Police charged Diane Morrill with an OUI fourth offense after she allegedly swerved off the road and nearly hit a telephone pole. According to court documents, Diane exhibited the classic indicia of intoxication (e.g., slurred speech, blood-shot eyes, and the odor of alcohol on her breath.) There was an open bottle of Samuel Adams in the driver-side door and a case of Budweiser in the back seat.
Diane took the case to trial which was bifurcated. The question of whether she drove while intoxicated was tried before a jury. The issue of whether this was in fact her fourth OUI was heard by a judge at a bench trial.
Diane lost the jury trial and the bench-trial judge concluded that this was indeed her fourth offense. She was sentenced accordingly. (A fourth-offense OUI is punished by a two-year minimum jail sentence and a 10 year loss of license.)
Diane appealed both decisions. Although she failed to overturn the jury’s verdict, the Appeals Court did vacate the bench trial decision. This was due to the fact that Diane never signed a jury waiver.
According to applicable case law, the Supreme Judicial Court has
established a bright-line rule . . . that to effectively waive [their] right to a jury trial, a defendant must sign a written waiver form pursuant to G. L. c. 263, § 6, and the trial judge must conduct a colloquy to assure himself that the defendant’s waiver was voluntary, knowing, and intelligent.
Dussault, 71 Mass. App. Ct. at 547.
In this case, Diane never signed the waiver. Additionally, the judge never gave the colloquy required by law. In fact, even the Commonwealth conceded that the judge’s failure to adhere to these requirements entitles the defendant to a new bench trial on the “fourth offense” issue.
The bench trial decision and the sentence based on it were both vacated and the case was sent back to district court for further proceedings.
To read the full opinion, click the document below.