McNeil v. State ex rel. Department of Public Safety

Louisiana Court of Appeal

McNeil v. State ex rel. Department of Public Safety

334 So. 2d 704, 1976 La. App. LEXIS 3399

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal

DecidedJune 30, 1976

DocketNo. 7547

StatusPublished

This text of 334 So. 2d 704 (McNeil v. State ex rel. Department of Public Safety) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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McNeil v. State ex rel. Department of Public Safety, 334 So. 2d 704, 1976 La. App. LEXIS 3399 (La. Ct. App. 1976).

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Opinion

STOULIG, Judge.

Appellant, Tracy McNeil, has appealed a judgment of the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Charles, upholding an administrative decision by the Driver Improvement Division of the Louisiana State Department of Public Safety to revoke his driving privileges for a six-month period for refusing to submit to an intoxication test after he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Briefly, the facts are these: At 1:30 a. m., on March 9, 1973, appellant was arrested by a state trooper in St. Charles Parish and charged with speeding and driving while intoxicated. Sheriff’s deputies asked him to submit to the photoelectric intoxi-meter (P.E.I.) test and advised him that his license could be suspended for a six-month period should he refuse. Appellant nonetheless declined.

We reverse solely on the basis of two recent appellate decisions, i. e., State v. Jones¹ and Mullens v. Department of Public Safety, Driv. Lic. D.2 The import of these cases is that P.E.I. tests administered or tendered prior to December 20, 1975, were invalid because the Health and Human Resources Administration failed to establish standards for the qualifications of personnel administering the test and for conduct of the test itself as required by L. R.S. 32:663. Consequently the test proposed to be given to plaintiff on March 9, 1973 was invalid and his refusal to submit thereto cannot serve as the basis for invoking the statutory penalty of suspension of his driving privileges.

For the reasons assigned, the judgment appealed from is reversed and the Driver Improvement Division of the Louisiana [705]*705State Department of Public Safety is hereby enjoined from suspending driving privileges of Tracy McNeil.

REVERSED AND RENDERED.

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STOULIG, Judge.

Appellant, Tracy McNeil, has appealed a judgment of the Twenty-Ninth Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Charles, upholding an administrative decision by the Driver Improvement Division of the Louisiana State Department of Public Safety to revoke his driving privileges for a six-month period for refusing to submit to an intoxication test after he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Briefly, the facts are these: At 1:30 a. m., on March 9, 1973, appellant was arrested by a state trooper in St. Charles Parish and charged with speeding and driving while intoxicated. Sheriff’s deputies asked him to submit to the photoelectric intoxi-meter (P.E.I.) test and advised him that his license could be suspended for a six-month period should he refuse. Appellant nonetheless declined.

We reverse solely on the basis of two recent appellate decisions, i. e., State v. Jones¹ and Mullens v. Department of Public Safety, Driv. Lic. D.2 The import of these cases is that P.E.I. tests administered or tendered prior to December 20, 1975, were invalid because the Health and Human Resources Administration failed to establish standards for the qualifications of personnel administering the test and for conduct of the test itself as required by L. R.S. 32:663. Consequently the test proposed to be given to plaintiff on March 9, 1973 was invalid and his refusal to submit thereto cannot serve as the basis for invoking the statutory penalty of suspension of his driving privileges.

For the reasons assigned, the judgment appealed from is reversed and the Driver Improvement Division of the Louisiana [705]*705State Department of Public Safety is hereby enjoined from suspending driving privileges of Tracy McNeil.

REVERSED AND RENDERED.

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334 So. 2d 704, 1976 La. App. LEXIS 3399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcneil-v-state-ex-rel-department-of-public-safety-lactapp-1976.

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