## Facts

- Jim Fielding was charged with driving while license suspended under AS 28.15.291(a)(1), which required proof that he drove “on a highway or vehicular way or area.”
- The central trial dispute was location:
  - Fielding claimed he drove only within the Eagle River DMV parking lot.
  - The State claimed he drove from the lot onto the Glenn Highway.
- The trial court agreed that the DMV parking lot was not a “vehicular way or area” for purposes of the statute.
- Over objection, the court took judicial notice that the Glenn Highway is a “highway” and instructed the jury accordingly, without telling the jury it could reject the noticed fact.
- The jury convicted Fielding.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court violated the right to jury determination of every element by taking judicial notice that the Glenn Highway is a “highway” and instructing the jury in a manner that conclusively established that element.
2. Whether the instruction failed to comply with Alaska Evidence Rule 203(c)’s requirement in criminal cases that the jury be told it may, but is not required to, accept a judicially noticed fact as conclusive.

## Decision

- The Alaska Court of Appeals reversed the conviction.
- The court held the instruction conclusively establishing that the Glenn Highway is a “highway,” without the permissive Rule 203(c) instruction, effectively directed a verdict for the prosecution on an essential element.
- The error was treated as per se prejudicial and not subject to harmless-error review.

## Legal Principles

- In a criminal case, the jury must determine each element of the charged offense; a court may not remove an element from the jury through conclusive instructions.
- When a court takes judicial notice of a fact in a criminal case, Alaska Evidence Rule 203(c) requires an instruction that the jury may, but is not required to, accept the noticed fact as conclusive.
- An instruction that conclusively establishes an element functions like a directed verdict for the prosecution and requires reversal.

## Conclusion

Because the trial court’s judicial-notice instruction conclusively resolved the “highway” element against the defendant without the permissive instruction required in criminal cases, the conviction was reversed for violating the jury’s role in deciding every element.


Fielding v. State, 842 P.2d 614 (Alaska Ct. App. 1992)