State v. Graff
| Decision Date | 06 August 1990 |
| Citation | 577 A.2d 1270,121 N.J. 131 |
| Parties | STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John W. GRAFF, Defendant-Respondent. STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Jeffrey R. ELLIS, Defendant-Respondent. |
| Court | New Jersey Supreme Court |
James J. Gerrow, Jr., Asst. Prosecutor, for plaintiff-appellant (Stephen G. Raymond, Burlington County Prosecutor, attorney; Larry E. Holtz and Deborah A. Siegrist, Asst. Prosecutors, of counsel, and on the briefs; Steve Rothberg, on the brief).
Andrew J. Karcich, for defendant-respondent John W. Graff (Sherman, Silverstein & Kohl, Pennsauken, attorneys).
Mark S. Guralnick, for defendant-respondent Jeffrey R. Ellis (Garber & Guralnick, Mount Laurel, attorneys).
Brian J. Neary, Hackensack, for amicus curiae Ass'n of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey.
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
O'HERN, J.
These direct appeals from the Law Division, which granted defendants' motions for jury trials for first and second driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) offenses, were argued with State v. Hamm, 121 N.J. 109, 577 A.2d 1259 (1990), also decided today.
In its thoughtful opinions, the Law Division analyzed the effect of the then-recent decision of the United States Supreme Court, Blanton v. North Las Vegas, 489 U.S. 538, 109 S.Ct. 1289, 103 L.Ed.2d 550 (1989), on our DWI laws. It reasoned that the multiple direct and collateral consequences of a DWI conviction reflected a legislative judgment that the offense was constitutionally "serious" under Blanton. In addition to the direct statutory penalties described in Hamm, the Law Division emphasized the additional potential, among others, that a repeat DWI offender who had refused a breath test might be subject to a three-year loss of license as an habitual driving offender under N.J.S.A. 39:5-30. The Law Division hypothesized for a second offender a potential seven-year suspension as a consequence of the interrelated provisions. In addition to the monetary insurance surcharges referred to in Hamm, the court below noted that the suspended DWI offender may be relegated to an assigned-risk form of insurance, and suffer other burdens, such as reexamination to determine ability to operate before having any driving privilege restored. Finally, it emphasized the recidivist penalties that mount after each DWI conviction, thus making even a first offense constitutionally "serious" despite the limited loss of liberty or license.
As we noted in State v. Hamm, supra, 121 N.J. 109, 577 A.2d 1259, these are consequences of importance, and indeed of magnitude, yet they do not equate with the measure of a constitutionally "serious" offense. Inasmuch as we held in Hamm that a defendant does not have the right to a jury trial for a third DWI offense, we therefore reverse the judgments of the Law Division, which granted jury trials for first and second DWI offenses.
Defendant John W. Graff was arrested and charged with DWI in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, and refusing to take a breathalyzer test in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a. Graff had been previously convicted of DWI. Graff moved before the municipal court to transfer his case to the Law Division for a jury trial. The municipal court denied Graff's motion, but permitted him to take an interlocutory appeal from that denial. On July 27, 1989, the Law Division concluded in an unpublished opinion that the United States Constitution entitled Graff, as a second DWI offender, to a jury trial.
Defendant Jeffrey R. Ellis was charged with several motor-vehicle offenses, including DWI. He pled guilty to two offenses and was convicted of DWI in municipal court. For DWI, the court sentenced him as a first offender to twelve hours' detainment in an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC) and thirty days in jail. The jail sentence would be suspended conditioned on his successful completion of the IDRC program. In addition, the court suspended his license to drive for nine months and fined him $350, plus a $100 surcharge and court costs. Ellis appealed to the Law Division, which ruled on December 5, 1989, in an unreported opinion that first-time DWI offenders have a constitutional right to trial by jury. In doing so, the court relied heavily on its earlier opinion in Graff. We certified the State's appeals of the Graff and Ellis matters directly while they were pending in the Appellate Division. R. 2:12-1.
As noted in State v. Laurick, 120 N.J. 1, 575 A.2d 1340 (1990), DWI penalties are often revised, and we intend no definitive compendium of them by reciting those alleged by the defendants. If Graff is convicted of DWI, as a second offender he would receive a mandatory two-year license suspension, a fine ranging from $500 to $1,000, thirty days of community service, and a term of imprisonment between two days and ninety days. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(2). Furthermore, if Graff is convicted of refusing to take the breathalyzer test as well as his second DWI offense, he would receive a two-year license suspension under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a that would run consecutively to the suspension under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(2). He would be subject to a potential additional license suspension of up to three years as an "habitual offender" under N.J.S.A. 39:5-30. He would also be fined between $250 and $500 under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a. The maximum penalties Ellis faced prior to being sentenced as a first offender were a $400 fine, one-year license suspension, and thirty days' imprisonment. N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a)(1).
Both defendants make the general argument that DWI in itself is a "serious" offense, and that DWI defendants are entitled to a jury trial based on society's treatment and perception of DWI as a "crime." Defendants also argue that in addition to the license suspensions, fines, and possible incarceration periods for DWI,...
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