San Jose, CA - On August 11, 2009, the Court of Appeal of California, Sixth District, issued an opinion in the DUI case of People v. Douglas Fryman, which was an appeal from Santa Clara County Superior Court. The State was represented by the California Attorney General's Office out of San Francisco, and Mr. Fryman was represented by Santa Clara Attorney James W. Haworth.
Mr. Fryman was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison under California's Three Strikes law after pleading guilty to driving under the influence having a prior statutorily specified driving offense conviction within ten years. On appeal, he contended that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his request to strike the priors.
Fryman was arrested after a San Jose police officer arrested him after stopping him for driving erratically. Mr. Fryman's first strike conviction came in 1982 for assault with a deadly weapon. His second strike came in 1994 for assault with a firearm. He was on parol when he was arrested for DUI.
In total, he had been convicted of three felonies and six misdemeanors, and racked up five Parole Violations. In 2003 he was sentenced to six years in prison for two counts of DUI.
The trial court pointed out that "It's not like he didn't know he could get a life term for this, and did this while on parole for that one." Mr. Fryman replied that his knowledge "of a consequence of him getting another DUI ... that doesn't take away ... from the value of the positive things he has done and whether this DUI deserves a life sentence. I just think it's definitely a fact the Court can consider."
The Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court exercised proper authority and rationally relied on Mr. Fryman's knowledge of his exposure to three-strike risk. Therefore, his sentence of 25 years to life for a California DUI arrest stands under California's three strike law.
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