Nesius v. State Department of Revenue & Taxation, Motor Vehicle Division

791 P.2d 939, 1990 Wyo. LEXIS 135, 1990 WL 26959
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 15, 1990
Docket89-188
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 791 P.2d 939 (Nesius v. State Department of Revenue & Taxation, Motor Vehicle Division) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nesius v. State Department of Revenue & Taxation, Motor Vehicle Division, 791 P.2d 939, 1990 Wyo. LEXIS 135, 1990 WL 26959 (Wyo. 1990).

Opinions

GOLDEN, Justice.

The appellant (Nesius) was arrested on the evening of February 4, 1988, for driving while under the influence (DWUI). At some point after his arrival at the jail that evening, Nesius was asked to take a breath test.1 He refused to take the test and his driver’s license was suspended.2 Nesius [940]*940received a hearing to contest the suspension; 3 the hearing examiner sustained the suspension.4 The district court granted Nesius’s petition of review,5 and on June 26, 1989, it issued an order affirming the suspension.

On appeal, Nesius seeks reversal of the hearing examiner’s suspension of his driver’s license.

Nesius contends that:

I. The jurisdictional sworn statement was not presented according to the statute.
A. The signed statement must contain the information mandated by statute.
B. The suspension order is reversible under the administrative procedure act as having been obtained without observance of procedure required by law.
II. The refusal to take a chemical test is excused by failure to give adequate advisement of the law.
A. The refusal to submit, to be the basis for suspension, must be voluntary and knowing.
B. The appellant’s unadvised refusal was not voluntary.

The state asks whether:

I. The arresting officer’s signed statement and attached arrest report were properly submitted pursuant to law?
II. [Appellant] was properly advised of the Wyoming implied consent law?

We find sufficient evidence to support the hearing examiner’s decision. We affirm, but with a prospective modification of “Wyoming Implied Consent Advisement” to alleviate the possibility of confusion between the advisement about the chemical test and Miranda warnings.

BACKGROUND

Nesius, accompanied by his attorney, testified before the hearing examiner on March 14, 1988, that he was given his Miranda warnings upon his arrival at the jail. Nesius alleges he made his demand to speak with an attorney after being given the Miranda warnings and that the “Wyoming Implied Consent Advisement” form was never read to him. Since Nesius did not subpoena the deputy, he had no opportunity to question him at the hearing.6

The state’s evidence consisted of the officer’s signed statement,7 on which was written, “see attached report.” The attached report was in narrative form and consisted of three pages. Nesius objected to the statement and the report. The hearing examiner overruled the objection and admitted the signed statement and report into evidence, apparently as a “certified record.”8

[941]*941According to the attached report, the officer observed Nesius’s pickup speeding, cross the center line twice, and drive onto the shoulder of the highway four times. It goes on to note that Nesius had balance problems, smelled of alcohol, and had red and watery eyes. Nesius admitted, in the report, that he had drunk two beers. The report also chronicles Nesius’s poor performance in various field sobriety tests. From these observations, the officer believed he had probable cause to arrest Nesi-us for DWUI.

In the report the police officer additionally stated Nesius was advised that9 1) he was under arrest for DWUI; 2) his failure to submit to all required tests requested of his blood, breath, or urine for the purpose of determining the alcohol or controlled substance content of his blood would result in the suspension for six months of his Wyoming driver’s license and his privilege to operate a motor vehicle; 3) if a test was taken and the results indicated he was under the influence of alcohol, he may be subject to criminal penalties and his Wyoming driver’s license and his privileges to operate a motor vehicle would be suspended for ninety days; and 4) he may be taken to the nearest hospital or clinic and secure any or all required tests at his own expense or he could have the tests administered by a person at a place and in a manner prescribed by and at the expense of the officer’s agency. The officer stated that the above warning was given while Nesius was in the jail.

The report also states that Nesius refused to take the breath test. When Nesi-us was asked if he intended to have the test administered at his own expense, he indicated that he wanted to see an attorney before consenting to the test. Nesius was then issued a “Notice of Suspension and Temporary Wyoming Driver’s License.” 10

The hearing officer issued his “Implied Consent Order of Suspension” on March 18, 1988. The hearing officer ruled that the state, through the certified record, had established by a preponderance of the evidence each of the four elements necessary to uphold the suspension.11 The hearing officer found, inter alia, that Nesius “was advised of the requirement to submit to all requested tests and the consequences of taking or refusing to take a test.”

DISCUSSION

Nesius’s first argument focuses on the officer’s use of the attached report, instead of the signed statement, to document the arrest. Nesius argues that the language of W.S. 31-6-102(d) is mandatory; all of the statutory elements must be [942]*942found on the signed statement.12 The reason for this requirement, according to Nesi-us, is that the signed statement is deemed a sworn statement, and subject to the penalties for perjury.13 Nesius claims that because the signed statement contains none of the required elements (all of the necessary elements are, instead, found on the attached “unsworn” report), the state’s certified record violates the statute.

The force of Nesius’s argument is undercut, however, because he acknowledges that the signed statement could incorporate the attached report, notwithstanding the “mandatory” statutory language. He claims the officer failed to explicitly incorporate the report; therefore, we should find the certified record deficient and set aside the suspension. Our implied consent statutes are silent on incorporation of the officer’s investigative report into his signed statement. We believe the proper resolution of this issue focuses not on whether the attached report was properly incorporated, but on whether the attached report was accurate. The means to make that inquiry are already in place.

Through discovery, the officer’s signed statement and any accompanying documentation submitted by the arresting officer14 are accessible before the hearing. The individual with his attorney15 may challenge the suspension both before a hearing examiner and the district court. The power to subpoena the officer to question his preparation of the report is also available. Finally, the signed statement submitted by the peace officer shall be deemed a sworn statement and shall be subject to penalties for perjury. This provision subjects police officers to charges of perjury for attaching false reports to their signed statements.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
791 P.2d 939, 1990 Wyo. LEXIS 135, 1990 WL 26959, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nesius-v-state-department-of-revenue-taxation-motor-vehicle-division-wyo-1990.