Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-12253 No. 6594
03-07-2018
CHRISTOPHER SCOTT DILLARD, Appellant, v. STATE OF ALASKA, Appellee.
Appearances: Lars Johnson, Assistant Public Defender, and Quinlan Steiner, Public Defender, Anchorage, for the Appellant. G. Michael Ebell, Assistant District Attorney, Anchorage, and Jahna Lindemuth, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
NOTICE Memorandum decisions of this Court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited as binding authority for any proposition of law. Trial Court No. 3AN-14-1647 CR
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appeal from the District Court, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Stephanie Rhoades, Judge. Appearances: Lars Johnson, Assistant Public Defender, and Quinlan Steiner, Public Defender, Anchorage, for the Appellant. G. Michael Ebell, Assistant District Attorney, Anchorage, and Jahna Lindemuth, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee. Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, Allard, Judge, and Suddock, Superior Court Judge. Judge MANNHEIMER.
Sitting by assignment made pursuant to Article IV, Section 16 of the Alaska Constitution and Administrative Rule 24(d).
Christopher Scott Dillard appeals his conviction for driving with a suspended or revoked license. He contends that the evidence against him was obtained as a result of an invalid traffic stop.
Former AS 28.15.291(a) (pre-2016 version).
Dillard was stopped for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in downtown Anchorage. According to the police officer's testimony, he observed Dillard start to drive the wrong way on Fourth Avenue, and then he observed Dillard turn his vehicle around and come back down the street in the correct direction. At that point, the officer stopped Dillard and determined that his driver's license was revoked.
See 13 AAC 02.080(b) and Anchorage Municipal Code 09.16.080(B).
In the district court, Dillard disputed the officer's account. Dillard asserted that he never actually drove the wrong way on Fourth Avenue. Instead, Dillard claimed that he entered Fourth Avenue by making a wide turn to avoid a snow berm, and that he emerged from this turn going the correct direction.
The district court ultimately concluded that Dillard had, in fact, turned the wrong way onto Fourth Avenue, and that he drove a couple of car lengths in the wrong direction before he turned his vehicle and proceeded in the correct direction. We have independently examined the record, and the district court's finding is not clearly erroneous. We therefore uphold that finding — and, based on that finding, we uphold the district court's ruling that the traffic stop was valid.
Dillard also challenges his sentence as excessive.
At the time of Dillard's offense, the maximum penalty for driving with a revoked license was 1 year's imprisonment. The district court sentenced Dillard to serve 270 days in jail.
Former AS 28.15.291(a) (pre-2016 version) (declaring the offense to be a class A misdemeanor);former AS 12.55.135(a) (pre-2016 version) (setting the maximum penalty for a class A misdemeanor at 1 year's imprisonment).
Although a sentence of 270 days to serve is atypically severe for this crime, Dillard was an atypical offender. He had six prior convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license, plus multiple convictions for felony driving under the influence, as well as assorted other convictions. The sentencing judge could reasonably conclude that a sentence of 270 days was required to deter Dillard, or to isolate him to protect the public, or both. We therefore conclude that Dillard's sentence is not clearly mistaken.
See McClain v. State, 519 P.2d 811, 813-14 (Alaska 1974) (an appellate court is to affirm a sentencing decision unless the decision is clearly mistaken).
The judgement of the district court is AFFIRMED.