Ainsworth v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing

807 A.2d 933, 2002 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 805
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 25, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 807 A.2d 933 (Ainsworth v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ainsworth v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 807 A.2d 933, 2002 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 805 (Pa. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION BY

JUDGE LEADBETTER.

Michael A. Ainsworth (appellant) appeals from the order entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County that denied his appeal from the cancellation of his Pennsylvania driver’s license by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing (DOT). For the reasons stated herein, we vacate common pleas’ April 23, 2001, order and we reinstate its April 27, 2000, order.

Appellant moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania in 1995. He surrendered his New Jersey driver’s license, and obtained a Pennsylvania driver’s license in January 1998. On April 12, 1999, appellant was convicted of -driving while intoxicated (DWI) in New Jersey. The April 12, 1999 conviction was appellant’s third DWI offense in New Jersey, which triggered a 10 year suspension of operating privileges pursuant to New Jersey’s habitual offender statute.

By official notice dated and mailed November 3, 1999, DOT notified appellant that it was canceling his current driver’s license, effective December 8, 1999, and denying his right to apply for a renewal of his driver’s license pursuant to Section 1572 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1572,1 due to information received from New Jersey, indicating that his driving privileges were suspended in [935]*935that state. The notice informed appellant that he would not be able to apply for a driver’s license in Pennsylvania until sufficient proof of restoration of his driving privileges was received from New Jersey.

On November 18, 1999, appellant filed an appeal from the cancellation of his license with common pleas. From the briefs, it also appears that, in this appeal, appellant raised an issue of whether he was required to pay an insurance surcharge to New Jersey due to his DWI. The surcharge issue was resolved in appellant’s favor, and outside of court, when appellant was able to demonstrate to New Jersey authorities that he was no longer a New Jersey resident.

While appellant’s appeal from the cancellation of his license was pending before common pleas, New Jersey reported appellant’s April 12, 1999, conviction to DOT pursuant to Article III of the Driver’s License Compact, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1581.2 Acting upon this information, on January 19, 2000, DOT sent a second notice to appellant, which stated that, as a result of the Department’s receiving notification from New Jersey of his April 12, 1999, conviction for an offense which is equivalent to a driving under the influence (DUI) violation under Section 3731 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, his driving privilege was being suspended for a period of one year, effective February 23, 2000, as mandated by Section 1532(b) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1532(b)(3).3

Appellant did not contest the one-year suspension, and surrendered his driver’s license to DOT on February 17, 2000. Common pleas entered the following order on April 13, 2000:

ORDER TO WITHDRAW APPEAL AS MOOT
AND NOW, this 13th day of April, 2000, it appearing that the Petitioner’s resolution of his license issue with New Jersey is resolved and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is showing his eligibility to be restored as of February 22, 2000, said date being in conformity with Petitioner’s calculations, the above appeal is dismissed.

On April 27, 2000, common pleas entered an amended order, which replaced the April 13, 2000 order because the previous order incorrectly stated appellant’s restoration date as February 22, 2000. The amended order listed the restoration date as February 17, 2001, and again dismissed petitioner’s appeal as moot.

The circumstances under which these orders were entered is not reflected in the [936]*936record, but the dockets do not reflect that any hearing or other court proceeding was held before the entry of the orders, and the orders were evidently prepared by appellant’s counsel, as the originals in the certified record are bound with blue backers bearing his name and law office address. The Northampton County Protho-notary entered notices of common pleas’ April 27, 2000 order on May 1, 2000.

On May 24, 2000, DOT sent appellant a third notice, stating that appellant’s right to apply for a driver’s license was being denied pursuant to Section 1572 of the Vehicle Code, because of the New Jersey suspension. The notice informed appellant that he would not be able to apply for a driver’s license until sufficient proof of restoration was received from New Jersey. The effective date of cancellation was May 31, 2000. The notice further stated that this sanction was in addition to any previously issued sanctions.

Appellant took no action at that time, but on November 28, 2000, petitioned common pleas to re-open his November 18, 1999 appeal, which had been dismissed on April 27, 2000. On February 8, 2001, common pleas held a de novo hearing on appellant’s November 1999 appeal. .Before common pleas, DOT argued that it had the authority to cancel appellant’s license pursuant to both Sections 1572 and 1503 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. §§ 1572 and 1503.4 Appellant argued that DOT never properly notified him that it was canceling his license, and therefore his due process rights were violated. By order dated April 23, 2001, common pleas denied appellant’s appeal from the cancellation of his driver’s license, reasoning as follows:

The Department of Transportation may rely on § 1503, although it is not mentioned, when it has given notice of cancellation of driver’s license under § 1572 without violating minimum requirements of due process. Walck v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 155 Pa.Cmwlth. 1, 625 A.2d 1276 (1993).
It is evident that in this case the one-year suspension resulted from conviction for the offense of driving under the influence on April 12, 1999. The ten-year suspension was imposed by New Jersey because of multiple convictions, the most recent of which was the April 12, 1999, D.U.I. Thus, [appellant] was suspended in New Jersey as a habitual offender at the time the May 2000 notice referring to § 1572 was sent to him. [DOT] properly relied on the New Jersey suspension for habitual offender status in acting pursuant to § 1572.

Department of Transportation v. Michael A. Ainsworth, No.1999-C-8867 (C.C.P. Northampton County, filed April 24, 2001), slip op. at 3.

In his present appeal to this court, appellant again asserts that DOT violated his due process rights by: (1) imposing a series of three sanctions against his license over a period of six months for a single offense, and (2) failing to give him adequate notice in the May 31, 2000 communication of the basis for the most recently imposed sanction. DOT maintains that common pleas lacked subject matter juris[937]*937diction to reinstate appellant’s November 1999 statutory appeal from the cancellation of his driving privileges more than 30 days after common pleas entered an order dismissing that appeal. DOT further argues that: (1) it provided appellant with sufficient information to satisfy the requirements of due process, and (2) it had the authority to cancel appellant’s license under Sections 1572 and 1503 of the Vehicle Code.

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Bluebook (online)
807 A.2d 933, 2002 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ainsworth-v-commonwealth-department-of-transportation-bureau-of-driver-pacommwct-2002.