Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (a) (driving under the influence) and Vehicle Code section 23152, subdivision (b) (driving with blood-alcohol concentration over .08 percent) are separate offenses; therefore, defendant could properly be convicted of both. Penal Code section 954 prohibits multiple convictions for a different statement of the same offense when it is based on the same act or course of conduct. Whether two statutes or statutory provisions describe the same offense turns on the Legislature’s intent in enacting the provisions. If the Legislature meant to define only one offense, the courts may not turn it into two. The statutory text and statutory framework as a whole demonstrate the Legislature’s intent to create two separate offenses with subdivisions (a) and (b) of section 23152.The legislative history also demonstrates the legislative intent to create a new crime with the enactment of subdivision (b), in addition to and independent of the crime of driving under the influence set forth in section 23152(a).
Case Summaries
