People v. Martinez
People v. Martinez
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, MCL 257.617; MSA 9.2317, a felony punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment. A plea of not guilty was entered and defendant was granted youthful trainee status pursuant to the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (hyta), MCL 762.11 et seq.; MSA 28.853(11) et seq. The prosecution’s motion to revoke defendant’s youthful trainee status on the basis that the charged offense was excluded from the hyta was denied. The trial court concluded that the exclusion of traffic offenses from those crimes for which youthful trainee status can be granted is unconstitutional. Leave to appeal was granted. We reverse.
Without objection by the prosecution, the trial court granted defendant’s motion for youthful trainee status. Defendant was placed on probation for two years and was ordered to pay fines and restitution. The prosecution’s motion to revoke defendant’s youthful trainee status was made approximately six months after defendant was sen
Defendant challenges the prosecution’s appeal on the basis that it failed to object to the petition for youthful trainee status until after sentencing. The authority to sentence an offender under the hyta is jurisdictional. People v Dolgorukov, 191 Mich App 38, 39; 477 NW2d 118 (1991); People v Mahler, 156 Mich App 799, 801; 402 NW2d 93 (1986). Jurisdictional defects may be raised at any time. People v Boynton, 185 Mich App 669, 670; 463 NW2d 174 (1990).
The prosecution challenges the trial court’s conclusion that the hyta is unconstitutional. At the time of defendant’s sentencing, the act provided:
When a youth is alleged to have committed a criminal offense, other than a felony for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment, a major controlled substance offense, or a traffic offense between the youth’s seventeenth and twentieth birthdays, the court of record having jurisdiction of the criminal offense may, with the consent of both the affected youth and the youth’s legal guardian or guardian ad litem, consider and assign that youth to the status of youthful trainee. As used in this section, "traffic offense” means a violation of the Michigan vehicle code, Act No. 300 of the Public Acts of 1949, being sections 257.1 to 257.923 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, or a local ordinance substantially corresponding to that act, which violation involves the operation of a vehicle and at the time of the violation is a felony or misdemeanor. [MCL 762.11; MSA 28.853(11). Emphasis added. See 1988 PA 4.]
Defendant’s charged offense, leaving the scene of an accident, MCL 257.617; MSA 9.2317, is expressly excluded from the hyta.
Under the rational basis test there is a presumption of constitutionality. Id. As long as the legislation is supported by "any state of facts either known or which could reasonably be assumed,” it must be upheld. Bissell v Kommareddi, 202 Mich App 578, 580; 509 NW2d 542 (1993). The party challenging the legislation has the burden of demonstrating that the classification is arbitrary and does not have a rational relation to the object of the legislation. Id. at 580.
In support of the trial court’s conclusion that the hyta is unconstitutional, defendant asserts that the legislative intent of specifically excluding criminal traffic offenses was to prevent circumvention of the provision in the drunken driving laws for felony charges upon a third offense. However, the clear language of the statute indicates, that the reach of the traffic offense exclusion goes beyond
This state has a longstanding policy of holding all drivers, even minors, to an adult standard of care. Constantino v Wolverine Ins Co, 407 Mich 896 (1979); Osner v Boughner, 180 Mich App 248, 254-257; 446 NW2d 873 (1989). The exclusion from youthful trainee status of those charged with traffic offenses is rationally related to this legitimate purpose.
The hyta should not be struck down because it permits youthful trainee status for serious offenses under the Criminal Code, but denies such status for charges of less serious traffic offenses under the Vehicle Code. A statute need not be struck down merely because the classification was not mathematically precise or results in practice in some inequality. Weeks v Bd of Trustees, Detroit Gen Retirement System, 160 Mich App 81, 86; 408 NW2d 109 (1987). Because the statute is otherwise rationally related to the goal of holding minors to an adult standard of care when driving an automobile, an adult activity, it should not be found to violate equal protection.
Reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent. The exclusion of all violations of the Mich
When the Legislature amended the hyta, it did not articulate its purpose. The majority opinion uses a state senate staff analysis to conclude that the underlying goal of the amendment was the exclusion of all driving offenses from application of the hyta. House Legislative Analysis, HB 4596, December 17, 1987. Yet, although the analysis relied upon mentions that the amendment comprises more than drunk driving offenses, its thrust is undeniably drunk driving.
Under the section entitled "Rationale,” we find:
[Y]ouths charged with alcohol-related driving offenses . . . [are being assigned] to the [hyta] status, thereby circumventing the drunk-driving laws’ provision for felony charges upon the third offense.
The section called "Supporting Arguments” states:
The bill would preclude the use — whether intentional or inadvertent — of the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act as a way of avoiding the progressive sanctions of the State’s drunk driving laws, which include license suspension upon a drunk driving conviction and felony charges upon the third offense.
I cannot but conclude that the bill’s purpose was so dominantly aimed at drunk driving felonies that inclusion of other traffic offenses, although presumably knowingly done, was at best tangential. Moreover, it was irrational and arbitrary.
The majority also presumes that the public pol
Assuming the Legislature intended to expand the policy into sentencing, the overly broad amendment is not rationally related to the reasonable governmental purpose of holding youthful motorists to an adult standard. See, e.g., Plyler v Doe, 457 US 202, 216; 102 S Ct 2382; 72 L Ed 2d 786 (1982); Pioneer State Mutual Ins Co v Allstate Ins Co, 417 Mich 590, 600; 339 NW2d 470 (1983).
Defendant makes clear through examples the extent to which the classification is irrational and arbitrary: Martinez might have waited at the scene until police arrived and then fled leading them on a high speed chase. He would have been eligible for youthful trainee status simply because the failure to obey an officer and/or fleeing and eluding is an offense contained in the Michigan Penal Code. MCL 750.1 et seq.; MSA 28.191 et seq.
A violator charged with reckless driving
If an offender forges a motor vehicle certificate of title,
A person whose vehicle contains a firearm
Finally, hyta status may be granted to someone discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle;
In conclusion, the 1988 amendment excluding all traffic offenses from the purview of the hyta is not rationally related to the object of excluding youthful drunk drivers from hyta protection. Alternatively, exclusion from the hyta of all traffic offenses is not rationally related to a reasonable governmental purpose. Accordingly, this Court should find the exemption unconstitutional._
MCL 750.479a; MSA 28.747(1)
MCL 257.626; MSA 9.2326
MCL 752.191; MSA 28.661
MCL 750.324; MSA 28.556
MCL 750.321; MSA 28.553
MCL 257.257; MSA 9.1957
MCL 750.248; MSA 28.445
MCL 750.227; MSA 28.424
MCL 257.706; MSA 9.2406
MCL 750.234a; MSA 28.431(1)
MCL 257.720; MSA 9.2420
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