State v. McClintock

• Citation: 732 S.W.2d 268
• Decision Date: 27 April 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-65-I,86-65-I
• Parties: STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. Robert McCLINTOCK, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Tennessee

Page 268

732 S.W.2d 268

STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. Robert McCLINTOCK, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 86-65-I

Supreme Court of Tennessee at Nashville.

April 27, 1987.

Paul J. Morrow, Jr., Nashville, for defendant-appellant.

Deborah S. Swettenam, Tennessee Ass'n of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Dickson, for amicus curiae.

W.J. Michael Cody, Atty. Gen. and Reporter, Albert L. Partee, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Paul DeWitt, Asst. Dist. Atty. Gen., Nashville, for appellee.

OPINION

DROWOTA, Justice.

This case is before the Court to resolve significant questions concerning the proper procedure for determining the validity of a facially sufficient conviction under T.C.A. § 55-10-401, et seq. (DUI), when such a conviction is used to enhance punishment on subsequent DUI convictions. Defendant, Robert McClintock, voluntarily entered a plea of guilty to DUI; his sentence was enhanced by the trial court under T.C.A. § 55-10-403 on the basis of a prior DUI conviction.

I.

A.

Defendant was indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury on October 18, 1984, for violation of T.C.A. § 55-10-401; the indictment alleged that Defendant had one prior conviction under this statute on August 27, 1982 (the first conviction), and sought enhancement of the sentence as a second offender under T.C.A. § 55-10-403. On February 8, 1985, Defendant was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. Subsequently, counsel for Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss Enhancement of Punishment in Indictment on March 19, 1985, contending that Defendant had not been represented by counsel when he entered his guilty plea to the first offense on August 27, 1982. Defendant averred that he had not validly waived his right to counsel at his hearing on the first offense and that the record of his plea was silent as to the validity of the waiver in General Sessions Court of Davidson County. A hearing on this Motion was held on April 4, 1985, at which the General Sessions Judge testified as to his procedure in accepting guilty pleas in that court. An order denying Defendant's Motion was entered by the trial court on May 30, 1985, accompanied by the trial judge's Memorandum Opinion, in which he found the Defendant was improperly attempting to invalidate his first conviction by an unauthorized collateral attack. On June 6, 1985, a sentencing hearing was held at which Defendant made an offer of proof concerning the circumstances of his plea on his first conviction. The trial court, fully affording Defendant his Constitutional rights and in compliance with the Rules of Criminal Procedure and with this Court's opinion in State v. Mackey, 553 S.W.2d 337 (Tenn.1977), accepted Defendant's plea of guilty and sentenced him as a second DUI offender (the second conviction), imposing a fine of $500, plus costs, and ordering that Defendant be confined for eleven months, twenty-nine days, all but 45 days suspended, with probation for the remainder of the sentence. Defendant was also prohibited from driving for two years and required to undergo an alcohol abuse treatment program. Defendant filed his Notice of Appeal on June 18, 1985.

On appeal as of right, the Court of Criminal Appeals noted that in the trial court's Final Order the Defendant's right to appeal from a conviction on his plea of guilty was not properly preserved under Rule 37(b)(2), T.R.Cr.P. Nevertheless, the Court of Criminal Appeals considered the merits of Defendant's contentions, finding that the first conviction was facially valid and thus Defendant could not assert a collateral attack on that conviction. The appellate court below stated that the appropriate procedure to challenge the prior conviction in this case was through the Post-Conviction Procedure Act. The Defendant's conviction and sentence were affirmed. A Petition to Rehear was filed and denied. Defendant then filed a timely Application for Permission to Appeal, which was granted by this Court. We now affirm the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

B.

Permission to Appeal has been granted because the problem presented by this case is arising repeatedly. Several panels of the Court of Criminal Appeals have handed down conflicting opinions regarding the procedure by which a defendant in these circumstances may attack a prior conviction when the State seeks to use it to enhance punishment under the recidivist provision of T.C.A. § 55-10-403. This case is thus clearly appropriate for our review.

Although Defendant may not have properly preserved his right to appeal under Rule 37(b)(2), T.R.Cr.P., this Court has the authority to waive the requirements of the rules under Rule 2, T.R.A.P. See G.F. Plunk Construction Co., Inc. v. Barrett Properties, Inc., 640 S.W.2d 215, 216 (Tenn.1982). Considering the number of cases in a similar posture, we have decided to suspend the requirements of the rules on our own motion. Timeliness of the appeal is not at issue. Rule 2, T.R.A.P. Regardless, while we are waiving the requirements of the rules to take jurisdiction in this case, we do not decide the merits of Defendant's claim that he failed to waive validly his right to counsel at his first conviction and decide this case solely to clarify the procedure by which a person may attack a prior, facially valid conviction that is or may be used to enhance punishment under T.C.A. § 55-10-403.

The record of Defendant's first conviction in General Sessions Court consists of the arrest warrant. On the warrant, several written waivers appear, all signed by Defendant, including a waiver of his right to counsel. No irregularities appear on the face of the warrant. The document records the judgment of conviction and is properly executed with all necessary signatures. The General Sessions Court had jurisdiction over the subject matter and over the person of Defendant. T.C.A. § 40-1-109(a) provides in part:

"In addition to the jurisdiction in criminal cases as conferred in §§ 16-15-401, 16-15-501, the court of general sessions is hereby vested with jurisdiction to try and determine and render final judgment in all misdemeanor cases brought before said court by warrant or information wherein the person charged with such misdemeanor enters a plea of guilty in writing or requests a trial upon the merits and expressly waives an indictment, presentment, grand jury investigation and jury trial, such waiver to be in writing as provided in Rule 5 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure." (Emphasis added)

The judgment of conviction upon Defendant's plea of guilty was duly entered and maintained in General Sessions Court pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 16-15-402, 16-15-405, Rules 32(e) and 55, T.R.Cr.P. Defendant did not seek any appeal from his first conviction and the judgment thus became final; he paid his fine and otherwise fully satisfied the judgment. Nothing on the face of the record of the first conviction invalidates this unreversed final judgment of the General Sessions Court of Davidson County.

II.

A.

From the outset we recognize that General Sessions Courts are not ordinarily considered courts of record. See, e.g., State v. Willoughby, 594 S.W.2d 388, 391 (Tenn.1980); see also 9 Tennessee Practice, Criminal Practice and Procedure, § 7.1, at 199. The Legislature has vested jurisdiction in misdemeanor cases in General Sessions Courts. T.C.A. § 40-1-109. These courts have the authority to enter and effectuate judgments in such cases. T.C.A. § 40-1-110. Although the record of Defendant's first conviction consists only of the warrant upon which the judgment was entered, like any judgment, a presumption of regularity in the proceedings attaches upon becoming final. T.C.A. § 19-1-117, codified in Title 19, "Civil Procedure in General Sessions Court," explicitly provides:

"Every intendment is in favor of the sufficiency and validity of proceedings before general sessions courts, when brought in question, either directly or collaterally, in any of the courts, where it appears on the face of the proceedings that the general sessions court had jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties."

This rule is not different for a criminal case in General Sessions Court. "There must be a finality to all litigation, criminal as well as civil.... Defendants to criminal prosecutions, like parties to civil suits, should be bound by the judgments therein entered." Arthur v. State, 483 S.W.2d 95, 97 (Tenn.1972). The law is clear regarding the finality of an unappealed judgment. An unreversed judgment of General Sessions Court is as final as a judgment rendered in a court of record. "If the losing party chooses to accept [the] determination without appeal, it is as final and binding as if affirmed by the highest appellate court." Brown v. State, 489 S.W.2d 268, 270 (Tenn.Cr.App.1972), cert. denied (Tenn.1973). To hold otherwise would obviously undermine the legislative intent of the statutes creating the General Sessions Courts and vesting them with concurrent jurisdiction in certain classes of cases, including DUI offenses. The determinative question for this appeal is, thus, where and how the presumption of regularity that attaches to facially sufficient, final judgments can be rebutted by a collateral attack.

Defendant contends that he is not making a collateral attack on this judgment but rather is raising as a defense a limitation on the use of a prior judgment. He argues that because General Sessions is not a court of record, the record is inadequate to support the conclusion that Defendant made a valid waiver of his right to counsel. Defendant urges this Court to distinguish between a collateral attack and an attempt to limit the use of a prior conviction to enhance the sentence upon a subsequent conviction.

This argument cannot be accepted for several reasons. Primarily, to recognize this distinction would erode the efficacy of T.C.A. § 55-10-403 in many cases. Many first offenses for DUI are disposed of in General Sessions Courts. If the judgments of these courts are not afforded the...