State v. Gary L. SchallState v. Gary L. Schall
Case Information
*1 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO
Docket 41645
STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Boise, August 2014 Term
Plaintiff-Respondent, ) ) 2014 Opinion No. 115 v. ) ) Filed: October 29, 2014 GARY L. SCHALL, ) ) Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk Defendant-Appellant. ) _______________________________________ )
Appeal from the District Court of the Sixth Judicial District of the State of Idaho, Bannock County. Hon. Stephen Dunn, District Judge.
The decision of the district court is affirmed.
Sara B. Thomas, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Shawn F. Wilkerson argued.
Honorable Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Daphne J. Huang argued.
_____________________
J. JONES, Justice
Gary Schall was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Schall had two prior convictions for driving under the influence within the previous ten years, one of which stemmed from a 2004 arrest in Wyoming. As a result of his prior convictions, the State enhanced his DUI charge to a felony pursuant to Idaho Code section 18-8005(6). At Schall’s preliminary hearing, the magistrate found that there was probable cause to bind the case over to district court. Schall filed a motion to dismiss in the district court, arguing that the State had the burden at the preliminary hearing to provide probable cause to believe his Wyoming DUI conviction was for a “substantially conforming foreign criminal violation,” that the State failed to meet that burden, and that the Wyoming conviction was not in fact a substantially conforming violation. The district court denied Schall’s motion, finding that the State met its burden at the preliminary hearing and that the Wyoming statute substantially conformed to Idaho’s DUI statute. Schall appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss and the Court of Appeals reversed. *2 The State then petitioned this Court for review, which we granted.
I.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On August 8, 2011, Gary Schall was arrested for driving under the influence in violation
of Idaho Code section 18-8004(1)(a). The State’s complaint included an enhancement which
elevated the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony under Idaho Code section 18-8005(6). That
provision states that a person who is guilty of violating Idaho Code section 18-8004(1) and “who
previously has been found guilty of . . . two (2) or more violations of [
The State offered self-authenticating, certified records of Schall’s two prior DUI convictions at the preliminary hearing, with no objection from Schall. At the close of the preliminary hearing, Schall moved to dismiss, arguing that the State did not provide probable cause to believe he committed the felony оffense because there was inadequate reason to believe the Wyoming statute under which he received his DUI conviction substantially conformed to Idaho’s DUI statute. Schall argued that it was the State’s burden at the preliminary hearing to place the Wyoming statute into evidence and demonstrate that the statute substantially conformed to Idaho’s. The magistrate disagreed, holding that once records of conviction were admitted, “it becomes the burden of the defendant to show that the statute is non-complying and that . . . should be done at the district court level.” Ultimately, the magistrate bound the case over to district court, finding that the State made a prima facie case.
In the district court, Schall filed a motion to dismiss, making the same argument he did below—that the State failed to show probable cause because it did not demonstrate that the Wyoming statute substantially conformed to the Idaho statute. In the alternative, Schall argued that the Wyoming statute did not substantially conform to the Idaho statute. The district court denied Schall’s motion to dismiss. It found that the State was not required to show probable cause at the preliminary hearing that the Wyoming DUI statute substantially conformed to Idaho’s. It also found, however, that the Wyoming statute does in fact substantially conform to Idaho’s. Thereafter, Schall entered a conditional guilty plea to felony DUI, reserving the right to *3 appeal “the decision on defendant’s motion to dismiss/challenge bind over.” The district court imposed a unified sentence of five years, with two years fixed, but suspended the sentence and placed Schall on probation. Schall timely appealed.
The Court of Appeals reversed the district court and remanded for further proceedings. It held that the State had the burden at the preliminary hearing to provide probable cause to believe that the Wyoming DUI statute substantially conformed to Idaho’s statute and that the State failed to carry that burden. This Court granted the State’s petition for review. The only issue on appeal is whether thе district court erred in denying Schall’s motion to dismiss because the State failed to show probable cause that Wyoming’s DUI statute substantially conforms to Idaho’s DUI statute.
II.
ANALYSIS
A. Standard of review.
“In cases that come before this Court on a petition for review of a Court of Appeals
decision, this Court gives serious consideration to the views of the Court of Appeals, but directly
reviews the decision of the lower court.”
State v. Oliver
,
B. The district court did not err in denying Schall’s motion to dismiss.
When charged with a felony, a defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing before a
magistrate. I.C.R. 5.1(a). “The function of a preliminary hearing in Idaho is to determine if an
offense has been сommitted, and further if there is probable cause to believe that the crime was
committed by the accused.”
State v. Elisondo
,
Schаll claims that the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss because the
State failed to provide probable cause with respect to one element of the offense of which he was
charged. In particular, Schall claims that the State did not provide probable cause to believe he
was previously convicted at least twice under Idaho’s DUI statute or a substantially conforming
foreign statute. Idaho Code
Except as provided in section 18-8004C, Idaho Code, any person who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of the provisions of section 18- 8004(1)(a), (b) or (c), Idaho Code, who previously has been found guilty of or has pled guilty to two (2) or more violations of the provisions of section 18- 8004(1)(a), (b) or (c), Idaho Code, or any substantially conforming foreign criminal violation, or any combination thereof, within ten (10) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment(s) or withheld judgment(s), shall be guilty of a felony . . . .
Schall claims that Idaho Code
That reading of the provision is not correct, however. Idaho Code
The question whether prior convictions discussed in Idaho Code
There are a number of reasons to think that Idaho Code
Furthermore, it is not clear how to read Idaho Code
The attempt to read an offense into Idaho Code
Finally, reading Idaho Code
The statute purports to punish the second offense as a felony. When the evidence shows a present violation, say for unlawful possession of intoxicating liquor, and also a previous conviction for a violation of the prohibitory law, the penalty is increased as for a felony to imprisonment in the state penitentiary; that is, the penalty for possession is assessed as for a felony. at 517−18, 290 P. at 389. The Court endorsed the view that the statute functioned as an
enhancement—increasing the punishment of the underlying offense—without defining a new offense.
Similarly, like Idaho Code
Any person convicted for the third time of the commission of a felony, whether the previous convictions were had within the state of Idaho or were had outside the state of Idaho, shall be considered a persistent violator of law, and on such third conviction shall be sentenced to a term in the custody of the state board of correction which term shall be for not less than five (5) years and said term may extend to life.
“Statutes are construed under the assumption that the legislature was aware of all other
statutes and legal precedencе at the time the statute was passed.”
Druffel v. State, Dept of
Transp.
, 136 Idaho 853, 856, 41 P.3d 739, 742 (2002). Because this Court has consistently
*8
construed statutory language like that in Idaho Code
Schall makes a number of arguments to support the contrary view—that Idaho Code
Schall cites
U.S. v. Rodriguez-Gonzales
, 358 F.3d 1156 (9th Cir. 2004) as providing
support for such a rule. In
Rodriguez-Gonzales
, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals considered
whether a prior conviction for illegal entry must be explicitly charged in the indictment to
elevate a subsequent misdemeanor conviction to a felony under
The question here is what the Idaho Legislature intended to accomplish in enacting Idaho
Code
Schall also cites to this Court’s decision in
State v. Howard
,
A preliminary hearing is intended “to determine whether or not a public offense has been
committed and whether or not there is probable or sufficient cause to believe that the defendant
committed
such public offense
.”
Though the State is not required to provide probable cause at the preliminary hearing to
believe that the predicates for an enhancement are satisfied in order to bind the defendant over to
the district court, the State nevertheless bears burdens with respect to those predicates. Most
importantly, the State bears the burden at trial to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the
predicates for the enhancement are satisfied.
See Salazar
, 95 Idaho at 307, 507 P.2d at 1139
(holding that the State has the burden of proving prior convictions beyond a reasonable doubt for
purposes of persistent violator enhancement). In addition, “[i]n all cases wherein an extended
term of imprisonment is sought as the result of a prior conviction or convictions, the indictment
or information shall set forth the facts on which the extended term of imprisonment is sought.”
I.C.R. 7(c).
See also In re Bates
, 63 Idaho 748, 752−53,
Finally, this result does not leave a defendant without recourse to challenge the felony
enhancement once in district court. A defendant can do so in either of two ways. First, a
defendant can move
in limine
to strike the felony enhancement.
See
,
e.g.
,
State v. Schmoll
, 144
Idaho 800, 801,
III.
CONCLUSION The district court correctly denied Schall’s motion to dismiss and we therefore affirm. Chief Justice BURDICK, and Justices EISMANN and HORTON and Justice Pro Tem KIDWELL CONCUR.
Notes
[1] Howard was charged in 2008 with a felony pursuant to Idaho Code