Stanley v. Department of Public Safety

Summary

The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the reversal of the Department of Public Safety’s one-year disqualification of Russell C. Stanley’s commercial driver’s license. The Court held that Stanley’s felony ingestion-of-a-controlled-substance offense did not involve using a motor vehicle to commit the felony within the meaning of SDCL 32-12A-36(4). The Court also concluded that although his guilty plea with a suspended imposition of sentence constituted a conviction under the applicable CDL statutes, it was not a disqualifying conviction on these facts.

Holdings

1. Mandatory CDL disqualification under SDCL 32-12A-36(4) requires proof that the vehicle was used as a means to commit the felony. Although the statute may apply to felonies that do not have vehicle use as an element, the record did not show that Stanley used his motorcycle to commit the offense of ingesting a controlled substance; therefore, the offense did not trigger mandatory disqualification.
2. For purposes of the CDL-disqualification statutes, a guilty plea accepted by the court constitutes a conviction notwithstanding a suspended imposition of sentence; however, Stanley's plea was not a disqualifying conviction under SDCL 32-12A-36(4) because the record did not establish use of a vehicle in committing the felony.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Stanley used a motor vehicle in committing felony ingestion of a controlled substance so as to trigger mandatory CDL disqualification under SDCL 32-12A-36(4).
2. Whether SDCL 32-12A-64, the anti-masking statute, applied to Stanley's suspended imposition of sentence for violating SDCL 22-42-5.1.

Disposition

affirmed