Imprisonment Bars Mandatory Minimum $2,000 Oregon DUII Fine

On August 6, 2014, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a mandatory minimum $2,000 fine for an Oregon woman’s fourth driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) conviction.

Regina Marie Frier was convicted of her fourth Class A misdemeanor DUII offense and sentenced to a 60 month term of probation. The Court ordered Frier to serve five months in jail, pursuant to ORS 137.540(2), which authorizes “as a special condition of probation, that defendant ‘be confined to the county jail’ for up to one year or one-half the maximum period of confinement that could be imposed for DUII, whichever was less.”

Pursuant to ORS 161.635(l)(a), the trial court is authorized to impose a fine of up to $6,250 for a Class A misdemeanor. For DUII convictions, however, ORS 813.010(6) requires a minimum fine of: $1,000 for the first conviction; $1,500 for the second conviction; and $2,000 for the third or subsequent conviction, “if the person is not sentenced to a term of imprisonment.” As a result of her five month jail term, Frier argued that $1,500 was the maximum mandatory fine available under ORS 813.010(6). The trial court “noted,” but did not expressly rule on, Frier’s argument. It informed her that it could impose a fine of “up to $6,250” but imposed “a fine of $2,000” finding “that the statutory minimum fine” was “appropriate.”

The Court of Appeals first agreed that the $2,000 mandatory fine did not apply to Frier because the court sentenced her to five months in jail. “If the court imposed that fine because it believed it was required to do so, it erred,” the Court concluded.

The Court then rejected the State’s reading of the transcript as establishing that the trial court recognized that it could impose a fine of up to $6250 but simply chose to impose a $2,000 under ORS 161.635(1).

“The court’s comments seem more consistent with a rejection of defendant’s argument that the $2,000 fine was not mandatory,” the Court observed. Nevertheless, it was not necessary to “definitely resolve which meaning the court intended its words to carry.”

The Court vacated the $2,000 fine and remanded to allow the sentencing court to reconsider what fine to impose. “On remand, the trial court can either impose the $1,500 mandatory minimum fine that defendant concedes would apply in this case under ORS 813.010(6) (b),” the Court explained. Or it may “exercise its discretion under ORS 161.635(l)(a) to impose a greater fine not to exceed $6,250.”

See: State v. Frier, 264 Or. App. 541 (2014).

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