## Facts

- Melvin R. Blanton and Mark D. Fraley were separately charged in a North Las Vegas municipal court with first-offense driving under the influence under Nevada law.
- The statute authorized a maximum penalty of six months’ incarceration (or 48 hours of community work while identifiably dressed as a DUI offender), a fine up to $1,000, mandatory alcohol education, and a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
- Each defendant demanded a jury trial; the municipal court denied both requests.
- On further review in state courts, one defendant’s jury demand was granted and the other denied; the Nevada Supreme Court consolidated the cases and held no federal constitutional jury-trial right applied to the charged offense.
- The U.S. Supreme Court reviewed whether the Sixth Amendment required a jury trial for this first-offense DUI scheme.

## Issues

1. Whether a first-offense DUI carrying a maximum authorized jail term of six months, together with specified ancillary penalties, is a “serious” offense requiring a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment.
2. Whether the ancillary penalties authorized by Nevada law were sufficiently severe, when combined with the six-month maximum incarceration, to overcome the presumption that the offense is “petty.”

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the state court judgment.
- Because the maximum authorized incarceration was six months, the offense was presumed “petty” for Sixth Amendment purposes.
- The additional statutory penalties (license suspension, fine, alcohol education, and community service with identifying clothing) were not so severe, considered alongside the incarceration maximum, as to show a legislative determination that the offense was “serious.”
- Therefore, no Sixth Amendment jury-trial right attached to the charged first-offense DUI.

## Legal Principles

- The Sixth Amendment jury-trial guarantee applies to “serious” offenses, not “petty” offenses.
- The primary indicator of offense seriousness is the legislature’s maximum authorized period of incarceration.
- If the maximum authorized prison term exceeds six months, a jury trial is required.
- If the maximum authorized prison term is six months or less, the offense is presumed petty; a jury trial is required only if additional statutory penalties, viewed with the incarceration maximum, are so severe that they clearly reflect a legislative determination that the offense is serious.
- Minimum sentences, typical sentencing practices, or the possibility that some defendants may receive the maximum term do not change the analysis when the statutory maximum does not exceed six months.

## Conclusion

The Court held that Nevada’s first-offense DUI, punishable by no more than six months’ incarceration and associated noncustodial penalties, is a petty offense under the Sixth Amendment, and defendants are not constitutionally entitled to a jury trial absent additional penalties severe enough to clearly indicate legislative treatment of the offense as serious.


Blanton v. City of N. Las Vegas, 489 U.S. 538 (1989)