State v. Stidham

791 P.2d 671, 164 Ariz. 145, 59 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 26, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 159
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 1, 1990
DocketNo. 1 CA-CR 88-1082
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 791 P.2d 671 (State v. Stidham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Stidham, 791 P.2d 671, 164 Ariz. 145, 59 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 26, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 159 (Ark. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

GRANT, Chief Judge.

Appellant Tom Dean Stidham (defendant) was charged by indictment with driving under the influence (DUI) while his license was suspended, cancelled, revoked or refused. The jury found him guilty as charged. He received a mitigated sentence of 1.5 years. Defendant timely appealed.

The facts may be summarized as follows, viewed in the light most favorable to sustaining the conviction. State v. Villafuente, 142 Ariz. 323, 327, 690 P.2d 42, 46 (1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1234* 84 L.Ed.2d 371 (1985). On December 25, 1987, Officer John Allen (Allen) stopped the defendant after he observed the defendant’s poor driving. When Allen asked for identification, defendant produced an Arizona Motor Vehicle Department [146]*146(MVD) issued identification-only card. Allen smelled a strong odor of alcohol on the defendant, and the defendant admitted he had consumed one drink. The officer arrested defendant. Inside the car, the officer found a jar containing the alcoholic drink commonly known as a “screwdriver”. Defendant refused both the field sobriety and breath analysis tests. Allen was the only witness who testified at trial.

The defendant moved for a directed verdict on three grounds, one of which was that there was no evidence that defendant’s license was revoked as of December 25, 1987. The court found that there was sufficient evidence of revocation and submitted the charge to the jury. ■

Defendant also objected to a proposed instruction on revocation on the grounds that it was a comment on the evidence and that it shifted the burden of proof to the defendant. The court overruled the objection to the instruction. In closing arguments, both counsel discussed whether there was sufficient evidence of revocation at the time of the offense.

Defendant’s first argument on appeal is that the court should have granted the motion for acquittal because there was in-sufficent evidence that his license was revoked on December 25, 1987. Defendant does not contest that he was driving a motor vehicle while under the influence on that date. The state argues that the jury could infer from the evidence that the defendant’s license was revoked on the relevant date. We agree with the state’s position.

As noted previously, we must view all the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the conviction. Exhibit 1, a record of defendant’s moving violations as of January 5, 1988, shows a revocation as of June 26, 1985. There is no indication on the document that the license had been reissued. Page 2 of Exhibit 1, a form signed by defendant, states, in relevant part, that:

In accordance with Section 28-445A6, Arizona Revised Statutes, my right to drive in Arizona is revoked for a minimum period of 1 year. From 6-26-85 to 6-26-86.

The third page of Exhibit 1 is an application, dated July 27, 1986, by defendant, requesting an investigation to determine his eligibility to regain his license. Lastly, when stopped the defendant produced an MVD identification-only card, not a driver’s license.

Obviously, the license revocation did not automatically terminate as of June 26, 1986. The issue then is how the state may prove that the revocation remained in effect until the date of the offense. It is a principle of evidence law that the existence of a particular fact before or after the act in question may be shown to indicate the existence of that same condition at the time of the act. E.g., Day v. Frazier, 51 Ariz. 474, 78 P.2d 140 (1938); State v. Miranda, 3 Ariz.App. 550, 416 P.2d 444 (1966); City of Phoenix v. Boggs, 1 Ariz.App. 370, 403 P.2d 305 (1965). As discussed hereafter, a revocation is of indefinite duration. We believe that the jury could reasonably infer, on the basis of the evidence produced, that the revocation remained in effect as of the date of the offense.

We find that the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion for a directed verdict on the issue of revocation. There was sufficient evidence for the jury to decide the point.

Defendant’s next argument is that the court improperly gave an instruction regarding revocation. His argument has three sub-parts. Defendant complains that the instruction misstates the law because reapplication alone ends the revocation pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-692.02(A)(3), and that, even if § 28-692.02(A)(3) does not apply to this case, it is illogical not to extend the effect of reapplication to subsection (A)(1). Lastly, he argues that the instruction shifted the burden of proof to the defendant, contrary to the holdings of Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U.S. 510, 99 S.Ct. 2450, 61 L.Ed.2d 39 (1979), and State v. Mincey, 130 Ariz. 389, 636 P.2d 637 (1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1003, 102 S.Ct. 1638, 71 L.Ed.2d 871 (1982). The allegedly erroneous instruction was as follows:

[147]*147After a driver’s license is revoked by the State it remains revoked until the licensee makes application for a new license, and a new license has been issued.

We reject defendant’s arguments.

First, the charge here was clearly under subsection (A)(1), so the now deleted reapplication language of subsection (A)(3) is not applicable. Subsection (A)(3) requires proof of a second violation. There was no proof whatever given to the jury of a second violation. The prosecutor argued only that the DUI was committed while the license was revoked.

As stated in State v. Gin, 158 Ariz. 202, 761 P.2d 1106 (App.1988), under § 28-692.02(A)(l), it is the suspension (revocation) which is the substantive element of the offense. Id. at 204, 761 P.2d at 1108. The reason for the suspension is irrelevant under subsection (A)(1). See also O'Hara v. Superior Court, 138 Ariz. 247, 674 P.2d 310 (1983).

Secondly, reapplication is not a defense to a charge under § 28-692.02(A)(l). The fact that the legislature included language regarding reapplication in subsection (A)(3), but not in subsection (A)(1) shows that it knew the importance of the term and consciously omitted it in subsection (A)(1). If the former language of subsection (A)(3) regarding reapplication created an absurdity, as defendant suggests, that absurdity was corrected by the deletion of the language from the statute. The Arizona Supreme Court discussed the relationship of the three subsections of § 28-692.02 in O’Hara. It is not this court’s job to offer literary critiques of the legislature’s efforts. State v. Bly, 127 Ariz. 370, 373, 621 P.2d 279, 232 (1980).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
791 P.2d 671, 164 Ariz. 145, 59 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 26, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stidham-arizctapp-1990.