Lynch v. STATE, DEPT. OF LICENSING

262 P.3d 65
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 14, 2011
Docket40041-3-II
StatusPublished

This text of 262 P.3d 65 (Lynch v. STATE, DEPT. OF LICENSING) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lynch v. STATE, DEPT. OF LICENSING, 262 P.3d 65 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

262 P.3d 65 (2011)

Leesa Marie LYNCH, Respondent,
v.
STATE of Washington, DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING, Appellant.

No. 40041-3-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

July 19, 2011.
Publication Ordered August 14, 2011.

*66 Toni Marie Hood, Office of The Attorney General, Olympia, WA, for Appellant.

Barbara Ann Bowden, Law Office of Barbara Bowden, Lakewood, WA, Michael R. Frans, Law Office of Michael R. Frans, Burien, WA, for Respondent.

VAN DEREN, J.

¶ 1 The State appeals the trial court's order reversing the Washington State Department of Licensing's (Department) decision to suspend Leesa Marie Lynch's driver's license and disqualify her commercial driver's license (CDL). The State argues that the implied consent warnings Lynch received were accurate and not misleading, and that Lynch failed to prove that the warnings prejudiced her. We hold that the warnings were not inaccurate or misleading and that Lynch has not shown actual prejudice in this civil proceeding. We reverse the superior court and affirm the Department's suspension of Lynch's driver's license and disqualification of her CDL.

FACTS

¶ 2 In the early morning of March 27, 2009, Washington State Patrol Trooper John Garden arrested Lynch for driving her personal vehicle under the influence (DUI). At 2:33 am, Lynch volunteered to take a portable breath test (PBT) and blew a breath sample that measured her blood alcohol content (BAC) at 0.125.[1] Lynch told Garden "she stopped by a bar after work and had a couple drinks." Admin. Record (AR) at 51.

¶ 3 Garden placed Lynch in custody, informed her of her Miranda[2] rights, and *67 transported her to the Sumner Police Department. At the police station, Garden read Lynch the implied consent warnings regarding taking the BAC tests that stated:

Warning! You are under arrest for:

. . .

RCW 46.61.502 or RCW 46.61.504: Driving or being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and/or drugs.
. . . .
Further, you are now being asked to submit to a test of your breath which consists of two separate samples of your breath, taken independently, to determine alcohol concentration.
1. You are now advised that you have the right to refuse this breath test; and that if you refuse:
(a) Your driver's license, permit, or privilege to drive will be revoked or denied by the [D]epartment . . . for at least one year; and
(b) Your refusal to submit to this test may be used in a criminal trial.
2. You are further advised that if you submit to this breath test, and the test is administered, your driver's license, permit, or privilege to drive will be suspended, revoked, or denied by the [D]epartment . . . for at least ninety days if you are:
(a) Age twenty-one or over and the test indicates the alcohol concentration of your breath is 0.08 or more, or you are in violation of RCW 46.61.502, driving under the influence, or RCW 46.61.504, physical control of a vehicle under the influence; or
(b) Under age twenty-one and the test indicates the alcohol concentration of your breath is 0.02 or more, or you are in violation of RCW 46.61.502, driving under the influence, or RCW 46.61.504, physical control of a vehicle under the influence.
3. If your driver's license, permit, or privilege to drive is suspended, revoked, or denied, you may be eligible to immediately apply for an ignition interlock driver's license.
4. You have the right to additional tests administered by any qualified person of your own choosing.
For those not driving a commercial motor vehicle at the time of arrest: If your driver's license is suspended or revoked, your commercial driver's license, if any, will be disqualified.

AR at 46 (capitalization omitted). Lynch was unable to sign the implied consent warnings form because she was handcuffed, but she confirmed to Garden that she "acknowledge[d] and understood" the warnings and agreed to give two breath samples. AR at 46. Garden then administered two BAC DataMaster tests that measured Lynch's breath alcohol level at 0.110 and 0.120.

¶ 4 On April 7, the Department mailed Lynch (1) an "order of suspension" informing her that her "driving privilege w[ould] be suspended for 90 days on May 27, 2009, at 12:01 a.m., for being in physical control or driving under the influence of alcohol," in violation of RCW 46.20.3101,[3] and (2) a "notice of disqualification," informing her that her CDL would be disqualified on May 27 for one year under RCW 46.25.090.[4] AR at 43, 59 (capitalization omitted).

*68 ¶ 5 At the subsequent administrative hearing that Lynch requested, she argued that her license suspension should be rescinded because (1) Garden lacked a legal basis to make contact with her on the night of her arrest, (2) Garden lacked a sufficient basis to believe that Lynch was driving while impaired, (3) the BAC machine was not an approved device, making the results inadmissible, and (4) Lynch was denied the opportunity to make a knowing and intelligent decision regarding whether she should take the breathalyzer test.

¶ 6 The administrative hearing officer found that (1) the initial contact was justified based on Lynch's vehicle traveling 80 miles per hour (mph) in a 60 mph zone; (2) Garden had probable cause to arrest Lynch based on "behavioral and physical indicia of alcohol consumption," Lynch's admission that she had consumed alcohol, and Lynch's 0.125 result from the PBT that indicated Lynch had been driving her vehicle in violation of RCW 46.61.502; (3) the BAC DataMaster machine was approved and the results admissible; and (4) Garden "informed [Lynch] of the implied consent rights and warnings," and Lynch "expressed no confusion regarding the[] implied consent rights and warnings and signed the form." AR at 4. Additionally, the hearing officer concluded that Lynch "did not express confusion and the warnings that appear on the form are exactly what are listed in the statute. [Lynch] was properly informed of the rights and warnings required by RCW 46.20.308. [Lynch] had an opportunity to make a knowing and intelligent decision about taking the test." AR at 6.

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Bluebook (online)
262 P.3d 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lynch-v-state-dept-of-licensing-washctapp-2011.