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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
No. 01-CF-1540
Derrell M. English, Jr., Appellant,
v.
United States, Appellee.
Appeal from the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia
F-2197-01
(Hon. Robert I. Richter, Trial Judge)
(Submitted September 12, 2002 Decided September 26, 2002)
Sharon L. Burka and Thomas D. Engle was on the brief for appellant.
Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., United States Attorney, and John R. Fisher, Elizabeth Trosman,
Deborah L. Connor, and Michael C. Liebman, Assistant United States Attorneys, were on the
brief for appellee.
Before Reid and Glickman, Associate Judges, and Belson, Senior Judge.
Glickman, Associate Judge: Appellant Derrell M. English, Jr.(1) entered a conditional guilty plea
to weapons and drug charges, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress
the loaded revolver and marijuana seized from him after he was arrested for operating a
motorcycle without an operator's permit. Appellant contends that there was no probable cause to
arrest him for that traffic offense, because although he had no permit to operate a motorcycle, he
did have a permit to operate other motor vehicles. Like the trial judge, we find this contention
unpersuasive.
Appellant was driving his motorcycle in the District of Columbia one evening when a U.S. Park
Police officer armed with a radar gun stopped him for speeding. The validity of that stop is not
in question. Appellant identified himself to the officer as a Maryland resident and produced a
noncommercial Class C driver's license issued by the State of Maryland. This license authorized
appellant to operate non-commercial motor vehicles under 26,001 pounds except for
motorcycles. See Md. Code Ann. Transp. § 16-104.1 (c) (1998). To operate a motorcycle,
Maryland law required appellant to obtain a Class M driver's license. See Md. Code Ann.
Transp., § 16-104.1 (d). Appellant admitted to the Park Police officer that he had not obtained a
license to operate a motorcycle. The officer did a records check, confirmed that the District of
Columbia had not issued appellant such a license, and placed him under arrest. In a search
incident to that arrest, the officer seized a loaded revolver from appellant's jacket pocket. The
police recovered marijuana from appellant's wallet later that evening while inventorying his
personal effects. Appellant's sole challenge to these seizures is that his arrest was not supported
by probable cause.
Under D.C. Code § 50-1401.01 (d) (2001), it is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and up to
ninety days' imprisonment to operate a motor vehicle in the District without having obtained a
D.C. operator's permit, learner's permit or provisional permit, "except as provided [for
non-residents of the District] in § 50-1401.02." Appellant concededly had not obtained a permit
of any kind from the District. Appellant did not meet the requirements set forth in D.C. Code §
50-1401.02 for a non-resident exemption, however, because he had not complied with the laws
of Maryland by obtaining a Class M license. See D.C. Code § 50-1401.02 (a) (providing
thirty-day exemption from D.C. Code § 50-1401.01 for a non-resident motor vehicle operator
"who has complied with the laws of any state" or other jurisdiction). The arresting officer
therefore had probable cause to believe that appellant had violated D.C. Code § 50-1401.01 (d).
The officer also had probable cause to believe that appellant had committed an offense under
another statutory provision that applies specifically to non-residents. D.C. Code § 50-1401.02 (i)
makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine and up to thirty days' imprisonment, for a
non-resident to operate a motor vehicle in the District without an operator's permit issued by a
state or other foreign jurisdiction.(2) Contrary to appellant's suggestion, we do not consider this
provision ambiguous when it is read with even a modicum of "the saving grace of common
sense." Abdulshakur v. District of Columbia, 589 A.2d 1258, 1266 (D.C. 1991) (quoting Bell v.
United States, 349 U.S. 81, 83 (1955)). D.C. Code § 50-1401.02 (i) requires a permit to operate
the type of vehicle being operated, not, as appellant proposes, some other type of vehicle.
Appellant therefore violated this statutory provision by operating a motorcycle without having
the permit to do so required by Maryland law. It was no defense that appellant had a permit to
operate an automobile.(3)
We conclude, as did the trial court, that appellant's arrest was supported by probable cause, and
we affirm appellant's convictions.
So ordered.
1. 2.
(i) Any operator of a motor vehicle who is not a legal resident of the District of Columbia and
who does not have in his immediate possession an operator's permit issued by a state, territory, or
possession of the United States, or foreign country or political subdivision thereof, having motor
vehicle reciprocity relations with the District, shall not operate a motor vehicle in the District
unless: (1) The laws of the state, territory, or possession of the United States, or foreign country
or political subdivision thereof, under which the motor vehicle is registered do not require the
issuance of a motor vehicle operator's permit; or (2) [the operator] has submitted to examination
within 72 hours after entering the District and obtained an operator's permit in accordance with
the provisions of § 50-1401.01. Any individual who violates any provision of this subsection
shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $5 nor more than $50 or imprisoned not less
than 30 days, or both.
The District has motor vehicle reciprocity relations with the State of Maryland in accordance
with the Driver License Compact that both jurisdictions have entered. See D.C. Code § 50-1001
(2001); Md. Code Ann. Transp. § 16-703 (1998). The two exclusions enumerated in D.C. Code
§ 50-1401.02 (i) are not applicable on the facts of this case. Like the District, Maryland requires
that operators of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, be issued operator's permits, see Md.
Code Ann. Transp. § 16-101 (a) (1998) (amended 2001); and appellant had not obtained an
operator's permit in the District.
3.