Monday, December 23, 2019

Minnesota DWI Attorney F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Redday (Decided December 23, 2019, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that if a prosecutor is not careful, he can turn a Felony DWI into a misdemeanor.

In Redday, the Defendant was arrested for felony DWI and was charged with four counts of DWI in the First Degree.  Ms. Redday had a South Dakota felony DWI conviction from 1997 and she also had prior dwi convictions from 2013, 2011, 2008 and 2008.

Ms. Redday was charged in Counts I and II of the current complaint with a felony for being arrested for DWI with three priors within the past ten years.  She was also charged with felony DWI in Counts II and IV of the complaint because of her prior felony South Dakota DWI. (In Minnesota, once you have a felony DWI any further DWI will also be a felony, no matter how old the prior offense).

The Defendant stipulated to her prior offenses to keep them from the jury.  The prosecutor then decided to dismiss Counts I & III and proceeded to trial only on Counts II & IV.

The Defendant was convicted and prior to sentencing, the state notified the district court and Redday that the presentence investigator had questioned whether “Redday’s prior South Dakota felony conviction qualifies as a prior felony conviction.”

The Defendant was sentenced for Felony DWI and on appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed, noting:

"The complaint in this case alleged that counts one and three were felonies because Redday “committed the violation within ten years of the first of three or more qualified prior impaired driving incidents.” The complaint alleged that counts two and four were felonies because Redday “was previously convicted of felony-level Driving While Under the Influence on or about October 29, 1997 in Roberts County, South Dakota.” However, the state points out that all four counts of the complaint reference Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(1), as the charging statute, which provides for felony enhancement based on the existence of three or more qualified prior impaired driving incidents. The state asserts that those references determine the offenses of conviction. Specifically, the state argues that “nowhere in the charging instrument was [Redday] charged with a violation of [Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2)].” For the reasons that follow, we disagree."

"The purpose of a complaint is to “apprise the defendant of the charge for which [she] is being held and tried.” State v. Clark, 134 N.W.2d 857, 866-67 (Minn. 1965). “For each count, the indictment or complaint must cite the statute, rule, regulation, or other provision of law the defendant allegedly violated.” Minn. R. Crim. P. 17.02, subd. 3. Thus, in determining what charges the state has brought against a defendant, courts should rely upon the language of a complaint rather than the actual statutory citations contained in it. See State v. DeVerney, 592 N.W.2d 837, 847 (Minn. 1999) (discussing indictment)."

"The description of the offenses charged in counts one and three of the complaint indicate that those charges were based on Redday’ s 2008,2011, and 2013 out-of-state DWI convictions. Counts one and three therefore set forth charges under Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(1), the felony-enhancement provision based on three or more qualified prior impaired driving incidents within ten years. But the district court granted the state’s motion to dismiss counts one and three before trial, leaving counts two and four of the complaint for trial. The description of the offenses charged in counts two and four of the complaint indicate that those charges were based on Redday’s 1997 felony-level South Dakota DWI conviction. Counts two and four therefore set forth charges under Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2), the felony-enhancement provision based on a prior felony DWI conviction. Indeed, the state admits that “[a]s demonstrated by the charging language under Counts II and IV, [it] had intended to cite to [Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2)].” Consistent with that admission, the district court stated that the two counts remaining for trial were “felony counts because of a prior felony conviction.”
***
"Redday does not argue that the evidence was insufficient to prove the elements of Minn. Stat. § 169A.20, the underlying DWI statute. Instead, Redday argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove that she had previously been convicted of a felony DWI, as required under Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2). Redday stipulated that she had a “conviction on October 29, 1997 for felony DWI” and to the district court’s receipt of a certified copy of her 1997 South Dakota conviction. But Redday asserts that her 1997 South Dakota conviction does not satisfy the requirement of Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2), because she “was convicted of [a] felony driving under the influence offense under a South Dakota statute, and not under section 169A.24.” See Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2) (referring to a previous felony conviction “under this section” (emphasis added)). Redday also asserts that the conduct underlying her 1997 South Dakota DWI conviction would not constitute a felony DWI under Minn. Stat. § 169A.24, subd. 1(2). The state does not challenge either of Redday’s assertions. Based on our review of the relevant statutes, we agree that Redday’s 1997 South Dakota conviction is not a felony DWI “under [Minn. Stat. § 169A.24].” See id."

Moral Of The Story: To use a prior felony to enhance a DWI, the felony must be a prior MINNESOTA felony as set forth in Minnesota Statute §169A.24.



If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, or are facing a DWI forfeiture of your motor vehicle, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.



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