Klarenbeek v. Iowa Department of Transportation

555 N.W.2d 475, 1996 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 447, 1996 WL 668426
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedNovember 20, 1996
DocketNo. 95-1627
StatusPublished

This text of 555 N.W.2d 475 (Klarenbeek v. Iowa Department of Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Klarenbeek v. Iowa Department of Transportation, 555 N.W.2d 475, 1996 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 447, 1996 WL 668426 (iowa 1996).

Opinion

SNELL, Justice.

This is an appeal from the revocation of petitioner’s driver’s license for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, in violation of Iowa Code chapter 321J. The district court affirmed the decision of the reviewing officer of the Iowa Department of Transportation which revoked the license. We reverse and remand.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings

In the early morning hours of February 19,1995, Lyon County Deputy Sheriff Steven Michaels stopped a vehicle driven by appellant Darwyn Klarenbeek for crossing the center line. Deputy Michaels administered a preliminary breath test which indicated Klar-enbeek had a blood-alcohol concentration in excess of .10. Klarenbeek was arrested for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, in violation of Iowa Code section 321J.2 (1995). Deputy Michaels then transported Klarenbeek to the Lyon County Sheriffs office to invoke implied consent.

At the time of the arrest, deputy Michaels had not completed training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, although he had received some formal training at the Florida Law Enforcement Academy, the Polk County Sheriffs office, and field training with the Lyon County Sheriffs office. The record does not'indicate whether any of this training involved handling drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.

When Klarenbeek arrived at the Lyon County Sheriffs office, deputy Michaels sought assistance in invoking implied consent because he was not certified to operate an intoxilyzer machine. Rock Rapids police officer Joseph McCarty, who was so qualified, assisted deputy Michaels. Officer McCarty invoked implied consent and Klarenbeek agreed to submit to a breath test which indicated a blood-alcohol concentration of .137. The results of the analysis were certified by officer McCarty to the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) which revoked Klarenbeek’s license.

Klarenbeek challenged the revocation in administrative proceedings before IDOT, claiming that deputy Michaels lacked the formal training necessary to administer a preliminary breath test and invoke implied consent. An administrative law judge entered a decision reversing the license revocation and determined deputy Michaels was not a peace officer under section 321J.1(7) and thus could not invoke implied consent. On appeal, IDOT reinstated the license revocation, finding that it was officer McCarty who invoked implied consent, and not deputy Michaels. There is no dispute that officer McCarty qualifies as a peace officer under section 321J.1(7).

Klarenbeek filed a petition for judicial review under section 17A.19 of the Code challenging the revocation, claiming that implied consent was improperly invoked by the arresting officer, deputy Michaels. On August 25, 1995, the district court entered a ruling affirming the agency’s decision to revoke Klarenbeek’s license. The court found that deputy Michaels had sufficient formal training to qualify as a peace officer within the meaning of chapter 321J.1. It is from this ruling that Klarenbeek appeals.

II. Analysis

Our review standards are provided by Iowa Code section 17A.19(8), review of agency action.

We have recently filed State v. Palmer, 554 N.W.2d 859 (Iowa 1996), in which we extensively reviewed the history of the law embraced by chapter 321J as it pertained to driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Our decision in Palmer controls the result in the case now under consideration.

In Palmer, the defendant driver was arrested by a city police officer who had no formal training as a police officer through the [477]*477Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, nor did he have any formal college education in police science. After stopping the defendant’s vehicle and talking to defendant, the officer required him to perform tests after which he arrested him for drunk driving. At the jail, the arresting officer told the deputy sheriff that he could not invoke implied consent because he was not certified by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. Without making an independent assessment of the defendant’s intoxication, the deputy sheriff then read the implied consent form to the defen- • dant. The defendant consented to testing and a subsequent breath test administered by a second deputy sheriff showed a .154 blood-alcohol concentration. •

After analyzing the statutes, the words defined by the legislature, and the purpose of the law, we held that because the requirements of chapter 321J were not met, the results of the intoxilyzer test were properly suppressed. The arresting officer did not qualify as a “peace officer” as defined by Iowa Code section 321J.1(7). Arguments by the State were rejected that the statute is satisfied if the officer is a “de facto” peace officer. We also held that our rule of substantial compliance did not permit the admission of this evidence. We said:

Douglass was not a qualified peace officer for purposes of the implied consent statute. Moreover, his lack of qualifications directly impacts attainment of the legislative goal to protect citizens from indiscriminate testing and harassment. To conclude that a peace officer administering the implied consent procedures can rely on the observations of one not qualified by statute clearly undermines the purpose behind the legislature’s narrow definition of peace officer. Consequently, we hold that the deputy sheriffs reliance on Officer Douglass’s arrest of Palmer did not constitute substantial compliance with section 321J.6.

Palmer, 554 N.W.2d at 867.

On the question of whether the statute was satisfied by the participation of the second officer, who was qualified, we said:

The State [argues] that it can substantially comply with the statute in cases like Palmer’s by merely having the second, qualified officer rearrest the defendant. The State argues this technical compliance with the statute is a meaningless gesture. Such an action would certajnly be meaningless if the only requirement was that the second officer speak the magical words, “I hereby rearrest you.” We think, however, this mere formality would not result in substantial compliance with the statute.
What is lacking here is an arrest based on an objective and reliable assessment of intoxication made by one deemed competent under section 321J.1(7). Consequently, to substantially comply with section 321 J.6 under the facts of this case, it would have been necessary for the deputy sheriff to have independently assessed, based on his personal observations or tests that he administered, whether there were reasonable grounds to believe the defendant was intoxicated.
The State also argues the deputy sher--iffs invocation of the implied consent procedures resulted in a de facto rearrest of Palmer. It reasons the deputy possessed the same information as Douglass by virtue of the shared information rule and therefore, the deputy had probable cause to believe Palmer was operating a vehicle while intoxicated. We cannot accept this argument for the same reasons we have rejected the State’s substantial compliance argument. Douglass was not qualified under chapter 321J to make an arrest that could provide the basis for invoking implied consent. That is because he lacked the training required by that chapter.

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Related

State v. Owens
418 N.W.2d 340 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1988)
State v. Palmer
554 N.W.2d 859 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1996)
State v. Thornton
300 N.W.2d 94 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1981)
State v. Schubert
346 N.W.2d 30 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
555 N.W.2d 475, 1996 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 447, 1996 WL 668426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/klarenbeek-v-iowa-department-of-transportation-iowa-1996.