State v. Martin
| Decision Date | 04 September 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 35549.,35549. |
| Citation | 218 P.3d 10 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Christopher P. MARTIN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Christopher P. Martin appeals from the district court's memorandum decision and order on intermediate appeal affirming the magistrate's denial of his motion to suppress. We affirm.
A vehicle being driven by Martin was stopped by Trooper Mike Sherbondy after the officer noticed the front license plate was hanging at a thirty-degree angle with one bolt missing. The officer subsequently discovered that Martin was driving without privileges and arrested him. Martin was charged with driving without privileges, his third such offense within five years, in contravention of Idaho Code § 18-8001(5).
Martin thereafter filed a motion to suppress, claiming that Trooper Sherbondy lacked reasonable and articulable suspicion to conclude that he was operating the vehicle contrary to Idaho traffic laws and also that I.C. § 49-428, governing the display of license plates, was unconstitutionally vague as it applied to him. After a hearing where Martin stipulated to the fact that the license plate was secured by one bolt and was hanging at a thirty-degree angle, the magistrate denied Martin's motion. Martin then entered a conditional guilty plea reserving the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. Acting in its appellate capacity, the district court affirmed the magistrate's order denying Martin's suppression motion. Martin appeals the decision of the district court.
Martin advances two contentions in arguing that the district court erred in affirming the magistrate's denial of his motion to suppress: that the officer did not have the requisite suspicion to stop him and that I.C. § 49-428 is unconstitutionally vague as it applies to him.
On review of a decision of the district court, rendered in its appellate capacity, we review the decision of the district court directly. State v. DeWitt, 145 Idaho 709, 711, 184 P.3d 215, 217 (Ct.App.2008). We examine the magistrate record to determine whether there is substantial and competent evidence to support the magistrate's findings of fact and whether the magistrate's conclusions of law follow from those findings. Id. If those findings are so supported and the conclusions follow therefrom and if the district court affirmed the magistrate's decision, we affirm the district court's decision as a matter of procedure. Id.
Martin contends that I.C. § 49-428 is unconstitutionally vague as applied to him because, he asserts, the statute failed to provide him adequate notice that the manner in which his license plate was affixed was prohibited and therefore, allowed Trooper Sherbondy to "arbitrarily and discriminatorily" enforce the requirement of the statute against him. Where the constitutionality of a statute is challenged, we review the lower court's determination de novo. State v. Korsen, 138 Idaho 706, 711, 69 P.3d 126, 131 (2003); State v. Laramore, 145 Idaho 428, 430, 179 P.3d 1084, 1086 (Ct.App.2007). The party attacking a statute on constitutional grounds must overcome a strong presumption of validity. Id. Appellate courts are obligated to seek an interpretation of a statute that upholds its constitutionality. Id.
The void-for-vagueness doctrine is premised upon the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This doctrine requires that a statute defining criminal conduct be worded with sufficient clarity and definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and that the statute be worded in a manner that does not allow arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc., 455 U.S. 489, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982); Korsen, 138 Idaho at 711-12, 69 P.3d at 131-32. It is a basic principle of due process that an enactment is void for vagueness if its prohibitions are not clearly defined. Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 92 S.Ct. 2294, 33 L.Ed.2d 222 (1972); Korsen, 138 Idaho at 711, 69 P.3d at 131. Furthermore, as a matter of due process, no one may be required at the peril of loss of liberty to speculate as to the meaning of penal statutes. Korsen, 138 Idaho at 711-12, 69 P.3d at 131-32. Due process requires that all "be informed as to what the State commands or forbids" and that "men of common intelligence" not be forced to guess at the meaning of the criminal law. State v. Cobb, 132 Idaho 195, 197, 969 P.2d 244, 246 (1998) (citing Smith v. Goguen, 415 U.S. 566, 574, 94 S.Ct. 1242, 1248, 39 L.Ed.2d 605, 612 (1974)). A statute may be void for vagueness if it fails to give adequate notice to people of ordinary intelligence concerning the conduct it proscribes or if it fails to establish minimal guidelines to govern law enforcement or others who must enforce the statute. Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357-58, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 1858, 75 L.Ed.2d 903, 908-09 (1983); Korsen, 138 Idaho at 712, 69 P.3d at 132; State v. Larsen, 135 Idaho 754, 756, 24 P.3d 702, 704 (2001).
A statute may be challenged as unconstitutionally vague on its face or as applied to a defendant's conduct. Korsen, 138 Idaho at 712, 69 P.3d at 132. To succeed on an "as applied" vagueness challenge, a complainant must show that the statute, as applied to the defendant's conduct, failed to provide fair notice that the defendant's conduct was proscribed or failed to provide sufficient guidelines such that the police had unbridled discretion in determining whether to arrest him. Id.
In relevant part, I.C. § 49-428 provides that:
(2) Every license plate shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle to which it is assigned to prevent the plate from swinging, be at a height not less than twelve (12) inches from the ground, measuring from the bottom of the plate, be in a place and position to be clearly visible, and shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible....
Martin argues that section 49-428 is unconstitutionally vague because the words "securely fastened" permit arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement by not defining how a person of ordinary intelligence is to comply with the strictures of the rule. Specifically, he argues that the statute fails to define how a license plate is to be "securely fastened to the vehicle," because the Idaho Legislature could have intended two interpretations of preventing the plate from either: (1) swinging parallel to the ground, or (2) swinging perpendicular to the ground. He further argues that "securely fastened" does not require that a license plate be fastened with two bolts and that if the legislature had intended that all license plates be securely fastened with two or more bolts, "it could have easily said as much." And since it did not, he surmises, the statute allows for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.
In denying Martin's claim that the statute was void for vagueness, the district court stated:
This Court does not find the language in section 49-428 to be unconstitutionally vague; rather, this Court finds the language clear and unambiguous. Not only does section 49-428 require a license plate to be "securely fastened to the vehicle to which it is assigned to prevent the plate from swinging," but it also requires the plate to "be in a place and position to be clearly visible," and be "maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible." Idaho Code Ann § 49-428(2). The language of section 49-428 clearly conveys the legislative purpose that all license plates shall be securely fastened, clearly visible, and clearly legible. Regardless of whether a plate is positioned to allow swinging parallel in a forward and backward motion or perpendicular to the lane of traffic, where only one corner of the plate is fastened, if the license plate is in any position to be swinging, it is clearly not "securely fastened to the vehicle ... to prevent the plate from swinging."
This does not mean that in order to be in violation of Idaho Code Section 49-428, a license plate must be swinging. Rather, the language clearly contemplates that if a license plate is securely fastened, it would not be able to swing. Appellant also attempts to argue that his license plate was securely fastened by one bolt and had the legislature intended to require license plates be secured with two bolts, it could have designated as such. However, the Idaho Legislature did not have to articulate specifically that license plates which are adequately secured with two bolts would prevent a license plate from swinging because such a fact is quite obvious in nature and design. It is general knowledge that Idaho license plates are equipped with two holes, which may be secured with two bolts. Therefore, the language in section 49-428 which require license plates to be "securely fastened to the vehicle to which it is assigned to prevent the plate from swinging," is clear and unambiguous. Thus, this Court cannot find that Idaho Code Section 49-428 is unconstitutionally vague.
When called upon to interpret a statute, we begin with an examination of its literal words. State, Dep't of Health Welfare ex rel. Lisby v. Lisby, 126 Idaho 776, 779, 890 P.2d 727, 730 (1995); State v. McKeeth, 136 Idaho 619, 628, 38 P.3d 1275, 1284 (Ct.App. 2001); State v. Beard, 135 Idaho 641, 646, 22 P.3d 116, 121 (Ct.App.2001). The statutory language is to be given its plain, obvious, and rational meaning. Lisby, 126 Idaho at 779, 890 P.2d at 730. A statute is to be construed as a whole without separating one provision from another. State v. Olson, 138 Idaho 438, 440, 64 P.3d 967, 969 (Ct.App.2003). In attempting to...
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