236 Conn. 18 | Conn. | 1996
The sole issue in this certified appeal is whether General Statutes § 14-227a (h) (3),
As the Appellate Court observed, “[t]he facts underlying this appeal are not in dispute. On July 20, 1993, the defendant was arrested and charged with reckless driving and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor or drugs. On March 1, 1994, the state filed an amended second part of the information, charging the defendant as a third time offender subject to the enhanced penalties of § 14-227a (h) (3).
“On March 14,1994, a jury found the defendant guilty of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor or drugs. The defendant moved to dismiss the amended second part of the information against him on March 23,1994. In support of this motion, the defendant alleged that his prior convictions occurred on October 13 and 28, 1988, and that both convictions, therefore, had occurred more than five years before his present conviction.” Id., 10-11.
The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss because it construed § 14-227a (h) (3) to impose enhanced penalties whenever a third violation, rather than a third conviction, occurs within the five year period. Finding no ambiguity in the statutory language,
The state claims that the language of § 14-227a (h) (3) unambiguously indicates that a third violation must occur within five years of a prior conviction. In the alternative, the state claims that, if we were to conclude that the statutory language is ambiguous, then the legislative history of § 14-227a (h) (3) supports its interpretation and an alternate construction of the statute would lead to bizarre results that the legislature could not have intended.
The defendant claims, to the contrary, that the language of § 14-227a (h) (3) unambiguously indicates that a third conviction must occur within the five year period. In the alternative, the defendant claims that if we were to conclude that § 14-227a (h) (3) is ambiguous, then the rule of lenity would require us to interpret the statute in his favor. We agree with the state.
Our interpretation of § 14-227a (h) (3) “is guided by well established principles of statutory construction. Statutory construction is a question of law and therefore our review is plenary. . . . [0]ur fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. ... In seeking to discern that intent, we look to the words of the statute itself, to the legislative history and circumstances surrounding its enactment, to the legislative policy it was designed to implement,
After reviewing the language of § 14-227a (h) (3), we conclude that the statute does not unambiguously dictate whether the five year period that is the predicate for an enhanced penalty runs from a prior conviction to a third violation or from a prior conviction to a third conviction. The relevant statutory language provides such an enhanced penalty “for conviction of a third violation within five years after a prior conviction for the same offense . . . .” The problem arises out of the latent ambiguity in the phrase “for conviction of a third violation.” If emphasis is placed on the word “conviction,” then the defendant’s contention that the period runs from conviction to conviction appears plausible. If emphasis is placed on the word “violation,” however, the state’s contention appears plausible.
Unable to derive guidance from the plain language of § 14-227a (h) (3), we must look to other tools of statutory interpretation to inform our analysis of the proper construction of the statute. These tools include an inquiry into the legislative history of a statute and into the purpose the statute was designed to further. With respect to the statute before us, the legislative history is not illuminating,
. . . Significantly, Public Acts 1985, No. 85-387, which amended § 14-227a in 1985 to incorporate the language at issue in this case, was entitled ‘An Act Increasing Imprisonment Penalties for Drunk Driving to Meet the Federal Standards.’ . . . [T]his provision was part of a statutory package that enhanced mandatory minimum sentences for both first and multiple offenders and increased penalties for each successive offense. In enacting Public Acts 1985, No. 85-387 so as to amend § 14-227a, the legislature clearly intended to provide harsher penalties for offenders with a history of driving while under the influence” of intoxicating liquor or drugs and to harmonize our law with federal standards.
Finally, we reject the defendant’s contention that our interpretation of § 14-227a (h) (3) is untenable because it would violate the rule of lenity. “Although we recognize the fundamental principle that criminal statutes are to be construed strictly, it is equally fundamental that the rule of strict construction does not require an
The judgment of the Appellate Court is reversed, and the case is remanded to that court with direction to affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
General Statutes § 14-227a provides in relevant part: “Operation while under the influence of liquor or drug or while impaired by liquor, (a) Operation while under the influence. No person shall operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both. A person commits the offense of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both if he operates a motor vehicle ... (1) while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both ....
“(h) Penalties for operation while under the influence. Any person who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall ... (3) for conviction of a third violation within five years after a prior conviction for the same offense, be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than four thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than two years, one hundred twenty consecutive days of which may not be suspended or reduced in any manner, and have his motor vehicle operator’s license or nonresident operating privilege suspended for three years . . . .”
The state also charged the defendant with reckless driving in violation of General Statutes § 14-222 (a). The defendant pleaded guilty to that charge and does not contest the validity of that conviction.
General Statutes § 54-94a provides in relevant part: “Conditional nolo contendere plea. Appeal of denial of motion to suppress or dismiss. When a defendant, prior to the commencement of trial, enters a plea of nolo contendere conditional on the right to take an appeal from the court’s denial of the defendant’s . . . motion to dismiss, the defendant after the imposition of sentence may file an appeal within the time prescribed by law. The issue to be considered in such an appeal shall be limited to whether it was proper for the court to have denied . . . the motion to dismiss. A plea of nolo contendere by a defendant under this section shall not constitute a waiver by the defendant of nopjurisdictional defects in the criminal prosecution.”
Practice Book § 4003 provides in relevant part: “Appeals of Rulings on Motions to Dismiss or Suppress Following Judgments Entered Upon Conditional Pleas of Nolo Contendere
“(a) When a defendant, prior to the commencement of trial, enters a plea of nolo contendere conditional on the right to take an appeal from the court’s denial of the defendant’s . . . motion to dismiss, the defendant after the imposition of sentence may file an appeal within the time prescribed by law. The issue to be considered in such appeal shall be limited to whether it was proper for the court to have denied . . . the motion to dismiss. A plea of nolo contendere by a defendant under this section shall not constitute a waiver by the defendant of nopjurisdictional defects in the criminal prosecution. The court shall . . . decline to accept such a nolo contendere plea where the record available for review of the denial of the . . . motion to
We granted the state’s petition for certification to appeal, limited to the following issue: “Under General Statutes § 14-227a (h) (3), is the five year period measured from the date of the prior conviction to the date of the current conviction, or from the date of the prior conviction to the date of the current violation?” State v. Burns, 234 Conn. 918, 661 A.2d 96 (1995).
None of the legislators who commented on § 14-227a (h) (3) specifically addressed whether the enhanced penalties were intended to be triggered by a third violation or by a third conviction within the five year period. The general comments of the legislators regarding Public Acts 1985, No. 85-387, which amended § 14-227a in 1985 to incorporate the language at issue in this appeal, were linguistically inconsistent. The legislators alternately described the amendment as imposing additional penalties when a third offense, third conviction or third violation occurs. Representative Thomas J. Dudchik described the legislation as “increas[ing] the mandatory jail sentence for a second and third offense.” (Emphasis added.) 28 H.R. Proc., Pt. 19, 1985 Sess., p. 7029. Representative Richard D. Tulisano indicated that this statute determined that “a second offender . . . will be one who commits a violation within five years of a prior conviction, so it’s a five year limitation on the second offender status.” (Emphasis added.) 28 H.R. Proc., Pt. 19,1985 Sess., p. 7039. Tulisano later indicated that this legislation would conform Connecticut law with federal law so that “any person core
Although 23 U.S.C. § 408 (e) encourages states to adopt statutes similar to the one adopted by Connecticut and codified as § 14-227a (h) (3), our research revealed no cases from other jurisdictions addressing the issue raised in this appeal.
In State v. Mattioli, supra, 210 Conn. 575, we concluded that the enhanced penalties provided by § 14-227a (h) apply to the third conviction of a defendant even if only one of the two prior convictions occurred within five years of the third conviction or violation. We, however, expressly did not determine whether the five year period runs from conviction to violation or conviction to conviction. Id., 577 n.3.
The defendant argues that the legislature intended the five year period to run from conviction to conviction in order to provide a bright line rule. Although we agree that the legislature intended to provide a bright line rule, that does not inform us whether the legislature preferred the date of the violation or the date of the conviction to serve as that bright line.