People v. Spence

• Decision Date: 07 January 2005
• Docket Number: No. E035322.,E035322.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Francis SPENCE, Defendant and Appellant.

23 Cal.Rptr.3d 92

125 Cal.App.4th 710

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Francis SPENCE, Defendant and Appellant.

No. E035322.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 2.

January 7, 2005.

Review Denied April 13, 2005.

Certiorari Denied October 3, 2005. See 126 S.Ct. 255.

Rehearing Denied February 21, 2006.

Larry Howard McBride, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Grover Trask, District Attorney, and Elise J. Farrell, Deputy District Attorney, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Rockard J. Delgadillo, City Attorney (Los Angeles), Debbie Lew, Assistant City Attorney, and Katharine H. MacKenzie, Deputy City Attorney, for Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney, and David LaBahn for California District Attorneys Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

RAMIREZ, P.J.

As is pertinent here, a jury convicted Francis Spence (Spence) of driving without a valid driver's license. (Veh.Code, § 12500.)¹ He was granted probation.

We granted transfer of this case to this court upon certification by the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of Riverside County to address the following question: May a defendant be convicted of driving with an invalid driver's license in violation of section 12500 if he did not have actual knowledge that his license was suspended? (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 62.)

We conclude that he may, because section 12500 is a public welfare statute.

FACTS

On January 30, 2001, Spence received a citation for a defective windshield or rear window. His driver's license was suspended on June 10, 2001, for failure to appear as promised on a citation or for failure to appear after a court continuance.² Notice of the suspension was sent to him on May 9, 2001, by certified letter, but the letter was returned unclaimed. The Vehicle Code mandates that drivers' addresses be updated within 14 days of their moving to a new address.³ On November 22, 2001, when Spence was seen driving a vehicle, he did not have a valid license.

DISCUSSION

1. Sections 12500 and 14601 et seq.,⁴ Their Precursors, and Documents Re Legislative Intent

In 1913, the statutes provided that no one was to drive a motor vehicle after December 31 of that year, unless they had complied with the requirements of the act, which included section 23, providing for the obtaining of a driver's license. (Stats. 1913, ch. 326, § 23, pp. 649-651.)

The first sign of the split that later became sections 12500 and 14601 occurred in 1923. Section 58 of the statute provided that it was unlawful for anyone to drive unless licensed. (Stats.1923, ch. 266, § 58, p. 531.) Section 74 provided that a driver whose license had been suspended or revoked was guilty of a misdemeanor, and it set forth the punishment for a violation of that section. (Stats.1923, ch. 266, § 74, pp. 535-536.)

For our purposes, the next substantive change to these provisions came in 1935 when the Vehicle Code was created. (Stats.1935, ch. 27, p. 93.) Section 250, subdivision (a) made it a misdemeanor for anyone to drive without having a valid license.⁵ (Stats.1935, ch. 27, § 250, p. 128.) Section 332 made it a misdemeanor for anyone to drive after the person's "license or his driving privilege" has been suspended or revoked. (Stats.1935, ch. 27, § 332, p. 142, italics added.)

A 1937 amendment to section 332 expanded it to also cover those drivers who had been refused a license by the Department. of Motor Vehicles (Department). (Stats.1937, ch. 556, § 4, p 1591.)

A 1949 amendment to section 332 introduced the requirement that the driver know that his license or driving privilege had been suspended or revoked or that he had been refused a license by the Department. (Stats.1949, ch. 273, § 5, p. 494.)

The People pointed out below, without contradiction by Spence, that legislative intent materials do not exist for any of the foregoing enactments.

In 1959, the existing Vehicle Code was repealed and reenacted. (Stats.1959, ch. 3, p. 1523.) The existing section 250 became section 12500. (Stats.1959, ch. 3, p. 1613.) The new provision omitted the requirement that the license be valid. It dropped the language that a violation of the section was a misdemeanor, and according to the Office of Legislative Counsel, this enactment made no substantive changes to the existing code. (Legis. Counsel, Rep. on Assem. Bill No. 5 (1959 Reg. Sess.) The existing section 332 became new section 14601, which, although somewhat reworded, was substantially the same. (Stats. 1959, supra, ch. 3, p. 1633.)

The statutes of 1961 first introduced an increased punishment for a second violation of section 14601. (Stats.1961, ch. 278, § 1, p. 1311.)

The 1963 statutes dropped from section 14601 the reference to drivers who have been refused a license. (Stats.1963, ch. 155, § 1, p. 822.)

In 1968, section 14601 was revoked and a new version was enacted prohibiting driving while one's "driving privilege is suspended or revoked" for a list of driving offenses. (Stats.1968, ch. 1195, § 7, p. 2270.) It added the presumption that knowledge by the driver that his privilege has been suspended or revoked applies if the Department had so notified the driver. (Stats.1968, ch. 1195, § 7, p. 2270.) It created section 14601.1, which applied to any drivers whose privilege is suspended or revoked for any reason not listed in section 14601, and it utilized the same presumption as that latter section. (Stats. 1968, ch. 1195, § 8, p. 2271.)

Legislation in 1993 reinstated the pre-1959 requirement of section 12500 that the license be valid. (Stats.1993, ch. 1292, § 7, p. 7580.) The Enrolled Bill Report of the Senate Committee on Transportation stated that this change "close[s] a loophole in current law which has been used by some to avoid conviction by those [who] have suspended or revoked driving privileges." (Sen. Com. on Transportation, Enrolled Bill Rep. on Sen. Bill No. 274 (1993-1994 Reg. Sess.) Sept. 7, 1993, p. 2.)

Legislation in 1994 made the presumptions applicable to sections 14601 and 14601.1 conclusive. (Stats.1994, ch. 1133, §§ 7-8, pp. 6720-6721.) That year, the Legislature enacted provisions allowing the seizing of vehicles driven by drivers who did not have licenses. (Stats.1994, ch. 1133, § 12, p. 6724.) The prelude to those provisions stated: "The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: [¶] (a) Driving a motor vehicle on the public streets and highways is a privilege, not a right. [¶] (b) Of all drivers involved in fatal accidents, more than 20 percent are not licensed to drive. A driver with a suspended license is four times as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as a properly licensed driver. [¶] (c) At any given time, it is estimated by the Department of Motor Vehicles that of some 20 million driver's licenses issued to Californians, 720,000 are suspended or revoked. Furthermore, 1,000,000 persons are estimated to be driving without ever having been licensed at all. [¶] (d) Over 4,000 persons are killed in traffic accidents in California annually, and another 330,000 persons suffer injuries. [¶] (e) Californians who comply with the law are frequently victims of traffic accidents caused by unlicensed drivers. These innocent victims suffer considerable pain and property loss at the hands of people who flaunt the law. The Department estimates that 75 percent of all drivers whose driving privilege has been withdrawn continue to drive regardless of the law.[¶] (f) It is necessary and appropriate to take additional steps to prevent unlicensed drivers from driving.... The state has a critical interest in enforcing its traffic laws and in keeping unlicensed drivers from illegally driving. Seizing the vehicles used by unlicensed drivers serves a significant governmental and public interest, namely the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of Californians from the harm of unlicensed drivers, who are involved in a disproportionate number of traffic incidents, and the avoidance of the associated destruction and damage to lives and property." (§ 14607.4, subds.(a)-(f); accord, Tolces v. Trask (1999) 76 Cal. App.4th 285, 290, 90 Cal.Rptr.2d 294; Shivell v. Municipal Court (1961) 188 Cal. App.2d 333, 338, 10 Cal.Rptr. 283.)

The version of section 12500, under which Spence was prosecuted, provided, in pertinent part: "(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle upon a highway, unless the person then holds a valid driver's license issued under this code." The current versions of sections 14601 and 14601.1 and the ones that existed when Spence committed his offenses provide, essentially, what they did in 1968, i.e., that one may not drive while one's driving privilege has been suspended or revoked.

As is evident from the foregoing, the two provisions⁶ have coexisted, in varying forms, since 1923. To summarize, the express requirement of section 12500 and its precursors that the license be valid existed between 1935 and 1959 and was resurrected in 1993, the latter, according to documents on legislative intent, to "close a loophole in the law." The knowledge requirement of section 14601 et seq. and its precursors has existed, without substantive change, since 1949. "`"Where a statute, with reference to one subject contains a given provision, the omission of such provision from a similar statute concerning a related subject is significant to show that a different intention existed."' [Citations.]" (People v. Kuhn (1963) 216 Cal.App.2d 695, 699, 31 Cal. Rptr. 253 [opn. of this court].)⁷

2. CALJIC No. 16.631

CALJIC No. 16.631, which was given to this jury, provides: "It is not necessary for the People to introduce evidence that the defendant did not have a valid license to operate a motor vehicle. Whether the defendant was or was not properly licensed is a matter peculiarly within ... his ... own knowledge. The burden is on the defendant to raise a reasonable doubt as to ... his ... guilt of driving a motor vehicle upon a highway...