Patricia S. Reed, Comm. W. Va. Dept. of Motor Vehicles v. Dustin Hall

773 S.E.2d 666, 235 W. Va. 322, 2015 W. Va. LEXIS 682
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 22, 2015
Docket14-0342
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 773 S.E.2d 666 (Patricia S. Reed, Comm. W. Va. Dept. of Motor Vehicles v. Dustin Hall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Patricia S. Reed, Comm. W. Va. Dept. of Motor Vehicles v. Dustin Hall, 773 S.E.2d 666, 235 W. Va. 322, 2015 W. Va. LEXIS 682 (W. Va. 2015).

Opinions

WORKMAN, Chief Justice:

The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (hereinafter “the DMV”)1 appeals an order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County affirming an order of the Office of Administrative Hearings (hereinafter “OAH” or “hearing examiner”) that reversed a license revocation order entered by the DMV Commissioner based upon the arrest of Dustin Hall for driving under the influence of alcohol (hereinafter “DUI”). Upon thorough review of the record, arguments of counsel, and applicable precedent, this Court reverses the [325]*325order of the circuit court, in part, and affirms it, in part.

I. Factual and Procedural History-

On February 3, 2011, Officer N.W. Harden of the South Charleston Police Department was assisting two other officers of the department with a traffic stop along'Montrose Drive in South Charleston, West Virginia. Officer Harden overheard a radio call from the Kanawha County 911 Center regarding a vehicle being driven the wrong way on MacCorkle Avenue approaching Montrose Drive. Officer Harden observed the vehicle traveling south in the northbound lanes of Mont-rose Drive, and he stopped the vehicle near the eastbound ramp to Interstate 64.

According to the testimony of Officer Harden, the driver of the vehicle, Mr. Hall,2 had difficulty locating his driver’s license and appeared disoriented and confused. When asked to walk to the rear of the vehicle, Mr. Hall was unsteady walking to the roadside and while standing. Mr. Hall informed Officer A.J. Davis, also present at the scene, that he had consumed alcoholic beverages with his boss.

Officer Harden explained and administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus test to Mr. Hall. During the administration of that .test, Mr. Hall’s eyes displayed lack of smooth pursuit and distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation. He had onset of nystagmus prior to forty-five degrees in both eyes. Officer Harden also explained and demonstrated the walk-and-turn and one leg stand tests, but Mr. Hall refused to perform those tests.

Officer Harden placed Mr. Hall under arrest for DUI at 3:17 a.m. Officer Harden thereafter transferred custody of Mr. Hall to Officer J.D. Keeney, also with the South Charleston Police Department, and Officer Keeney transported Mr. Hall to the police department’s headquarters. At the South Charleston police station, Officer J.A Bailes read the West Virginia implied consent form to Mr. Hall, advising him that the penalty for refusal of submit to the secondary breath test was license revocation. Mr. Hall signed the implied consent form but refused to take the secondary breath test, stating that he wished tb have a blood test. Officer Bailes testified that Mr. Hall told him “[a]t least twice” that he refused to take the test. Officer Bailes stated, “I specifically asked him twice, once he had a 15-minute period to change his mind.”

Subsequently, Officer Harden was informed that Mr. Hall had refused the secondary breath test and had requested a blood test. Specifically, Officer Harden testified,

By the time the wrecker came and had taken [Mr. Hall’s] vehicle and I had gotten back to our headquarters, I was informed that Mr. Hall didn’t want to take the breathalyzer, but wished to have blood drawn. So right before we left, I asked him again for the 15 minutes if he wanted to take it or have blood drawn. He would have rather had blood drawn.

Officer Harden explained that “the officers then processed, fingerprinted and photographed Mr. Hall, and then we took him and put him in the back of the police cruiser for transportation to Thomas Memorial Hospital [located in South Charleston, West Virginia] to have' blood drawn.” Ms. Andrea Gray withdrew blood from Mr. Hall at 4:26 a.m., and she gave the blood specimen to Officer Harden. Officer Keeney then transported Mr. Hall back to the South Charleston Police Department for arraignment and thereafter took him to the South Central Regional Jail.’ Officer Harden testified that he “placed the blood sample into Evidence Locker No. 5 around 0541 hours in the morning for submission to the West Virginia State Police Laboratory.” When Officer Harden later spoke with a technician at the South Charleston Police Department about the blood sample, he was informed that the West Virginia State Police Laboratory had not been accepting blood specimens, so the sample had not been submitted for analysis. Officer Harden testified that the blood sample remained at the police department.

Mr. Hall’s driver’s license was revoked by the DMV for both DUI and the refusal to submit to the designated chemical test, effective March 16, 2011. Mr. Hall’s commercial [326]*326driver’s license was disqualified on the same grounds as of that date. - The DMV regular driver’s license revocation order provided that Mr.-Hall’s license was revoked for one year for “refusing the secondary chemical test” and six months for “driving under the influence.”3

Mr. Hall requested an administrative hearing before the OAH, and such healing was conducted on June 27, 2012, and October 17-, 2012. Mr. Hall appeared but did not testify. On July 29, 2013, the OAH entered a “Decision of the Hearing Examiner and Final Order of the Chief Hearing Examiner” rescinding Mr. Hall’s license revocation and disqualification. With regard to the implied consent form provided to Mr. Hall, the hearing examiner found that the investigating officer was not the officer who directed Mr. Hall to submit to the secondary breath test; “rather, this was done by another officer who did not arrest [Mr. Hall].” The hearing examiner also noted that the testimony “suggests that [Mr. Hall] may have been given a choice, or at least led to believe he had a choice, as to whether he wanted to take a breath test or whether he wanted to take a blood test.” Based upon that issue, the hearing examiner stated: “Therefore, the portions of the Orders heretofore entered which disqualified [Mr. Hall] from driving a commercial vehicle and revoked his privilege to drive -any motor vehicle for refusing to submit to a designated secondary chemical test should likewise be rescinded.”

Further, the hearing examiner found that Mr. Hall was effectively denied an independent blood test “when the Investigating Officer failed to cause [Mr. - Hall’s] blood specimens to be submitted to a qualified laboratory for the specimens could be [sic] analyzed for their blood alcohol con- ■ centration.” The healing examiner. found that the absence of the blood test “denied him the right to obtain evidence for his defense” and constituted a denial of “his due process rights.” On the basis of the denial of the right to obtain a blood test, the hearing examiner stated:

Based upon the foregoing analysis, the only appropriate sanction that can be imposed due to the denial of [Mr. Hall’s] right to the independent blood test is to ' rescind the portions of the Orders heretofore, entered which disqualified [Mr. Hall] from driving a commercial motor vehicle and revoking his privilege to- drive any motor vehicle for driving a motor vehicle in this state while under the influence of alcohol.,

The circuit court entered a. final order on March 6, 2014, -upholding the OAH’s order. The DMV now appeals to this 'Court and argues that the circuit court erred in upholding the OAH’s rescission of the driver’s license revocations.

II. Standard of Review

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Everett Frazier v. George Gilbert
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Everett Frazier v. Crystal Parker
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Everett Frazier v. Nathan Talbert
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Frazier, DMV Commissioner v. Murphy
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Frazier, DMV Commissioner v. Goodson
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Frazier, DMV Commissioner v. Fazio
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Frazier, DMV Commissioner v. Fowler
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Frazier, DMV Commissioner v. Bowman
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Frazier, DMV Commissioner v. Agin
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Everett Frazier v. Misty Workman
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2021
Everett Frazier v. Gary L. Bragg
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2020
Patricia Reed, Comm. W. Va. DMV v. Desiree Divita
West Virginia Supreme Court, 2015

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
773 S.E.2d 666, 235 W. Va. 322, 2015 W. Va. LEXIS 682, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patricia-s-reed-comm-w-va-dept-of-motor-vehicles-v-dustin-hall-wva-2015.