Condon v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles

6 Mass. L. Rptr. 605
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedDecember 10, 1996
DocketNo. 962966G
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 605 (Condon v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Condon v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles, 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 605 (Mass. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

Burnes, J.

Plaintiff, John J. Condon (Condon), brings this action pursuant to G.L.c. 30A, §14 appealing the decision of the defendants, Registrar of Motor Vehicles (Registrar) and the Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bonds (Board). The Registrar revoked the license of Condon for two years from the date of revocation, effective May 25, 1995, for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor. Plaintiff contends that the proper date of revocation should be effective December 1, 1995 and that the Registrar, as well as the Board in its affirmance of the Registrar’s decision, made an error of law. See G.L.c. 30A, § 14(g).

BACKGROUND

On November 11, 1995, police arrested the appellant for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor. The appellant refused to submit to a breathalyser test after being arrested. On December 1, 1995, appellant was convicted of operating while under the influence of liquor. The appellant had a prior conviction of driving while under the influence of liquor on May 26, 1988. The Registrar, upon receipt of the last court abstract, revoked the appellant’s license for two years pursuant to G.L.c. 90, §24. However, the Registrar used an effective date of May 25, 1996 instead of the date of conviction, December 1, 1995. The Registrar used the later date in order to first give effect to the 180-day suspension warranted by the appellant’s refusal to submit to a breathalyser test. See G.L.c. 90, §24(l)(f)(l). The 180-day suspension for failing to submit to a breathalyser began on November 26,1995, 15 days after the appellant refused to submit to the test, and ended on May 25, 1996.

DISCUSSION

Condon claims that the Registrar made an error of law in starting the two-year revocation period on May 25, 1996. The statute, he claims, requires that the beginning date of the revocation be the date of conviction, December 1, 1995. Condon contests the Registrar’s claim that the Registrar has the power to postpone the beginning of the revocation period in order to give effect to the 180-day suspension. Condon claims that the Registrar and Board are making errors of law.

The parly appealing an administrative decision bears the burden of demonstrating the decision’s invalidity. Merisme v. Board of Appeals on Motor Vehicle Liab. Policies & Bds., 27 Mass.App.Ct. 470, 474 (1989); Faith Assembly of God v. State Bldg. Code Comm’n, 11 Mass.App.Ct. 333, 334 (1981), citing Almeida Bus Lines, Inc. v. Department of Pub. Utils., 348 Mass. 331, 342 (1965). The court may set aside a decision only on the grounds set forth in G.L.c. 30A, §14. Howard Johnson Co. v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, 24 Mass.App.Ct. 487, 490, rev. den., 400 Mass. 1106 (1987). In reviewing the agency decision, the court is required to give due weight to the agency’s experience, technical competence, specialized knowledge, and the discretionary authority conferred upon it by statute. Flint v. Commissioner of Pub. Welfare, 412 Mass. 416, 420 (1992); Seagram Distillers Co. v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Comm’n, 401 Mass. 713, 721 (1988); Quincy City Hosp. v. Labor Relations Comm’n, 400 Mass. 745, 748-49 (1987). The reviewing court may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency. Southern Worcester County Regional Vocational School Dist. v. Labor Relations Comm’n, 386 Mass 414, 420-21 (1982), citing Olde Towne Liquor Store, Inc. v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Comm’n, 372 Mass. 152, 154 (1977). A court may not dispute an administrative agency’s choice between two conflicting views, even though the court would justifiably have made a different choice had the matter come before it de novo. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Wellesley v. Housing Appeals Comm’n, 385 Mass. 651, 657 (1982); Board of Appeals of Rockport v. DeCarolis, 32 Mass.App.Ct. 348, 353 (1992).

Upon the refusal to submit to a breathalyser test, a driver’s license may be suspended for a hundred and eighty days if the driver had been previously convicted of a violation under the section within ten years of the date of the charge in question. G.L.c. 90, §24(l)(f)(l). When a driver refuses to take a breathalyser test, the police officer present must take immediate custody of the driver’s license, provide the person a written notice of intent to suspend the license, and issue a temporary driving permit. G.L.c. 90, §24 (l)(f)(l). Suspension begins 15 days after the driver has received notice of intent to suspend the license. Id. The applicable section states that:

[t]he license suspension shall become effective fifteen days after the offender has received the notice of intent to suspend from the police officer. No license shall be restored under any circumstances . . . provided, however, that the defendant may immediately, upon the entry of a not guilty finding or dismissal of all charges under this section, Section twenty-four G or twenty-four L, and in the absence of any other alcohol related charges pending against said defendant, apply for and be immediately granted a hearing before the court which took final action on the charges for the purpose of requesting the restoration of said license.

G.L.c. 90, §24(l)(f)(l) (emphasis added).

In addition to suffering a suspension for refusing to submit to a breathalyser, the Registrar was required to revoke Condon’s license for two years for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The applicable subsection reads:

A conviction of a violation of subparagraph (1) of paragraph (a) shall revoke the license or right to operate of the person so convicted unless such person has not been convicted of or assigned to an [607]*607alcohol or controlled substance education, treatment or rehabilitation program because of a like offense by a court of the commonwealth or other jurisdiction within a period of ten years preceding the date of the convicted, and said person qualifies for disposition under Section twenty-four D and has consented to probation as provided for in said Section twenty-four D; provided, however, that no appeal, motion for new trial or exceptions shall operate to stay the revocation of the license or the right to operate. Such revoked license shall immediately be surrendered to the prosecuting officer who shall forward the same to the registrar. The court shall report immediately any revocation, under this section, of a license or right to operate to the registrar and to the police department of the municipality in which the defendant is domiciled. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section twenty-two, the revocation, reinstatement or issuance of a license or right to operate by reason of a violation of paragraph (a) shall be controlled by the provisions of this section and Sections twenty-four D and twenty-four E.

G.L.c. 90, §24(l)(b). Since the plaintiff had been previously convicted of driving under the influence, he did not fall within the exception and his license was to be revoked immediately. In a separate provision concerning the restoring of the license, the statute reads:

[wjhere the license or the right to operate of a person has been revoked under paragraph (b) and such person has been previously convicted of or assigned to an alcohol or controlled substance education, treatment or rehabilitation program by a court of the commonwealth or any other jurisdiction because of a like violation within a period of ten years . . . the registrar shall not restore the license

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Related

MacKey v. Montrym
443 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Quincy City Hospital v. Labor Relations Commission
511 N.E.2d 582 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1987)
Almeida Bus Lines, Inc. v. Department of Public Utilities
203 N.E.2d 556 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1965)
Board of Appeals of Rockport v. DeCarolis
588 N.E.2d 1378 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1992)
Zoning Board of Appeals v. Housing Appeals Committee
433 N.E.2d 873 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1982)
Flint v. Commissioner of Public Welfare
589 N.E.2d 1224 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1992)
Olde Towne Liquor Store, Inc. v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
360 N.E.2d 1057 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1977)
Seagram Distillers Co. v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
401 Mass. 713 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1988)
Howard Johnson Co. v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
510 N.E.2d 293 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1987)
Merisme v. Board of Appeals on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies & Bonds
539 N.E.2d 1052 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
6 Mass. L. Rptr. 605, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/condon-v-registrar-of-motor-vehicles-masssuperct-1996.