State vs. Robert Sission

The appellant, Robert A. Sisson, pleaded guilty to third offense driving under the influence of an intoxicant and was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days with actual incarceration for 120 days followed by probation. The appellant, pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 37(b)(2)(i), reserved a certified question of law for appeal to this court. That question is whether the 1998 amendments to Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-10-403(a)(1) regarding penalties for D.U.I. convictions violate the ex-post facto and/or due process clauses of the federal and state constitutions. Those amendments increase from ten to twenty years the age of prior D.U.I. convictions that may be used to enhance D.U.I. penalties. Because we find that the defendant committed the instant offense after the effective date of the amendments in question, we find no ex-post facto or due process violations occurred in this case. The judgment of conviction is therefore affirmed.