Lee v. State, 110916 AKCA, A-12274

• Docket Nº: A-12274, A-12298
• Opinion Judge: PER CURIAM.
• Party Name: MICHAEL SUNG SOO LEE, Appellant, v. STATE OF ALASKA, Appellee.
• Attorney: Alexander T. Foote, Assistant Public Defender, and Quinlan Steiner, Public Defender, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Christina M. Sherman, Deputy District Attorney, Anchorage, and James E. Cantor, Acting Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
• Judge Panel: Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, Allard, Judge, and Suddock, Superior Court Judge.
• Case Date: November 09, 2016
• Court: Court of Appeals of Alaska

MICHAEL SUNG SOO LEE, Appellant,

v.

STATE OF ALASKA, Appellee.

Nos. A-12274, A-12298

Court of Appeals of Alaska

November 9, 2016

UNPUBLISHED See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d)

Appeal from the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Trial Court Nos. 3AN-13-13231 CR & 3AN-07-14505 CR, Anchorage, Michael Spaan, Judge.

Alexander T. Foote, Assistant Public Defender, and Quinlan Steiner, Public Defender, Anchorage, for the Appellant.

Christina M. Sherman, Deputy District Attorney, Anchorage, and James E. Cantor, Acting Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.

Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, Allard, Judge, and Suddock, Superior Court Judge. ^[*]

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PER CURIAM.

On December 16, 2013, Anchorage police officers arrested Michael Sung Soo Lee for driving under the influence (DUI). A subsequent breath test revealed that Lee had a blood-alcohol content of. 143, significantly over the legal limit of .08.

At the time of his arrest, Lee had multiple prior DUI convictions, including a felony DUI conviction from 2005 which resulted in a lifetime revocation of his driver's license. Lee was also on felony probation for a 2007 felony criminal mischief conviction.

The State charged Lee with felony DUI¹ and driving while license revoked (DWLR).² The State also filed a petition to revoke Lee's probation in the 2007 felony case. (This was the second petition to revoke in that case.)

Lee subsequently pleaded no contest to the new charges and admitted to violating his probation. In the interim between his arrest and sentencing, Lee made significant efforts towards rehabilitation - completing two substance abuse programs, maintaining steady employment, getting married, and buying a home.

As a third felony offender, Lee faced a presumptive sentencing range of 3 to 5 years for the felony DUI conviction, ³ and a minimum sentence of 30 days on the misdemeanor DWLR conviction.⁴ Lee also faced 23 months on the petition to revoke his probation in the 2007 felony case.

At sentencing, Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan found two statutory aggravators with regard to the felony DUI...