Castro v. Administrative Director of the Courts

40 P.3d 865, 97 Haw. 463
CourtHawaii Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 1, 2002
Docket23232
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 40 P.3d 865 (Castro v. Administrative Director of the Courts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hawaii Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Castro v. Administrative Director of the Courts, 40 P.3d 865, 97 Haw. 463 (haw 2002).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court by

ACOBA, J.

We hold that the meaning of “prior alcohol enforcement contact” must be explained when advising a person arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI), Hawafi Revised Statutes (HRS) § 291-4 (Supp.1999), of the potential length of license revocation for refusal to take a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test or for failing such a test, as set forth in HRS § 286-261 (Supp.1999), in order to ensure that the refusal of, or consent to, such a test is knowingly and intelligently made. The arresting officer in this case did not render such an explanation to Respondent/Petitioner Appellee Joseph P. Castro (Respondent). Accordingly, we conclude that Respondent’s refusal to take the test was not knowingly and intelligently made and should have been precluded as evidence at the Administrative Driver’s License Revocation Office (ADLRO) driver’s license revocation hearing and subsequent appeal to the district court of the first circuit1 (the court).

While HRS § 286-258(d)(3) (Supp.2000) allows for revocation of a driver’s license for refusal to take a BAC test, it provides for the same outcome in the event that the evidence proves by a preponderance that “the arrestee drove, operated, or was in actual physical control of the motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor[.]” Such a finding in the November 29, 1999 decision of Petitioner/Respondent Appellant Administrative Director of the Courts, State of Hawai'i (the Director), following the ADLRO hearing, constitutes a basis, independent of Respondent’s refusal, for sustaining revocation of his license. Accordingly, we reverse the May 7, 2001 decision of the Intermediate Court of Appeals2 (the ICA) affirming the court’s February 1, 2000 judgment that failed to account for that finding, see Castro v. Administrative Director of the Courts, State of Hawai'i, 98 Hawai'i 53, 41 P.3d 715 (Haw.Ct.App.2001), vacate the court’s February 1, 2000 judgment, and remand this case to the couid; with instructions to enter an order affirming the Director’s decision.

I.

On September 16, 1999, Respondent was arrested for DUI, HRS § 291-4.3 At the time of the arrest, and pursuant to “Part XIV of HRS chapter 286, Administrative Revocation of Driver’s License!,]” the arresting officer read Honolulu Police Department (HPD) Form 396B to Respondent, informing him that he could take a BAC blood or breath test, or both, but if he refused a test or if he took a test and failed, he was subject to certain sanctions. See HRS § 286-255 [465]*465(Supp.1999). In relevant part the form stated:

Pursuant to the Administrative Driver’s License Revocation Law, I must inform you (arrestee) of the following:
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B. That if you refuse to take any tests, the consequences are as follows:
[[Image here]]
3. If your driving record shows two prior alcohol enforcement contacts during the seven years preceding the date of arrest, your driving privileges will be revoked for four years instead of the two year revocation that would apply if you chose to take a test and failed it[.]
4. If your driving record shows three or more prior alcohol enforcement contacts during the ten years preceding the date of arrest, your driving privileges will be revoked for life regardless of whether you take a test or not.[4]
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C. That criminal charges under Section 291-4 HRS, may be filed[.]

(Emphases added.)

The arresting officer thereafter issued Respondent a notice of administrative license revocation. See id. Upon review, the Director affirmed Respondent’s revocation by way of a notice of administrative review decision. See HRS § 286-258(a). The notice revoked Respondent’s driver’s license for four years, pursuant to the advice stated in paragraph 3 of HPD Form 396B.

Respondent subsequently requested an administrative hearing before the ADLRO to challenge the revocation. See HRS § 286-258(b). On November 24, 1999, the hearing was convened before an ADLRO hearing officer. At the hearing, the arresting officer testified that Respondent refused to take any test and did not ask any questions. The arresting officer also related his belief that a “prior alcohol enforcement eontact[ ]” means a prior arrest for DUI:

Q [RESPONDENT’S COUNSEL], What does the phrase, prior alcohol enforcement contact mean?
A. It means, I believe, if you’ve been arrested for driving under the influence previously.

Respondent testified that he believed prior alcohol enforcement contacts meant prior DUI convictions and arrests. Because he had had two prior convictions and a prior arrest for DUI (for which he was subsequently acquitted), he concluded that he had had three prior alcohol enforcement contacts. Thus, under the advice rendered in paragraph 4 of HPD Form 396B, it was his belief that he was subject to a lifetime revocation whether he took a test or not. Respondent related he did not take a test based on that understanding. Contrary to the arresting officer’s testimony and Respondent’s belief, an alcohol enforcement contact as defined in HRS § 286-251 (Supp.1999) would not include an arrest.5 See also discussion, infra. The hearing officer determined that, in fact, Respondent had been the subject of two, and not three, such contacts.

On November 29,1999, the Director issued a notice of administrative hearing decision, along with findings of fact and conclusions of law, sustaining the four-year revocation. In [466]*466her November 29, 1999 findings of fact and conclusions of law, the hearing officer decided in pertinent part as follows:

FINDINGS OF FACT
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1. On September 16, 1999, at about 12:50 a.m. in the County of Honolulu, [the] arresting officer ... observed [Respondent] operating a motor vehicle....
2. The Arresting Officer observed the vehicle travelling west bound on the H-l Freeway pi'ior to the Kunia off-ramp. The officer observed the vehicle travelled to the right shoulder with half the vehicle over the shoulder line and then■ veered to the left and entered the adjacent left lame.

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Castro v. Administrative Director of the Courts
40 P.3d 865 (Hawaii Supreme Court, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
40 P.3d 865, 97 Haw. 463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/castro-v-administrative-director-of-the-courts-haw-2002.