Aaron v. City of Ketchikan

William O. Aaron appeals his conviction for refusing to submit to a chemical test of his breath following his arrest for driving while intoxicated, Ketchikan Municipal Code § 10.40.040(d). Aaron's basic contention is that the City of Ketchikan could not prosecute him for refusing to take the breath test because the Alaska Department of Public Safety had already taken administrative action against Aaron's driver's license based on the same incident. We affirm Aaron's conviction. Aaron asserts that, after his driver's license was administratively suspended, his prosecution for breath-test refusal constituted a second jeopardy for the same conduct. Aaron recognizes that we rejected this same double jeopardy argument in State v. Zerkel, 900 P.2d 744 (Alaska App. 1995), and that, under the doctrine of stare decisis, Zerkel is dispositive of his double jeopardy claim under the federal Constitution. 1 Aaron argues, however, that the double jeopardy clause of the Alaska Constitution (Article I, Section 9) should be interpreted differently on this issue from its federal counterpart.