Summary
The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed amended criminal judgments and the finding that Jeremy Michael Maines was a habitual offender. The court held that out-of-state convictions qualify as felonies for habitual-offender sentencing when they are punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least five years, regardless of the actual sentence imposed. The court concluded that Maines’s Washington convictions satisfied this standard.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-02(9) converted Maines's Washington felony convictions into misdemeanors for purposes of habitual-offender sentencing.
- Whether the district court abused its discretion by imposing an enhanced sentence under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-09.
Holdings
- N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-02(9) does not control the classification of Maines's Washington convictions for habitual-offender sentencing because N.D.C.C. § 12.1-32-09 specifically defines an out-of-state felony for that purpose by reference to the maximum term of imprisonment.
- The district court did not abuse its discretion in finding Maines to be a habitual offender and imposing an enhanced sentence.
Key quotations
“The specific controls the general and “punishable” does not have the same meaning as “punished.”” (¶ 11)
“Whether North Dakota chooses to label an offense as a misdemeanor or a felony after completion of a particular sentence is of secondary importance; what matters is the potential penalty which the offense carries under state law.” (¶ 12)
Factual background
Maines was convicted in Washington of second-degree theft in 1994 and second-degree burglary in 1996. The Washington theft offense carried a maximum possible penalty of five years, and the burglary offense carried a maximum possible penalty of ten years, although Maines received sentences of 60 days and nine months, respectively, along with probation. After pleading guilty to robbery and four counts of terrorizing in North Dakota, Maines was found to be a habitual offender based on those prior convictions.
Procedural history
Maines pleaded guilty to robbery and four counts of terrorizing. The district court found him to be a habitual offender based on two prior Washington felony convictions, imposed an enhanced sentence of 20 years with 8 years suspended for robbery, and imposed concurrent five-year sentences for the terrorizing convictions. Maines appealed, arguing his Washington convictions were misdemeanors under North Dakota law and could not support habitual-offender sentencing.