdemeanor under Title 46 RCW ... shall not be eligible for a deferred prosecution program more than once." The plain language of RCW 10.05.010 prohibits a person from receiving deferred prosecution more than once.

Before 1999, the statute allowed deferred prosecution once every five years. Former RCW 10.05.010 (1998). In Topel, Division Three ruled that the Legislature removed eligibility for deferred prosecution once every five years and read the statute to allow only one deferred prosecution in a person's lifetime. Topel, 104 Wash.App. at 821, 17 P.3d 1244. We agree. Because the statute is unambiguous, we need not look beyond the statute's plain meaning. There is no need to review other statutes or apply the rule of lenity, as appellants assert, to construe the statute. Since appellants already have received deferred prosecutions, they are no longer eligible for the program.

Even if the intent of the Legislature is not clear from the language of the statute alone, it is indeed clear by its legislative history. Topel, 104 Wash.App. at 820, 17 P.3d 1244. Throughout the history of the amendment in the Legislature, the House Journal describes it as "Limiting eligibility for the deferred prosecution program to once in a lifetime." (H.B.3089), 55th Leg., Reg. Sess. at 428, 481, 771 (Wash.1998) (emphasis added); see also 2SHB 3089 Final Legislative Report, 55th Leg. Reg. Sess. 153. (Wash.1998). In the Governor's veto message, which did not veto the amendment substantively, the Governor concurred in this interpretation:

I am returning herewith, without my approval as to section 6, Second Substitute House Bill No. 3089 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to drunk driving;"

2SHB 3089 allows a person to dispose of a DUI case by deferred prosecution only once in a lifetime, and reinstates the deferred charge if the person has a second DUI within five years. I strongly agree with this legislation; however, one section is problematic.
Section 6 ... would require that the Office of Financial Management verify claims from local governments for increased levels of services mandated by the act. This section would add an unnecessary additional bureaucratic layer....
For this reason, I have vetoed section 6 of Second Substitute House Bill No. 3089.
With the exception of section 6, Second Substitute House Bill No. 3089 is approved.

Final Legislative Report, 55th Leg., Reg. Sess. 153-54 (Wash.1998) (emphasis added). Because the legislative history supports the construction that RCW 10.05.010 allows only one deferred prosecution in a lifetime, we conclude that this is the intent of the statute.

Nonetheless, Gillenwater and Sell argue that this construction impermissibly applies retroactively and revives deferred prosecutions previously washed out. There is a general presumption that statutes apply prospectively only. State v. McClendon, 131 Wash.2d 853, 861, 935 P.2d 1334 (1997). Here, as in Topel, the trial court correctly applied RCW

State v. Sell, 43 P.3d 1246, 110 Wash. App. 741 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

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