People v. Snook

In People v. Snook (1997) 16 Cal. 4th 1210, the defendant was arrested and charged with misdemeanor drunk driving in April 1992. He made a court appearance the next month, but no further proceedings were held for 22 months. In the meantime, defendant was arrested and convicted for driving under the influence in June 1992, September 1993 and October 1993. At that point, the original misdemeanor complaint on the April 1992 violation was amended to charge a felony violation under former section 23175. The defendant was convicted in a court trial. The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court, concluding that former section 23175 permitted a felony prosecution only for subsequently committed offenses. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the trial court judgment in its entirety. The court explained that "the Legislature intended to subject repeat DUI offenders to enhanced penalties regardless of the order in which the offenses were committed and the convictions obtained, and the imposition of such a penalty does not violate any constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws." ( Snook, supra, 16 Cal. 4th at p. 1213.) The court then extensively discussed the 1984 legislative changes in the statutory scheme for recidivist drunk drivers. By substituting the words "separate violations" for the words "prior offenses" in former section 23175, the court explained, the Legislature sought to ensure that a person be subject to enhanced mandatory minimum penalties for multiple offenses within a period of seven years, regardless of whether the convictions were obtained in the same sequence as the offenses had been committed. These amendments sought to close the loophole that allowed some repeat offenders to avoid enhanced punishment by "pleading guilty to the second, third and fourth offenses before going to trial on the first offense." ( Snook, supra, 16 Cal. 4th at p. 1220)