Armijo v. State, No. 83-86

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
• Writing for the Court: Before ROONEY; THOMAS
• Citation: 678 P.2d 864
• Parties: Herman Trevor ARMIJO, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Decision Date: 21 March 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-86

Page 864

678 P.2d 864 Herman Trevor ARMIJO, Appellant (Defendant),
v.
The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). No. 83-86. Supreme Court of Wyoming. March 21, 1984.

Page 865

Glenn A. Duncan, Laramie, for appellant.

Richard E. Dixon, Deputy County and Pros. Atty., Albany County, and Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before ROONEY, C.J., and THOMAS, ROSE, BROWN and CARDINE, JJ.

THOMAS, Justice.

The only issue to be resolved in this case is the constitutionality of § 31-5-1117(a), W.S.1977 (May 1982 Cum.Supp.), which, at the time of the events upon which the appellant's convictions were premised, provided:

"(a) Whoever, while driving any vehicle under the influence of either intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance, or a combination of both, to a degree which renders him incapable of safely driving a vehicle, causes the death of another person shall be guilty of aggravated homicide by vehicle, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than twenty (20) years."

The district court upheld the constitutionality of the statute against contentions by the appellant that it deprived him of due process and was unconstitutionally vague. The district court then found the appellant guilty of aggravated homicide by vehicle and leaving the scene of the accident after he had entered pleas of guilty to those charges. We agree with the conclusions of the trial court with respect to the constitutionality of the statute, and we shall affirm the appellant's convictions.

Page 866

In his brief in this appeal the appellant tells us that the issues are:

"ISSUE ONE: Whether or not Subsection 31-5-1117(a) of the Wyoming Statutes, 1977 Republished Edition, is written in such a way as to constitute a deprivation of due process.

"ISSUE TWO: Whether or not Subsection 31-5-1117(a) of the Wyoming Statutes, 1977 Republished Edition, is written in such a way as to be void for its vagueness."

The brief of the State of Wyoming sets forth a more limited statement of the question as follows:

"The issue presented to this Court is whether or not Wyoming Statute § 31-5-1117(a) (1982 Cum.Supp.) is unconstitutionally vague."

While the claims of the appellant in support of his contention of unconstitutionality are multitudinous, we believe that all of them are encompassed by his contentions that he is deprived of due process because the statute does not include any requirement of criminal intent or mens rea and that it did not require a causal relationship between defendant's conduct and the victim's death, all of which seem to evolve into a general claim that this statute is unconstitutionally vague.

On October 22, 1982, the appellant drank alcoholic beverages to the point that he was under their influence. The alcohol content of his blood sometime after the fatal collision with a pedestrian was .12 percent. In this intoxicated condition he was driving west on Grand Avenue in Laramie, Wyoming, at about a quarter to 12 o'clock midnight. In the vicinity of the University of Wyoming he was traveling around 50 miles per hour, and proceeded through a red light. This traffic signal was located at a crosswalk across Grand Avenue, and the victim then was crossing the street with the signal light in his favor. After he struck the victim, the appellant did not stop but proceeded to travel away from the vicinity of the accident. He subsequently surrendered to law enforcement officers. The foregoing information primarily is found in his testimony designed to establish a factual basis for his plea of guilty. Some of this information was not furnished by the appellant, but he agreed those facts would be established if other witnesses were called on behalf of the State.

On October 25, 1982, a criminal complaint was filed in the justice of the peace court in Albany County charging the appellant in Count I with a violation of § 31-5-1117(a), W.S.1977 (May 1982 Cum.Supp.), aggravated homicide by vehicle, and in a second count with a violation of § 31-5-1101(a), W.S.1977. ¹ A criminal warrant was issued, and the appellant was arrested on October 25, 1982. After a preliminary hearing which was held on November 10, 1982, the appellant was bound over to the District Court for the Second Judicial District, and on November 12, 1982, an Information was filed charging the appellant with the same violations which had been included in the criminal complaint. The appellant was arraigned on these charges on November 17, 1982, at which time he entered pleas of not guilty to both counts. Thereafter, on January 3, 1983, the appellant filed a number of motions. Included among those motions were a Motion to Preserve All Constitutional Questions and a Motion to Dismiss Count I of the Information, which was premised upon constitutional deficiencies. On February 2, 1983, in an Order On Pending Motions, the district court ordered that the constitutional challenge by the appellant would be preserved in the event of a guilty plea. On February 7, 1983, the defendant then did withdraw his pleas of not guilty and entered pleas of guilty to both counts of the Information.

Page 867

After a presentence investigation the district court, on March 29, 1983, sentenced the appellant to not less than three years and not more than eight years in the state penitentiary on Count I and one year in the county jail on Count II, while providing that the sentences should run concurrently. The formal Judgment and Sentence was filed on March 30, 1983, and the appellant has taken his appeal from that Judgment and Sentence.

Because the concept is a jurisdictional one, we preliminarily consider whether the appellant properly has preserved the issue of the constitutionality of the statute for our review. Our general rule is that we will not consider matters which are not presented to a trial court excepting only questions which involve jurisdiction or fundamental rights. In re Parental Right of PP, Wyo., 648 P.2d 512 (1982); Edwards v. State, Wyo., 577 P.2d 1380 (1978); and Connor v. State, Wyo., 537 P.2d 715 (1975). In this case the appellant raised the issue of constitutionality of § 31-5-1171(a), W.S.1977 (May 1982 Cum.Supp.), by his motion which was filed in the district court prior to his plea of guilty. When the district court accepted the appellant's guilty plea, the right to challenge the constitutionality of the statute in an appeal specifically was reserved.

The general rule applicable in criminal cases is that by pleading guilty the defendant is deemed to have admitted all of the essential elements of the crime charged and he thereby waives all nonjurisdictional defenses. Small v. State, Wyo., 623 P.2d 1200 (1981); McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969); United States v. Donohoe, 458 F.2d 237 (10th Cir.1972), cert. denied 409 U.S. 865, 93 S.Ct. 157, 34 L.Ed.2d 113 (1972);...