Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Escobio

6 So. 3d 638, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1447, 2009 WL 416518
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 20, 2009
DocketNo. 2D08-1155
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 6 So. 3d 638 (Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Escobio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Escobio, 6 So. 3d 638, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1447, 2009 WL 416518 (Fla. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

ALTENBERND, Judge.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles seeks certiorari review of a circuit court opinion quashing an administrative order suspending Eric Escobio’s driver’s license for driving with an unlawful breath-alcohol level. The circuit court granted Mr. Escobio’s petition for certiora-ri and quashed the Department’s order on two separate bases. First, the circuit court held that the Department departed from the essential requirements of the law by interpreting section 322.2615(6)(b), Florida Statutes (2006)* to prohibit the hearing officer from issuing a subpoena for the agency inspector responsible for maintaining the breath testing equipment used to test Mr. Escobio’s breath-alcohol level. Second, the circuit court held that the hearing officer for the Department departed from the essential requirements of the law by refusing to consider the legality of the stop of Mr. Escobio’s vehicle when assessing whether the license suspension was proper.

As to the circuit court’s first basis for granting the petition, in Yankey v. Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, No. 2D08-2045, 6 So.3d 633, 2009 WL 416514 (Fla. 2d DCA Feb. 20, 2009), an opinion we issue simultaneously with this opinion, we have concluded that section 322.2615(6)(b) and related statutory [640]*640and administrative provisions require the Department to issue a subpoena to the agency inspector when the agency inspector is identified in documents submitted to the Department to validate the breath test results. Based upon the reasoning in Yan-key, we conclude the circuit court in this case applied the correct law in granting Mr. Escobio’s petition for writ of certiorari and quashing the order suspending his license on this basis. See also Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Maffett, 1 So.3d 1286 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). Were this the only issue raised in this proceeding, we would deny certiorari.

Nevertheless, we grant the Department’s petition for writ of certiorari because the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of the law in concluding that the hearing officer performing the formal administrative review hearing was required to address whether Mr. Escobio was placed under lawful arrest for a violation of section 316.193, Florida Statutes (2006). Pursuant to section 322.2615(7)(a), Florida Statutes (2006), the hearing officer’s review is limited to determining only (1) whether the arresting officer had probable cause to believe the person was driving or in actual physical control of the vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic beverages and (2) whether the person had an unlawful breath- or blood-alcohol level.1 We therefore quash that portion of the circuit court’s order granting Mr. Escobio’s petition for writ of certiorari on this issue.

This issue centers on recent amendments to section 322.2615. Prior to October 1, 2006, section 322.2615(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2005), required a law enforcement officer to “suspend the driving privilege of a person who has been airested by a law enforcement officer for a violation of s. 316.193, relating to unlawful blood-alcohol level or breath-alcohol level.” (Emphasis added.) A driver whose license was suspended in this manner could request a formal review pursuant to section 322.2615(6). Under section 322.2615(7)(a), the scope of this formal review was limited to three issues: (1) whether the arresting officer had probable cause to believe the person was driving or in actual physical control of the vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic beverages, (2) whether the person was placed under lawful arrest for a violation of section 316.193, and (3) whether the person had an unlawful breath- or blood-alcohol level.

Effective October 1, 2006, however, the Florida Legislature amended these provisions. See ch. 2006-290, §§ 45, 51, at 2957, 2965, Laws of Fla. Section 322.2615(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2006), now requires a law enforcement officer to “suspend the driving privilege of a person who is driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle and who has an unlawful blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level.” The statute no longer refers to “a person who has been arrested.” More important, section 322.2615(7)(a) now limits the scope of the administrative review to two issues: (1) whether the arresting officer had probable cause to believe the person was driving or in actual physical control of the vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic beverages, and (2) whether the person had an unlawful breath- or blood-alcohol level. The statute no longer permits the hearing officer to consider “[wjhether the person was placed under lawful arrest [641]*641for a violation of s. 316.193.” § 322.2615(7)(a)(2), Fla. Stat. (2005).

Mr. Escobio was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on October 6, 2006, five days after the effective date of the amended statute. He submitted to a breath-alcohol test on that date. The test results indicated breath-alcohol levels of .145 and .143 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. These results led to the administrative suspension of Mr. Escobio’s license. That suspension is thus governed by the statute as amended on October 1, 2006.

Mr. Escobio does not dispute that the amended statute applies in this case, nor does he challenge the validity of the amended statute. Rather, he argued to the circuit court and now argues to this court that the interplay of sections 316.1932, Florida Statutes (2006), and section 322.2615, as amended, continue to permit the hearing officer to consider the legality of the arrest in determining whether to sustain the administrative license suspension. In the certiorari proceeding before this court, Mr. Escobio relies in large part upon the Fifth District’s opinion in Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Pelham, 979 So.2d 304 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 984 So.2d 519 (Fla.2008).2

In Pelham, Jesse Pelham’s license was suspended after he refused to take a breath-alcohol test. 979 So.2d at 305. Pelham requested a formal administrative hearing and sought to challenge the legality of his arrest in that proceeding. The hearing officer refused to consider this issue in light of the 2006 amendments to section 322.2615(7). In Pelham, the amendments at issue were those in subsection (7)(b), involving the scope of the administrative hearing when the driver’s license was suspended for refusing to take a breath-alcohol test. Like the amendments to subsection (7)(a) discussed above, subsection (7)(b) was also amended by chapter 2006-290, section 45, to remove a provision that permitted the hearing officer to consider “[w]hether the person was placed under lawful arrest for a violation of s. 316.193” when assessing whether a license was properly suspended for refusing to take a breath-alcohol test. See id. at 306.

The Fifth District acknowledged that the amended provisions of section 322.2615(7)(b) applied in Pelham. Nevertheless, the Fifth District noted that Pel-ham’s “consent” to a breath-alcohol test was implied under the provisions of section 316.1932(1)(a)(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2007):

This statute, sometimes referred to as the Implied Consent Law, provides that any person who accepts the privilege of operating a motor vehicle in this state is deemed to consent to testing to determine the “alcoholic content of his or her blood or breath if the person is lawfully arrested -” § 316.1932(1)(a)(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2007) (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
6 So. 3d 638, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 1447, 2009 WL 416518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-highway-safety-motor-vehicles-v-escobio-fladistctapp-2009.