PEOPLE OF MI V MICHAEL EUGENE BAAR
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
UNPUBLISHED
November 14, 1997
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 192466
Kent Circuit Court
LC No. 95-000614 FH
MICHAEL EUGENE BAAR,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: O’Connell, P.J., and White and C. F. Youngblood*, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Defendant was convicted of operating a motor vehicle with an unlawful blood alcohol level, third
offense, MCL 257.625(2) and (6); MSA 9.2325(2) and (6), and sentenced to forty-eight months
probation. Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm. This case is being decided without oral argument
pursuant to MCR 7.214(E).
Defendant argues that the trial court erroneously considered his 1985 misdemeanor conviction
for operating a vehicle under the influence of intoxicants secured in the State of Virginia to elevate his
instant UBAL conviction to a felony because the Virginia conviction was secured without counsel or a
waiver thereof. Defendant asserts that because the prior conviction was uncounseled, the conviction is
constitutionally infirm. We disagree.
Where no sentence of imprisonment is ultimately imposed, a defendant charged with a
misdemeanor is not entitled to representation by counsel. Nichols v United States, 511 US ___; 114
S Ct 1921; 128 L Ed 2d 745 (1994); People v Richert (After Remand), 216 Mich App 186, 192
194; 548 NW2d 924 (1996). As a consequence, an uncounseled misdemeanor conviction that did not
result in the actual imposition of imprisonment is not constitutionally infirm and may be relied upon to
elevate a subsequent conviction for UBAL to a felony.
In the instant case, defendant received a ten-day suspended sentence as a result of his 1985
Virginia misdemeanor conviction. Because no incarceration was ultimately imposed as a result of that
* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
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conviction, defendant was not entitled to counsel. Accordingly, the prior uncounseled conviction is not
constitutionally infirm. The trial court properly considered the conviction as an offense-enhancing
element of UBAL.
Affirmed.
/s/ Peter D. O’Connell
/s/ Helene N. White
/s/ Carole F. Youngblood
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