People v. Bewersdorf
People v. Bewersdorf
Opinion of the Court
Defendant pled guilty to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, third offense (ouil-3), MCL 257.625(6); MSA 9.2325(6), and to being an habitual offender, second offense, MCL 769.10; MSA 28.1082. Defendant was sentenced to one year in the county jail on the underlying ouil offense. The trial court then vacated that sentence and imposed an identical sentence of one year in the county jail on the habitual-offender conviction. Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm the ouil conviction but vacate the habitual-offender conviction and sentence.
Defendant first argues that he should not have been convicted under the enhancement provisions in both the ouil and the habitual-offender statutes. We agree for the reasons expressed in People v Tucker, 177 Mich App 174; 441 NW2d 59 (1989).
Any person who is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this act declared to constitute a felony, unless a different penalty is expressly provided herein, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 1 year nor more than 5 years, or by a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $5,000.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Thus, the "felony” designation substantially increases the punishment for ouil-3. The Vehicle Code was intended to remove intoxicated drivers from our highways by imposing prison terms, fines and license suspensions or revocations. Tucker, supra, p 182.
People v Eilola, 179 Mich App 315; 445 NW2d 490 (1989), cited in Judge Sawyer’s dissent in this case, is easily distinguished. Eilola involved the sentencing provisions of the retail-fraud statute. That statute, however, does not provide for gradations of punishment nor determinate sentences. Thus, there was no "sentencing scheme” to dis
(5) A person who violates subsection (1) or (2) or a local ordinance substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2) within 7 years of a prior conviction may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both. As part of the sentence, the court shall order the secretary of state to revoke the operator’s or chauffeur’s license of the person. For purposes of this section, "prior conviction” means a conviction under subsection (1) or (2), a local ordinance substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2), or a law of another state substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2).
(6) A person who violates subsection (1) or (2) or a local ordinance substantially corresponding to subsection (1) or (2) within 10 years of 2 or more prior convictions, as defined in subsection (5), is guilty of a felony. As part of the sentence, the court shall order the secretary of state to revoke the operator’s or chauffeur’s license of the person. [MCL 257.625(5), (6); MSA 9.2325(5), (6).]
For each subsequent offense, punishment is enhanced. Additionally, unlike the retail-fraud statute, the above sentencing scheme is requisite and is "disturbed” by further application of the habitual-offender statute. Thus, on closer examination, the conflict is apparent. We believe Tucker was correctly decided.
We conclude that the enhancement scheme provided in the Vehicle Code, evidencing a specific legislative intent and specific gradations of punishment, prevails to the exclusion of the general habitual-offender statute.
Defendant’s ouil-3 conviction is affirmed. Defendant’s conviction as an habitual offender, second offense, is vacated. We need not address defendant’s remaining issues.
Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded for reinstatement of defendant’s ouil-3 sentence.
Concurring in Part
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). While I agree with the majority that defendant is not entitled to withdraw his guilty plea, I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that defendant’s habitual-offender conviction is invalid.
I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that defendant could not have been convicted as a habitual offender and that the habitual-offender provisions do not apply where the underlying conviction is for ouil-3. While the decision in People v Tucker, 177 Mich App 174; 441 NW2d 59 (1989), raises many valid considerations, I respectfully disagree with my colleagues in the majority that that case was correctly decided.
I believe that this case is controlled by our recent decision in People v Eilola, 179 Mich App
The Eilola Court distinguished away the cases which held that the general habitual-offender statute did not apply to a controlled-substance offense,
The Eilola Court also distinguished its decision from that in People v Honeycutt, 163 Mich App
The comments in the Eilola opinion distinguishing the felony-firearm statute and the decision in Honeycutt from a retail-fraud case are equally applicable to the instant case and, therefore, I do not believe that the Honeycutt decision is applicable to the case at bar. However, the decisions under the controlled-substance statutes do merit some additional consideration since the basis for distinguishing away those cases in Eilola is not equally applicable here. Specifically, while first-degree retail fraud is a separate substantive offense, ouil-3 is not a separate substantive offense, but merely an enhancement provision of a violation of the ouil statute, similar to the controlled-substance statutes. However, the habitual-offender statutes specifically provide that they are not applicable to a major controlled-substance offense to
Another feature of the ouil statutes which is more akin to the retail-fraud statute than the controlled-substance statute is the fact that only the highest level is a felony, with the lower levels being misdemeanors. The Eilola Court, supra at 323, found this to be an important point:
This last point should not be lightly tossed aside. Unlike the felony-firearm statute, or even the controlled-substance statutes, where application of both the enhancement provisions contained within those respective statutes as well as the general habitual-offender statute would produce ever escalating and conflicting results, the general habitual-offender statute dovetails harmoniously with the retail-fraud statute. That is, the internal provisions of the retail-fraud statute can raise an offense from a misdemeanor to a felony, but do not enhance the sentence once a defendant is at the level of a felony offense. At this point, the general habitual-offender statute can be applied where the offender has prior felony convictions.
Thus, while the recidivist provisions of the controlled-substance statutes provide for enhancing the sentence for a felony on the basis of subsequent convictions, the retail-fraud and ouil statutes merely provide for raising a misdemeanor offense to a felony for subsequent convictions, but for no enhancement once the defendant is at the felony level. Therefore, both the retail-fraud and the ouil statutes dovetail harmoniously with the general habitual-offender statute, without the con
I would affirm.
See People v Franklin, 102 Mich App 591; 302 NW2d 246 (1980), People v Elmore, 94 Mich App 304; 288 NW2d 416 (1979), and People v Edmonds, 93 Mich App 129; 285 NW2d 802 (1979).
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