Davis v. Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation

467 N.W.2d 420, 1991 N.D. LEXIS 41, 1991 WL 27238
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 5, 1991
DocketCiv. 900245
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 467 N.W.2d 420 (Davis v. Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation, 467 N.W.2d 420, 1991 N.D. LEXIS 41, 1991 WL 27238 (N.D. 1991).

Opinions

LEVINE, Justice.

The Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation, appeals from a district court judgment reversing an administrative revocation of Peter Davis’ driver’s license and ordering the reinstatement of the license. We affirm the district court judgment.

Davis, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was stopped by North Dakota Highway Patrol Officer Mitchell Rumple along U.S. Highway 281 near the southern border of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. Officer Rumple saw Davis driving irregularly in the east-bound lane and stopped him near mile marker 246. Davis believed he was on Reservation land and refused to get out of his truck. He asked Officer Rumple to call a Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer. While Rumple was standing next to Davis’ pickup truck, he smelled alcohol and saw that Davis had watery eyes. Officer Rumple repeated his request that Davis get out of the pickup but Davis refused and attempted to drive off. Rumple reached through the pickup window and shut off the engine. During this exchange, Rumple arrested Davis for driving under the influence.

Rumple was uncertain of the Reservation boundaries and believed the arrest site to be within the Reservation, so he followed what he understood to be the customary [421]*421procedure of the State Patrol and the Bureau of Indian Affairs police force. He arrested Davis and called for a BIA police officer. While waiting for the BIA officer to arrive, Rumple was joined by off-duty BIA officer Terry Marion and two Turtle Mountain Housing Authority security officers. Davis left his pickup and got into the security officers’ car.

When BIA officers Kettleson and Trottier arrived, Davis moved to their car and they drove Davis to the Belcourt BIA police station. Rumple described the usual practice in cases where jurisdiction is in doubt is for the state law enforcement officer to charge an Indian with a tribal offense and place him in custody on the Reservation. If the jurisdictional doubt is later resolved in the state’s favor, the Indian suspect is extradited and charged in state court. When he arrived with Davis at the Belcourt BIA police station, Rumple began the paperwork to charge Davis with the tribal prohibition of drunk driving.

Rumple told Davis while they were at the arrest site that Davis would be asked to take an Intoxilyzer test. Rumple asked Davis to take the test after they arrived at the Belcourt police station. The Intoxylizer in Belcourt was broken. The only available one was in Rolla. Davis refused the Intoxylizer test but asked to be given a blood test. Rumple believed the Reservation hospital would not do a blood test for the state and insisted on an Intoxilyzer test. A BIA officer said the hospital would do the test for his agency and, with Davis’ cooperation, left the police station with Davis for the hospital. During the drive to the hospital, Davis agreed to take an Intox-ilyzer test administered by the BIA. BIA officer Kettleson took Davis from the Reservation to Rolla, the nearest location offering an operating Intoxilyzer machine, where he conducted a test on Davis.

While Kettleson and Davis were gone, Officer Rumple received a call from Officer Marion, suggesting that he consult a map showing the boundaries of the Reservation because Marion thought that the eastbound lane of highway 281 near mile marker 246, the arrest site, was outside the Reservation. Rumple checked a map at the BIA station and reviewed the map with Kettleson, upon Kettleson’s return from Rolla. Rumple and Kettleson agreed the arrest site was on state land.

Rumple checked the Intoxilyzer test taken by Davis in Rolla and concluded it was invalid because it violated the guidelines of the state toxicologist. Rumple told Davis that the arrest was on state land, that the first Intoxilyzer test was invalid and why, and he asked Davis to take a second Intoxi-lyzer test at Rolla, North Dakota. Rumple advised Davis that refusing to take the test could lead to the revocation of his driver’s license. Davis refused, insisting that Rumple needed to extradite him before he could be taken to Rolla, and he asked to be given a blood test at the Reservation hospital. Rumple treated this as a second request for an independent test and, believing a suspect is entitled to an independent test only after submitting to the state’s test, he left Davis in his jail cell.

The Director acted to revoke Davis’ driver’s license, and on Davis’ request, an administrative hearing was held. The hearing officer found that Davis was stopped after Officer Rumple saw his pickup weaving on the highway; and that Officer Rumple noted a strong odor of alcohol, bloodshot watery eyes and an uncooperative attitude which led to Davis’ arrest for drunk driving. She also found that Davis was told of the necessity for a second test, advised of the consequences of refusing, and that he refused to take the test. On these findings, the hearing officer concluded that Davis had violated the implied consent statute and ordered Davis’ license revoked for one year.

Davis appealed the license revocation to the district court and the district court ordered Davis’ license reinstated, finding that Davis’ due process rights to an extradition proceeding were violated, and that the request for a second Intoxilyzer test was unreasonable. The Director appealed. Davis has not filed an appellate brief and the Tribe has made no appearance.

The Director raises three issues on this appeal, carefully avoiding the obvious juris[422]*422dictional thicket. Instead, he argues that Officer Rumple had reasonable grounds to believe Davis was driving while drunk, that he arrested Davis for that crime, and that Davis refused to take the test for blood-alcohol requested by Rumple. Because we conclude as a matter of law that there was no refusal here, we affirm.

Obviously, whenever we consider a case involving a member of an Indian tribe we are confronted with the issue of subject-matter jurisdiction. We have declined to exercise State jurisdiction over civil actions involving Indians arising on state highways within an Indian Reservation. Gourneau v. Smith, 207 N.W.2d 256 (N.D.1973) [overruling Vermillion v. Spotted Elk, 85 N.W.2d 432 (N.D.1957)]. State highways within the boundaries of an Indian Reservation are part of that Reservation, Id., and therefore not subject to state jurisdiction. Accord Glover v. United States, 219 F.Supp. 19 (D.Mont.1963); In re Fredenberg, 65 F.Supp. 4 (E.D.Wis.1946); Benally v. Marcum, 553 P.2d 1270 (N.M.1976); In re Denetclaw, 83 Ariz. 299, 320 P.2d 697 (1958); contra State v. Dugan, 52 N.C.App. 136, 277 S.E.2d 842 (1981). However, we were recently reminded by the United States Supreme Court that, notwithstanding our skittishness over exercising state jurisdiction, we must provide Indian plaintiffs access to our courts to seek relief against non-Indians when no other court is available to them. Three Affiliated Tribes v. Wold Engineering, 467 U.S. 138, 104 S.Ct. 2267, 81 L.Ed.2d 113 (1984),

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Davis v. Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation
467 N.W.2d 420 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
467 N.W.2d 420, 1991 N.D. LEXIS 41, 1991 WL 27238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-director-north-dakota-department-of-transportation-nd-1991.