Opinion
Case No: 1303021806
07-19-2013
RE: State of Delaware v. Sais n. Raghunandan
D. Benjamin Snyder, Esq. Deputy Attorney General Department of Justice 102 W. Water Street Dover, DE 19904 Jeffrey J. Clark, Esq. Schmittinger & Rodriguez, P.A. 414 South State Street P O Box 497 Dover, DE 19903
D. Benjamin Snyder, Esq.
Deputy Attorney General
Department of Justice
102 W. Water Street
Dover, DE 19904 Jeffrey J. Clark, Esq.
Schmittinger & Rodriguez, P.A.
414 South State Street
P O Box 497
Dover, DE 19903 Cr.A.No.: K13-03-2689 (Inattentive Driving) Suspension of Driving Privileges as Condition of Sentence Dear Mr. Snyder and Mr. Clark:
The defendant, Sais N. Raghunandan, entered a plea of nolo contendere to first offense inattentive driving in violation of 21 Del C. § 4176 for the above-referenced matter on the date of trial. During sentencing, the State requested that the Court suspend the defendant's driver's license. The defense argued that the Court did not have authority to order any such suspension of the defendant's license under Delaware law. This letter serves to advise you that the Court has carefully reviewed this matter and it has determined that it does not have authority to suspend the defendant's driving privileges for his inattentive driving conviction. Therefore, the State's request that such a suspension be ordered as a condition of the defendant's sentence for this matter is denied.
Pursuant to 21 Del C. § 713, inattentive driving is classified as a violation. Therefore, the Court "may impose a sentence in accordance with the sentence specified in the law defining the offense or a law in [Title 21] specifying a sentence for the offense . . . " 21 Del C. § 713. For a first offense inattentive driving, § 4176 of Title 21 provides a sentence constituting a fine of $25.00 to $75.00. 21 Del C. § 4176(c). Additionally, pursuant to paragraph (d) of § 4176 of Title 21, if the Court determines that the inattentive driving contributed to the serious physical injury of a vulnerable user (which includes a pedestrian) lawfully in the public right-of-way, the Court can impose additional conditions of the defendant's sentence, including the completion of a traffic safety course approved by the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles and the performance of community service. It may also impose a suspension of the defendant's driving privileges as provided in § 2733(a)(2) of Title 21, but it must suspend that provision of the sentence on the condition that the defendant complete the course and community service ordered. 21 Del C. § 4176(d)(1)b. Given these specific sentence provisions provided in the Delaware Code for inattentive driving and since inattentive driving is a "violation," the Court does not have authority to order the suspension of the defendant's driving privileges outside of the conditions outlined in 21 Del C. § 4176(d)(1)b.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Sincerely,
/s/
Charles W. Welch, III CWW:mek