Floyd v. Director of Revenue

140 S.W.3d 165, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 805, 2004 WL 1190254
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 1, 2004
DocketED 81868
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 140 S.W.3d 165 (Floyd v. Director of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Floyd v. Director of Revenue, 140 S.W.3d 165, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 805, 2004 WL 1190254 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

WILLIAM H. CRANDALL, JR., Judge.

Cindy Floyd filed a petition for review of the revocation of her driving privileges by the Director of Revenue (Director). A prosecutor confessed judgment. Director filed a motion to set aside this judgment for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed Floyd’s petition for review. Floyd appeals. We reverse.

On September 24, 2001, Floyd was involved in a traffic accident and taken to a hospital. Missouri Highway Patrol Corporal D.E. Caldwell investigated the accident and spoke to Floyd in the emergency room. The following is adduced from a narrative supplement completed by Corporal Caldwell describing what occurred at the hospital. Floyd “was very upset and asking for her daughter.” Floyd became very uncooperative with the emergency staff and stated that she wanted to leave. 1 Restraints were used to prevent Floyd from injuring herself. Corporal Caldwell told Floyd that she was under arrest for driving while intoxicated, advised Floyd of her Miranda rights and read Missouri’s implied consent law to Floyd. Corporal Caldwell asked Floyd to take a chemical test of her blood and she refused.

The parties would later stipulate that Corporal Caldwell placed a notice that Floyd’s driving privileges were being revoked in her purse.

On December 21, 2001, Floyd filed a petition for review of Director’s revocation of her driving privileges. Floyd alleged, among other things, that she first learned of the revocation on November 26, 2001, when her attorney requested her driving record. An assistant prosecuting attorney for St. Charles County appeared for Director. On February 4, 2002, the prosecutor, “pursuant to plea agreement,” confessed judgment on Floyd’s petition for review. 2 That same day Floyd pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated.

*167 On February 13, 2002, Senior Counsel for Director entered an appearance. Two days later, Director filed a motion to set aside the February 4, 2002 judgment for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. 3 Director alleged that the arresting officer gave Floyd notice of the revocation on September 24, 2001. Director further alleged that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because Floyd’s December 21, 2001 petition was filed more than thirty days after she received notice of the revocation. The motion provides that it was made “pursuant to Rule 75.01.” Thereafter, the parties stipulated that Corporal Caldwell placed the notice of revocation of Floyd’s driving privileges in her purse “while [Floyd] and her purse were in the hospital room.” The parties also stipulated that Floyd’s mental and physical condition was as described in Corporal Caldwell’s narrative and that Floyd was not “lucid,” or “clearly thinking.”

On May 21, 2002, the trial court entered judgment granting Director’s motion to set aside the February 4, 2002 judgment. The court also dismissed Floyd’s petition for review for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Floyd appeals, raising five points.

In her first point, Floyd argues that the trial court erred in granting Director’s “Rule 75.01 motion” to set aside the February 4, 2002 judgment. Floyd emphasizes that Director’s motion specifically invoked relief only under Rule 75.01 and no other “procedure.” Rule 75.01 states in part that a “trial court retains jurisdiction over judgments during the thirty-day period after entry of judgment....” Floyd contends that under Rule 75.01 the court’s jurisdiction expired thirty days after February 4, 2002, and therefore the judgment entered on May 21, 2002 was invalid.

The motion is titled “Motion to Set Aside Order for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction,” and states that it was being made “pursuant to Rule 75.01.” Director argued in the motion that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because Floyd filed her petition for review more than thirty days after receiving notice of her revocation.

We note initially that the issue of subject matter jurisdiction could have been raised for the first time on appeal. Rule 55.27(g)(3). Moreover, Rule 74.06(b)(4) provides relief from a void judgment and may be filed within a “reasonable time.” West v. Director of Revenue, 996 S.W.2d 775, 776 (Mo.App. E.D.1999). A judgment entered without jurisdiction, as was argued in the motion at issue, is null and void. Id.

On February 15, 2002, Director filed the motion to set aside the February 4, 2002 judgment. Even if the motion had been filed more than thirty days after February 4, 2002, the motion could have been filed within a “reasonable time” under Rule 74.06(b). Despite Director’s reliance on Rule 75.01, the trial court could have considered the motion as one under Rule 74.06. Accordingly, the trial court could rule on Director’s motion challenging jurisdiction more than thirty days after February 4, 2002. Id. Floyd’s first point is denied. 4

*168 We next address Floyd’s third point. Citing McInerney v. Director of Revenue, 12 S.W.3d 403 (Mo.App. E.D.2000), Director states that “In revocation cases, this court has held that the burden of proving lack of notice is on the driver.” Director then contends that because the parties stipulated that the arresting officer placed the revocation notice in Floyd’s purse when she and the purse were in Floyd’s hospital room, the trial court “possessed evidence” to conclude that Floyd failed to satisfy her burden of proving lack of notice.

In McInerney, the arresting officer testified that on the date of the arrest he handed the driver the revocation notice, witnessed the driver sign the notice and placed the notice in the driver’s property bag. 12 S.W.3d at 404. The driver testified that he was not given the notice by the officer nor did he sign it, but that he later received the form from his attorney. Id. This court stated that “Driver bears the burden to prove the petition was filed ‘within thirty days after notice’ of revocation.” Id. at 405 (quoting Ezenwa v. Director of Revenue, 791 S.W.2d 854, 857 (Mo.App.1990))(emphasis added). The driver did not testify or state in his petition the date that he received the form from his attorney. Id. This court held that the driver’s failure to set forth facts to prove the timely filing of his petition deprived the circuit court of subject matter jurisdiction. Id.

The facts and issue in the present case differ from those in Mclnemey. Here, Floyd alleged that she received the notice on November 26, 2001. In Mclnemey, the driver failed to allege or testify when he received notice. Contrary to Mclnemey, the issue in the present case is whether the arresting officer gave the driver, Floyd, proper notice of revocation.

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Related

Wise v. State
219 S.W.3d 270 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2007)
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149 S.W.3d 897 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
140 S.W.3d 165, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 805, 2004 WL 1190254, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/floyd-v-director-of-revenue-moctapp-2004.