Romsa v. State ex rel. Wyoming Department of Transportation

2012 WY 146, 288 P.3d 695, 2012 Wyo. LEXIS 153
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 20, 2012
DocketNo. S-12-0005
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2012 WY 146 (Romsa v. State ex rel. Wyoming Department of Transportation) 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
Romsa v. State ex rel. Wyoming Department of Transportation, 2012 WY 146, 288 P.3d 695, 2012 Wyo. LEXIS 153 (Wyo. 2012).

Opinion

HILL, Justice.

[T1] After being arrested for driving while under the influence (DWUI) in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 81-5-233(b) (Lexis-Nexis 2011), Todd L. Romsa submitted a request for contested case hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). Romsa asked the OAH to rule that the procedure used by the arresting officer to conduct the chemical breath test upon which his arrest was based did not comply with Wyo. Stat, Ann. § 81-6-105(a) (LexisNexis 2011) and, therefore, the proposed suspension of his driver's license must be vacated.1 The OAH hearing examiner issued an Order Upholding Per Se Suspension on June 9, 2011. Romsa petitioned the district court to review the order of the OAH and on November 11, 2011, that court affirmed the OAH's order. Romsa now appeals the order of the district court. We affirm the order of the district court affirming the order of the hearing examiner that suspended the driver's license of Romsa.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Romsa presents two issues for our consideration:

I. It is improper for OAH to apply a presumption that the underlying chemical test result is valid where the certified record establishes a failure to comply with Wyoming Statute § 31-6-105(a).
II If OAH is allowed to apply the presumption that a chemical test is valid, then [Romsa]l should be allowed under Rule 12.08 of the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure to provide evidence to rebut the arresting officer's claims that he complied with Wyoming Statute § 81-6-105(a), [698]*698where this evidence was not available to [Romsa) at the time of his implied consent administrative proceeding.

FACTS

[T3] On April 10, 2011 Romsa was arrested for DWUI in violation of § 81-5-233(b).2 According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol officer (arresting officer), Romsa was observed driving approximately 80 mph in a 55 mph zone; he failed to acknowledge the pursuing officer for one quarter of a mile despite the fact that the officer had activated his overhead lights, and he otherwise engaged in indecisive driving according to the officer's experience and training. After Romsa pulled over in his vehicle and stopped on the side of Interstate 80, the officer approached the vehicle and as Romsa rolled down his window, the officer smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from the vehicle. Romsa admitted that he had been drinking alcohol that day and agreed to submit to field sobriety tests. According to the officer, "6 of 6 clues of impairment were easily observed in Mr. Romsa's eyes" during the "Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus" test; Romsa failed the walk and turn test as "7 out of 8 clues of impairment were easily observed;" and "Mr. Romsa exhibited 2 out of 4 clues of impairment" during the one leg stand test. Romsa also agreed to blow into the officer's portable breath test machine, which produced a result of .125.

[¶ 4] Consequently, the officer placed Romsa under arrest for DWUI at approximately 1634 hours (4:34 p.m.) and he was taken to the Albany County Detention Center for a breath test to determine his blood alcohol content.

[T5] Pursuant to the arresting officer's Incident Report, once at the detention center, Romsa was read the Wyoming Implied Consent Form at 1725 hours (5:25 p.m.) and Romsa agreed to submit to a chemical test of his breath. The Wyoming Chemical Testing Program Intoximeter OR/IR II With Dry Gas-Operational Checklist (hereinafter "Operational Checklist") prepared by the arresting officer indicates that at 1729 hours (5:29 pm.) it was discovered that Romsa had "chew" (chewing tobacco) in his mouth and he was required to "spit it out." At 1729 hours, the officer then began a mandatory fifteen-minute observation period, which is required by Department of Health (DOH) Wyoming Chemical Testing Program rules and regulations prior to chemical breath testing. DOH Rules and Regulations for Chemical Amalysis for Alcohol Testing, Ch. III, § (2004).

[¶ 6] According to the Incident Report,

Mr. Romsa submitted to the first breath test (# 3438) at 1749 hours [5:49 p.m.] on 04/10/11. Mr. Romsa blew so hard into the machine that it caused an alcohol abort and a new test (# 8489) had to be run on the Intox. Machine.
On the next test (#3489), Mr. Romsa provided another sample of his breath at 1755 hours [5:55 p.m.] and the result was a BAC. of .100. On the second attempt, Mr. Romsa failed to provide a sufficient air sample by blowing to [sic] lightly into the machine. On the third attempt, Mr. Rom-sa successfully provided a breath sample and the resulting B.A.C. was .108. Of note, I believe Mr. Romsa was trying to provide a sample of his breath in all of the above instances; he was simply confused as to how to properly provide a sample of his breath in the Intox. Machine.
§ 31-5-233. Driving or having control of vehicle while under influence of intoxicating liquor or controlled substances; penalties, states in relevant part:
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(b) No person shall drive or have actual physical control of any vehicle within this state if the person:
(i) Has an alcohol concentration of eight one-hundredths of one percent (0.08%) or more;
(ii) Has an alcohol concentration of eight one-hundredths of one percent (0.08%) or more, as measured within two (2) hours after the time of driving or being in actual physical control of the vehicle following a lawful arrest resulting from a valid traffic stop; or
(iii) To a degree which renders him incapable of safely driving:
(A) Is under the influence of alcohol[.]

[699]*699[¶ 7] By letter dated April, 20, 2011, Romsa was notified by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) that as a result of his April 10, 2011 arrest for DWUI, his driver's license would be suspended. Evidently having anticipated the driver's license suspension, Romsa submitted a written request for a contested case hearing on April 13, 2011, and the hearing request was referred to the OAH "pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 81-7-105(b), the Wyoming Department of Transportation Rules and Regulations, Driver's Licenses, Ch. 1 (2009) and the Rules for Contested Case Practice and Procedure before the Office of Administrative Hearings (2008)," and the matter was deemed "appropriate for contested case hearing pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 16-8-101 through 115."

Contested Administrative Hearing

[T8] The contested administrative hearing was set for June 2, 2011. In addition to the date of the hearing, Romsa was notified in the Notice of Evidentiary Hearing filed on May 10, 2011 that he would be allowed to "introduce physical evidence at the hearing, including documents and/or video or audio tape recordings" as long as he provided the evidence to the OAH prior to the hearing.

[¶ 9] Also on May 10, 2011, an entry of appearance was filed with the OAH by an attorney representing Romsa, and the attorney was notified that the discovery file had already been sent to Romsa when WYDOT received his request for contested hearing.

[¶ 10] On May 16, 2011, Romsa filed a Request for Decision on the Pleadings and Motion to Vacate Proposed Suspension.

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2012 WY 146, 288 P.3d 695, 2012 Wyo. LEXIS 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/romsa-v-state-ex-rel-wyoming-department-of-transportation-wyo-2012.