In the last post, this blog began discussing a recent ruling in the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which found that a prosecution for DWI following a one-year commercial driver’s license revocation under North Carolina law is barred by the Double Jeopardy clause of the Constitution.
In late August 2011, the man sought to have the criminal DWI charges dismissed. One of his criminal DWI defense arguments was that the CDL revocation was sufficiently punitive to be a criminal punishment, and therefore barred prosecution of the DWI charges under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution (the man raised a separate argument, which was not decided in the appellate court ruling).
The Duplin County District Court agreed and dismissed the DWI charges. Prosecutors appealed to Superior Court. There, the DWI charges were reinstated. The man took the issues to the Court of Appeals.
In January, a three judge appellate panel reversed the Superior Court ruling, finding that the one-year license revocation was sufficiently criminal in nature to bar the state from pursuing the DWI charges in criminal court. The appellate panel recognized that shorter license revocations have generally been deemed civil in nature, and therefore do not act to bar a criminal prosecution under the Constitution. However, the length of the revocation-one year-is lengthy enough to constitute a criminal punishment.
Prosecutors reportedly are planning to seek a stay of the appellate ruling. The ruling was a split decision, with two judges ruling in favor of the criminal defense argument and one judge dissenting. The ruling is expected to be considered in the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Sources:
- Jacksonville Daily News, “Court: Prosecuting truck drivers who lose CDL for DWI is double jeopardy,” Lindell Kay, Feb. 24, 2013
- North Carolina Court of Appeals, “State v. McKenzie, No. COA12-436, Jan. 15, 2013
