REPORT TITLE:
DUI; Endanger Minors; Penalty


DESCRIPTION:
Imposes a mandatory minimum consecutive jail sentence of 48 hours
and not more than 30-days and a mandatory fine of $500 upon any
person convicted for DUI who operated or assumed actual physical
control of a vehicle with a passenger, in or on the vehicle, who
was less than 18 years of age.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           660
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that serious motor vehicle
 
 2 collisions involving minor passengers are on the increase.  Many
 
 3 of these collisions have involved a driver who consumed
 
 4 intoxicating liquor and then operated a motor vehicle.  In
 
 5 several recent incidents, minor passengers of vehicles driven by
 
 6 such drivers have been killed or severely injured.  Therefore,
 
 7 the legislature finds that stronger penalties are needed to deter
 
 8 persons who would endanger their minor passengers by "drinking
 
 9 and driving."  In imposing stiffer penalties, however, it is not
 
10 the intent of the legislature to grant to such defendants any
 
11 right to a jury trial.
 
12      Indeed, the legislature has previously taken steps to
 
13 indicate its intent that defendants charged with driving under
 
14 the influence of intoxicating liquor not be entitled to a jury
 
15 trial.  In Act 128, Session Laws of Hawaii 1993, the legislature
 
16 clearly stated that the first offense of driving under the
 
17 influence of intoxicating liquor is a "petty offense" in the
 
18 constitutional sense and reduced the maximum possible penalty to
 
19 ensure that defendants charged with a first offense not be
 

 
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 1 entitled to a jury trial.  Aware of a critical need to take
 
 2 additional steps to relieve the then existing first circuit court
 
 3 congestion of cases awaiting jury trial, the legislature again
 
 4 took action in Act 226, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, to reduce
 
 5 the maximum terms of imprisonment for second and third offenses
 
 6 of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor.  The
 
 7 maximum term of imprisonment for a second offense was reduced
 
 8 from sixty days to fourteen days and for a third offense from one
 
 9 hundred eighty days to thirty days to ensure that defendants
 
10 charged with these offenses are not entitled to jury trials.
 
11      Furthermore, the legislature notes that in State v. Lindsey,
 
12 77 Haw. 162 (1994), the Hawaii supreme court ruled that "if the
 
13 maximum term of imprisonment for a particular offense does not
 
14 exceed thirty days, it is presumptively a petty offense to which
 
15 the right to a jury trial does not attach."  The court further
 
16 stated that the "presumption can be overcome only in
 
17 extraordinary cases when consideration of other ... factors ...
 
18 unequivocally demonstrates that society demands that persons
 
19 charged with the offense at issue be afforded the right to a jury
 
20 trial."  Consequently, the legislature finds and intends that a
 
21 term of imprisonment not to exceed thirty days will not entitle a
 
22 defendant under this Act to a jury trial.
 
23      Accordingly, it is the purpose of this Act to impose an
 

 
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 1 additional, stiffer penalty, not to exceed a thirty-day term of
 
 2 imprisonment, on any person convicted of driving under the
 
 3 influence of intoxicating liquor as a result of having been
 
 4 driving under the influence while having in the vehicle a minor
 
 5 passenger.
 
 6      SECTION 2.  Section 291-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 7 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
 8      "(b)  A person committing the offense of driving under the
 
 9 influence of intoxicating liquor shall be sentenced as follows
 
10 without possibility of probation or suspension of sentence:
 
11      (1)  For the first offense, or any offense not preceded
 
12           within a five-year period by a conviction under this
 
13           section, by:
 
14           (A)  A fourteen-hour minimum alcohol abuse
 
15                rehabilitation program including education and
 
16                counseling, or other comparable program deemed
 
17                appropriate by the court; and
 
18           (B)  Ninety-day prompt suspension of license with
 
19                absolute prohibition from operating a motor
 
20                vehicle during suspension of license, or the court
 
21                may impose, in lieu of the ninety-day prompt
 
22                suspension of license, a minimum thirty-day prompt
 
23                suspension of license with absolute prohibition
 

 
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 1                from operating a motor vehicle and, for the
 
 2                remainder of the ninety-day period, a restriction
 
 3                on the license that allows the person to drive for
 
 4                limited work-related purposes and to participate
 
 5                in alcoholism treatment programs; and
 
 6           (C)  Any one or more of the following:
 
 7                (i)  Seventy-two hours of community service work;
 
 8               (ii)  Not less than forty-eight hours and not more
 
 9                     than five days of imprisonment; or
 
10              (iii)  A fine of not less than $150 but not more
 
11                     than $1,000.
 
12      (2)  For an offense [which] that occurs within five years of
 
13           a prior conviction under this section, by:
 
14           (A)  Prompt suspension of license for a period of one
 
15                year with the absolute prohibition from operating
 
16                a motor vehicle during suspension of license;
 
17           (B)  Either one of the following:
 
18                (i)  Not less than one hundred hours of community
 
19                     service work; or
 
20               (ii)  Not less than forty-eight consecutive hours
 
21                     but not more than fourteen days of
 
22                     imprisonment of which at least forty-eight
 
23                     hours shall be served consecutively;
 

 
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 1                and
 
 2           (C)  A fine of not less than $500 but not more than
 
 3                $1,500.
 
 4      (3)  For an offense [which] that occurs within five years of
 
 5           two prior convictions under this section, by:
 
 6           (A)  A fine of not less than $500 but not more than
 
 7                $2,500;
 
 8           (B)  Revocation of license for a period not less than
 
 9                one year but not more than five years; and
 
10           (C)  Not less than ten days but not more than thirty
 
11                days imprisonment of which at least forty-eight
 
12                hours shall be served consecutively.
 
13      (4)  In addition to any other term of imprisonment or fine
 
14           imposed under this subsection, any person convicted
 
15           under this section who operated or assumed actual
 
16           physical control of a vehicle with a passenger, in or
 
17           on the vehicle, who was less than eighteen years of age
 
18           shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum consecutive
 
19           jail sentence of forty-eight hours and not more than
 
20           thirty days, and a mandatory fine of $500.  No sentence
 
21           imposed under this paragraph shall be suspended or
 
22           deferred.
 
23      [(4)] Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any
 

 
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 1 conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicating
 
 2 liquor[,] shall be considered a prior conviction.
 
 3      [(5)] No license suspension or revocation shall be imposed
 
 4 pursuant to this subsection if the person's license has
 
 5 previously been administratively revoked pursuant to part XIV of
 
 6 chapter 286 for the same offense; provided that, if the
 
 7 administrative revocation is subsequently reversed, the person's
 
 8 license shall be suspended or revoked as provided in this
 
 9 subsection."
 
10      SECTION 3.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that
 
11 matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were
 
12 begun, before its effective date.
 
13      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
14 New statutory material is underscored.
 
15      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
16 
 
17                           INTRODUCED BY: ________________________