Matthews v. Director of Revenue

72 S.W.3d 175, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 696, 2002 WL 464733
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 28, 2002
DocketNo. 24437
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 72 S.W.3d 175 (Matthews 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
Matthews v. Director of Revenue, 72 S.W.3d 175, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 696, 2002 WL 464733 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

PHILLIP R. GARRISON, Presiding Judge. .

The Director of Revenue (“Director”) appeals from a judgment reinstating Brent A. Matthews’ (“Matthews”) driving privileges. Matthews’ license had been suspended pursuant to § 302.3041 because of his alleged accumulation of eight or more points within an eighteen-month period. The trial court’s judgment is reversed and remanded with directions.

On March 13, 2001, Director issued a thirty-day suspension of Matthews’ driving privileges pursuant to § 302.304. The suspension was based on Matthews’ alleged conviction of three speeding-related driving offenses between October 1999 and March 2001. Specifically, the offenses included speeding convictions in Missouri on October 28, 1999, Wyoming on August 15, 2000, and Nebraska on March 5, 2001. Director determined each offense warranted a three-point assessment, for a total of nine points. Matthews requested a judicial review of the administrative driver’s license suspension, and claimed that he had not accumulated a sufficient number of points within the prescribed time to justify the suspension of his license.

At the hearing, Director offered Exhibit A, which contained Matthews’ driving record maintained by the Missouri Department of Revenue, as well as documentation of the alleged convictions from Missouri, Wyoming, and Nebraska. While Matthews agreed that the' exhibit itself was admissible under § 302.312,2 he did argue [177]*177the contents of the exhibit were insufficient to sustain Director’s burden of proof. Matthews did not challenge the sufficiency of the Missouri conviction, but did challenge the other two.

On July 10, 2001, the trial court entered its judgment and reversed Director’s suspension of Matthews’ license, finding that there was “insufficient evidence to support the suspension of [Matthews’] driving privileges.” This appeal followed.

Director’s only point on appeal is that the trial court erred in reversing the suspension of Matthews’ driving privileges because its judgment was not supported by substantial evidence and was against the weight of the evidence. Director claims that Matthews failed to provide any evidence to rebut the contents of Exhibit A, which Director alleges showed that he had accumulated more than eight points in an eighteen-month period.

“[W]e will affirm the decision of the trial court to reinstate [Matthews’] driving privileges unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, it erroneously declares the law, or it erroneously applies the law.” Hobbs v. Director of Revenue, 51 S.W.3d 874, 875 (Mo.App. E.D.2001).

The basis for Director’s argument is that Matthews failed to meet either his burden of persuasion or his burden of producing evidence. Director’s reasoning is based on a recent Missouri Supreme Court case, in which the court outlined the burdens each party carries in such cases. See Kinzenbaw v. Director of Revenue, 62 S.W.3d 49, 51 (Mo. banc 2001). In Kin-zenbaw, the court held that the driver “has the burden of producing evidence that he is qualified for a driver’s license, and the director has the burden of producing evidence that he is not. The director meets her burden by introducing the administrative record. The burden of persuasion, as distinct from the burden of producing evidence, is at all times on [the driver] and never shifts. It is [the driver’s] burden to prove that the facts on which the director relied in denying the license are not true or are legally insufficient to support the denial or suspension of the license.” Id. As an example, the court said that the driver has the burden to produce evidence and persuade the trial court that he is not the person shown convicted in the record. Id. at 55.

At the hearing, Director introduced Exhibit A showing three convictions, which on its face, was sufficient to meet her burden under Kinzenbaw. Id. at 54. Matthews presented no evidence at the hearing, but argued that the records of the Wyoming and Nebraska convictions were insufficient. As for the alleged Wyoming conviction, he challenged it on two bases. He claimed the record was insufficient in that it failed to indicate whether the offense was a statutory or municipal offense, and that it failed to demonstrate whether the vehicle involved was a private or commercial vehicle, both of which Matthews argued might affect the point assessment.

Regarding the claim that it is unclear whether it was a statutory or municipal offense, the Wyoming court record references a statute and indicates that Matthews was cited for traveling 91 miles per hour in a 75 mile per hour zone on Interstate 80. The statute number is given as 31 — 5—301(b)(iii), which is indeed a Wyoming state statute that specifies a 75 mile per hour speed limit on interstate highways in the state. See Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-[178]*178301. Under § 302.160, Director is authorized to assess points for a violation that, “if committed in [Missouri], would result in the assessment of points.” In Missouri, three points are assessed for speeding in violation of a state statute. See § 302.302.1(2).

As for his claim that the Wyoming documentation does not clearly identify whether the vehicle was commercial or private, which, according to Matthews, would affect the assessment of points, he is relying on cases that discuss earlier versions of §§ 304.009 and 304.010. Prior to changes in 1996, these statutes contained references to, and made distinctions based upon, the gross weight of a vehicle. See §§ 304.009 and 304.010, RSMo Supp.1995. Under these earlier statutes, speed limits varied based upon the gross weight of the vehicle, and case law interpreting those statutes stated that “[i]f the vehicle is a truck, then it is necessary to know the ‘registered gross weight’ because the maximum speed limits set forth in §§ 304.009 and 304.010 are lower on certain highways for vehicles with registered gross weights exceeding twenty-four thousand pounds.” Schrimpf v. Director of Revenue, 889 S.W.2d 171, 174-75 (Mo.App. W.D.1994).

Under those statutes, whether a vehicle was commercial or private was also an important distinction because, under one definition, a vehicle was commercial if it had “a gross combination weight rating of twenty-six thousand one or more pounds.” § 302.700.2(6)(a). Therefore, if a vehicle were commercial, the lower speed limits from the earlier versions of §§ 304.009 and 304.010 would apply. See Meyer v. Director of Revenue, 909 S.W.2d 397, 401 (Mo.App. W.D.1995). However, while the definition of commercial vehicle has not changed, §§ 304.009 and 304.010 have changed substantially, and Missouri no longer has statutes under which speed limits vary based upon gross weight of a vehicle. Thus, a commercial/private distinction is no longer necessary under Missouri law as it relates to speeding violations. Therefore, as stated above, a three-point assessment by Director was appropriate for the violation.

Matthews also argues that the Wyoming documentation is defective because it does not clearly identify the final disposition of the case.

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Bluebook (online)
72 S.W.3d 175, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 696, 2002 WL 464733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matthews-v-director-of-revenue-moctapp-2002.