Dumont v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles

712 A.2d 427, 48 Conn. App. 635, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 203
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedMay 12, 1998
DocketAC 16761
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 712 A.2d 427 (Dumont v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dumont v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, 712 A.2d 427, 48 Conn. App. 635, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 203 (Colo. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Opinion

STOUGHTON, J.

This is an appeal from the judgment dismissing the appeal by the plaintiff, Roland Dumont, from the decision of the commissioner of motor vehicles suspending Dumont’s license to operate a motor vehicle. Dumont claims that (1) there was no probable cause for his arrest, (2) the commissioner’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence, and his expert evidence rebutted the statutory presumption, (3) General Statutes §§ 14-227a (a)1 and 14-227b2 are [637]*637unconstitutional in various respects, (4) his rights were substantially prejudiced because the hearing officer acted as judge and state advocate and (5) his due process rights were violated by the denial of his request for a continuance.

The hearing officer reasonably could have found the following facts. On April 11, 1996, a state trooper on Interstate 84 observed Dumont’s car swerve from the left exit lane back onto the highway, causing other vehicles to brake quickly. The trooper stopped Dumont for operating his vehicle erratically and found that Dumont’s breath had an odor of alcohol. Dumont said that he had been drinking beer. When Dumont got out of his car, he steadied himself on the car and walked with a limp. He told the trooper that he had injured his left ankle and right heel the previous year, and the [638]*638trooper, therefore, did not ask Dumont to perform all of the standard field sobriety tests. In the opinion of the trooper, Dumont failed the tests that were administered. On the basis of the test results and his other observations, the trooper arrested Dumont for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and took him to the Southington police station. After advising Dumont of his rights, the trooper administered two breath tests using an Intoxilyzer 5000 machine. The results of the tests showed blood alcohol levels of 0.132 percent and 0.118 percent. Thereafter, the commissioner notified Dumont that his operator’s license was to be suspended for a period of ninety days.

Pursuant to § 14-227b, Dumont requested a hearing on the suspension of his license. His counsel issued a subpoena ordering the trooper to appear at the hearing with the machine and a number of documents. The trooper appeared and testified, but brought only a log book with him. He testified that the machine was functioning properly at the time of the tests and that it was certified by the state department of public health and addiction services (health department). He testified further, however, that the machine and the other items requested were not within the custody or control of the state police, but were the property of and in the custody of either the Southington police department, the health department or some other agency. Dumont requested a continuance to obtain the evidence sought. The hearing officer denied the request.

At the hearing, Dumont submitted a report signed by a toxicologist, Brian Pape,3 in which Pape expressed the opinion that the machine used to measure the alcohol content of Dumont’s blood was not rehable. Pape concluded that there was a reasonable likelihood that [639]*639Dumont’s true blood alcohol content was less than 0.10 percent at the time of his breath tests.

The hearing officer concluded that the police had probable cause to arrest Dumont, that they did arrest him for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, that he had been operating a motor vehicle and that within two hours alter operating the vehicle, he had submitted to a breath test that showed the alcohol content of his blood to be above the legal limit. On the basis of those findings, the hearing officer suspended Dumont’s license. Dumont appealed to the Superior Court, which upheld the license suspension. We affirm the decision of the Superior Court.

I

Dumont claims first that because the trooper failed to administer two particular field sobriety tests, and because two of the tests administered were nonstandard, there was not probable cause for an arrest.1 **4

“It is fundamental that a plaintiff has the burden of proving that the commissioner, on the facts before him, acted contrary to law and in abuse of his discretion.

“Probable cause, broadly defined, comprises such facts as would reasonably persuade an impartial and reasonable mind not merely to suspect or conjecture, but to believe that criminal activity has occurred. . . . In determining whether there was probable cause to arrest for operating a motor vehicle while under the [640]*640influence of liquor, the court may consider, just as in an arrest for any other criminal offense, circumstantial as well as direct evidence. . . .

“To establish probable cause, it is not necessary to produce a quantum of evidence necessary to convict. . . . The credibility of witnesses and the determination of factual issues are matters within the province of the administrative agency, and this court cannot disturb the conclusions reached by the commissioner if there is evidence that reasonably supports his decision.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Kirei v. Hadley, 47 Conn. App. 451, 456-57, 705 A.2d 205 (1998).

As in Kirei, the record here shows that the testimony of the trooper, the trooper’s report that was admitted into evidence and the totality of the circumstances at the time of Dumont’s arrest support the hearing officer’s finding that there was probable cause to arrest Dumont for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor. See id., 457.

The trial court properly found that there was ample evidence to support the hearing officer’s determination that there was probable cause to arrest Dumont.

II

Dumont next claims (1) that the hearing officer’s finding that Dumont was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor was not supported by substantial evidence because the breath test machine was not functioning properly, (2) that the hearing officer improperly disregarded Pape’s report, which was the only expert evidence offered, and (3) that Pape’s report rebutted the statutory presumption that the results of the tests indicated Dumont’s blood alcohol content at the time of operation.

[641]*641Given the trooper’s testimony and the certification of the machine by the health department, the court had ample evidence to conclude that the machine was functioning properly.

Our recent decision in Bancroft v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, 48 Conn. App. 391, 710 A.2d 807 (1998), directly addresses Dumont’s arguments regarding his expert evidence. The hearing officer “is not required to believe unrebutted expert testimony, but may believe all, part or none of such unrebutted expert evidence.” Id., 405. Moreover, Dumont has not demonstrated that the hearing officer disregarded Pape’s report. As to the argument that Pape’s report rebutted the statutory presumption, we stated in Bancroft

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Bluebook (online)
712 A.2d 427, 48 Conn. App. 635, 1998 Conn. App. LEXIS 203, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dumont-v-commissioner-of-motor-vehicles-connappct-1998.