DUI Lesser Included Offense

The overwhelming majority of member states interpreting the Compact have held lesser-included offenses, including Colorado's DWAI law, substantially similar to their driving under the influence (DUI) laws. (See, e.g., Mills v. Edgar (1989) 178 Ill.App.3d 1054 [128 Ill.Dec. 167, 534 N.E.2d 187] [Colorado's DWAI law prohibits conduct substantially similar to conduct that constitutes driving while under the influence of alcohol in Illinois; the Illinois law prohibits driving when due to alcohol ingestion the person's mental and/or physical faculties are "so impaired as to reduce his ability to think and act with ordinary care"]; Marciniak v. State (1996) 112 Nev. 242 [911 P.2d 1197] [Nevada Supreme Court held that Michigan's "driving while visibly impaired" statute, a lesser included offense to Michigan's driving under the influence statute, is substantially similar to Nevada's DUI law]; Przybyla v. S. C. Dept. of Highways (1993) 313 S.C. 116 [437 S.E.2d 70] [South Carolina Supreme Court held that although New York's "driving while ability impaired" statute prohibiting driving while impaired to "any extent" is distinct from New York's "driving while intoxicated" statute which requires a greater degree of impairment, New York's DWAI law is substantially similar to South Carolina's DUI statute which makes no differentiation within the offense concerning degrees of impairment; under the spirit of the Compact, a violation of any statute which prohibits driving while under any impairment from alcohol is of a substantially similar nature to South Carolina's DUI statute]; Montanye v. State (1993) 262 Mont. 258 [864 P.2d 1234, 1235-1236] [New York's DWAI law is similar to Montana's DUI law which defines "under the influence" as diminished ability to safely operate a motor vehicle by virtue of ingestion of alcohol; both laws deal with the driver's diminished ability to drive while under the influence of alcohol and carry with them potential punishment of a fine, imprisonment and license revocation or suspension]; Division of Motor Vehicles v. Lawrence (1983) 194 N.J. Super. 1 [475 A.2d 1265] [New York DWAI offense is of a substantially similar nature to New Jersey's driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor offense; New Jersey law prohibits driving after ingesting alcohol to the extent that the person is "depriveed . . . of the clearness of intellect and control . . . which he would otherwise possess"; both statutes deal with alcohol-related offenses and are aimed to deter and punish drunk drivers]; See also Kramer v. Colorado Dept. of Revenue (Colo.Ct.App. 1998) 964 P.2d 629 [for purposes of determining habitual offender status under Colorado law, court construed the intent of the Compact to encompass prior convictions under Idaho DUI law under which the state need not prove that the driver could not drive safely or prudently but only that the driver's ability to drive was impaired by the influence of alcohol].)