DiPietro v. Secretary of State

2002 ME 114, 802 A.2d 399, 2002 Me. LEXIS 142, 2002 WL 1630693
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJuly 24, 2002
DocketNo. Cum-01-758
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2002 ME 114 (DiPietro v. Secretary of State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DiPietro v. Secretary of State, 2002 ME 114, 802 A.2d 399, 2002 Me. LEXIS 142, 2002 WL 1630693 (Me. 2002).

Opinion

ALEXANDER, J.

[¶ 1] Stephen W. DiPietro appeals from the judgment of the Superior Court (Cumberland County, Warren, J.) affirming the Secretary of State’s six-year suspension of DiPietro’s driver’s license. DiPietro argues that the Superior Court erred in holding that the Secretary of State had the authority to, without a hearing, impose a suspension that was longer than the 18-month suspension imposed by the court at DiPietro’s sentencing for operating under the influence (OUI).1 We affirm the Superior Court judgment.

I. CASE HISTORY

[¶ 2] DiPietro was arrested for OUI with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15% on September 20, 1996. On October 18, 1996, DiPietro was notified by the Secretary of State that his license had been suspended for “at least a 6 year period,” because he [401]*401had three prior OUI offenses.2 . DiPietro requested an administrative hearing that was scheduled for December 3, 1996. The arresting officer did not appear at the hearing and, therefore, the administrative suspension was rescinded.

[¶ 3] In August 1997, DiPietro appeared before the Superior Court (Crowley, J.) and entered a plea of guilty to Class D OUI. See 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411 (1996). DiPietro was then sentenced to 10 days in the alternative sentencing program, fined $700, and his operating privileges were suspended for 18 months, based on the one prior OUI conviction alleged in the complaint. See id. § 2411(5)(B).3 On September 8, 1997, the Secretary of State mailed DiPietro a letter informing him that, as a result of his conviction and prior OUI offenses, his license had been suspended for six years.

[¶ 4] In October 1999, DiPietro’s new attorney asked the Bureau of Motor Vehicles why it had imposed a suspension greater than the one imposed by the court. The assistant director of driver’s license services responded by stating that, pursuant to 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2451(3)(D) (1996), the Secretary of State was required to impose the minimum statutory period for suspension and that DiPietro’s driving record indicated that the September 20, 1996, violation was his fourth OUI offense within a 10-year period. The letter also noted that DiPietro could treat the Bureau’s letter as a final agency action for the purposes of appeal.4 See M.R. Civ. P. 80C(a).

[¶ 5] On November 16, 1999, DiPietro filed a petition for review of a final agency action, pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C, seeking to have the administrative suspension invalidated and his license reinstated. After a hearing, the Superior Court (Warren, J.) held that: (1) 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2451 grants the Secretary of State the authority to impose the proper statutorily-delineated suspensions; (2) the administrative license [402]*402suspension imposed by the Secretary of State did not violate the double jeopardy provisions of the Maine and United States Constitutions, because the administrative suspension is remedial; and (3) the Secretary of State did not err in imposing the suspension without hearing because the issue upon which DiPietro opposed the suspension, equitable estoppel, was not one upon which the Secretary of State could grant relief. The court reserved its own judgment on the issue of equitable estop-pel until it had conducted a hearing on that issue.

[¶ 6] After that hearing, the court found that DiPietro knew that procedures for suspension by the courts and the Secretary of State “[were] on separate tracks,” because he had prior experience with license suspensions. In fact, DiPietro’s privileges had been previously suspended eight times. The court found that neither the sentencing justice nor the District Attorney ever suggested that the court-imposed suspension would bind the Secretary of State. The court also found that, although the District Attorney’s copy of DiPietro’s driving record, available at the plea, did not list a second suspension for refusal, the record did indicate that DiPie-tro had one prior refusal. The court reasoned that this record, although not completely accurate, gave DiPietro and his counsel notice that he was already beyond his second OUI offense. Additionally, the court found that the Secretary of State’s initial letter stating that DiPietro was facing a 6-year suspension should have put Dipietro and his counsel “on inquiry that more than one prior OUI offense was involved.” The court concluded that, based on both DiPietro’s and his attorney’s experience, (1) the actions of the court and the District Attorney could not bind the Secretary of State, and (2) it was not reasonable for DiPietro to rely on his 18-month court suspension as an indication of the Secretary of State’s future actions. Accordingly, the court held that equitable estoppel did not apply to the instant case. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

[¶ 7] DiPietro argues that the administrative suspension statute, 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2451,5 not only instructs the Secretary of State to record the court’s suspension, but it also bars imposition of a separate, longer administrative suspension. DiPietro misinterprets 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2451(3), which states that the Secretary of State “shall suspend the license of a person convicted of OUI” for the enumerated period. See also 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(5-B).6

[¶ 8] In Benedix v. Secretary of State, 603 A.2d 473 (Me.1992), we decided a similar issue. Benedix brought an 80C appeal when the Secretary of State increased his [403]*403license suspension from a 90-day court-ordered suspension to a one-year administrative suspension, after discovering that Benedix had been previously convicted of OUI within the then applicable 6-year period. Id. at 473-74. The Secretary of State relied on 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312-D(1) (Pamph.1991), repealed and replaced by P.L.1993, ch. 683, § A-1 (effective Jan. 1, 1995) (codified at 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2451) for authority to increase Benedix’s suspension period.7 Benedix, 603 A.2d at 473-74. We affirmed Benedix’s extended suspension, noting that the Secretary of State had the power “to see to it that the suspension that is statutorily mandated on the facts established in the records of his office is in fact imposed.” Id. 474.

[¶ 9] DiPietro argues that because section 1312-D has been repealed, the Secretary of State’s authority has also been rescinded. Despite DiPietro’s assertions, there is no language in former section 1312-D(1) that is absent from sections 2451(3) and 2411 that suggests that the Secretary of State’s mandate to impose minimum suspensions, now located in section 2451(3)(A)-(D), has been withdrawn. The recodification of the motor vehicle laws did not alter the law stated in Benedix. Therefore, the Secretary of State had the authority to impose the six-year suspension on DiPietro, although the court imposed an 18-month suspension at the time of the plea.

[¶ 10] DiPietro also argues that the administrative license suspension imposed by the Secretary of State is a multiple punishment that violates the double jeopardy provisions of the Maine8 and United States Constitutions.9 DiPietro’s argument misconstrues the nature of a license suspension.

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Bluebook (online)
2002 ME 114, 802 A.2d 399, 2002 Me. LEXIS 142, 2002 WL 1630693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dipietro-v-secretary-of-state-me-2002.