Stiver v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing

783 A.2d 841, 2001 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 641
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 28, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 783 A.2d 841 (Stiver v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stiver v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 783 A.2d 841, 2001 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 641 (Pa. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

COLINS, Judge.

James Roy Stiver (Stiver) appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of McKean County (trial court) that dismissed his appeal from a one-year suspension of his operating privilege imposed by the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing (Department). We affirm.

On August 9, 1999, Stiver was convicted in New York of driving on July 31, 1999, while ability impaired (DWAI), in violation of Section 1192(1) of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law.1 By notice dated October 13, 1999, the Department notified Stiver that his Pennsylvania driving privilege would be suspended for one year based on his August 9, 1999 New York conviction, pursuant to the Drivers License Compact of 1961 (Compact), 75 Pa.C.S. § 1581, Article IV(a)(2) (suspension of Pennsylvania operating privilege following a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or “substantially similar” offense in a state which is a party to the Compact).2 The Department’s notice stated that the New York conviction is equivalent to a conviction under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731 for Driving Under the Influence (DUI).3

Stiver appealed to the trial court, which held a de novo hearing on March 27, 2000. At the hearing, the Department presented certified records of Stiver’s New York conviction, while Stiver did not present any evidence. The trial court sustained the suspension of Stiver’s license, which decision is the subject of the present appeal.4

[844]*844On appeal, Stiver first argues that even if, arguendo, Section 1586 of the Vehicle Code is found to be applicable to his case, the trial court erred in failing to find the evidence relied upon by the Department insufficient to sustain its evidentiary burden. In this regard, Stiver maintains that the report of the New York conviction states only “Driving While Impaired,” and does not specify the statutory section violated or expressly designate Stiver’s conviction as being alcohol-related. Stiver additionally argues that the notice does not indicate whether a plea of guilty or not guilty was entered or whether the conviction was the result of forfeiture of bail, bond or other security. Secondly, Stiver contends that the trial court erred in failing to construe Section 1586 of the Vehicle Code in pari materia with Section 1532(b) and Article IV(a)(2) of the Compact, so as to require the party state’s conviction to result from licensee being impaired to a degree that rendered him incapable of driving safely pursuant to Pennsylvania law. It is Stiver’s position that interpreting Section 1586 to allow suspension of a license for conduct that would not be considered an offense in Pennsylvania, does not bear a fair and substantial relationship to the legislative intent of the Compact, thereby contravening the licensee’s equal protection guarantees. Finally, Stiver argues that considering a New York conviction for driving while ability impaired as evidence of conduct which is substantially similar to conduct prohibited by Article IV(a)(2) of the Compact and by 75 Pa.C.S. § 3781, creates a conclusive presumption in contravention of both state and federal due process safeguards to which a licensee is entitled.

We find no merit in Stiver’s arguments. First with regard to Stiver’s contention that the information on the New York report was insufficient to sustain his license suspension pursuant to the requirements of Article III of the Compact, the amendment to Section 1584 provides that “[t]he omission from any report received by [the Department] from a [Compact] party of any information required by Article III of the compact shall not excuse or prevent [the Department] from complying with its duties under Article IV and V of the compact.” The Supreme Court, in Department of Transportation v. McCafferty, 563 Pa. 146, 758 A.2d 1155 (2000), considered what information is required for Department compliance with Article III of the Compact and stated,

Article III is clearly mandatory for a party state reporting a conviction within its jurisdiction. Article III therefore imposes an obligation on [the Department] only when it is the state reporting the conduct, not when it is the home state. It does not prohibit [the Department], as the licensing authority in the home state, from relying on the information contained in the report even if the report lacks certain information specified in Article III.[W]e fail to see how the technical, immaterial defects in the report here rendered [the Department’s] suspension of the appellee’s license erroneous.

563 Pa. at 163-64, 758 A.2d at 1164-65 (footnote and emphasis omitted). Unarguably, the Commonwealth may rely on out-of-state conviction reports that do not strictly adhere to Article III of the Compact, as long as the conduct of the licensee is evident and the report contains sufficient information to form the basis of the Department’s actions.

In the present matter, we reject Stiver’s arguments that the New York conviction report provided to the Department was deficient so as to deprive him of his due process rights. The record indicates that the New York report contained Stiver’s [845]*845name, date of birth, gender, address, date of New York violation, title of the violation, date of conviction, court of conviction, and ticket number. Applying the Court’s rationale in McCafferty, although the report did not provide the complete New York statutory citation for Stiver’s violation, said omission did not deprive him of the constitutional right to due process because the title of the violation provided sufficient notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Additionally, the Supreme Court has reasoned that as long as the missing information would not provide additional information regarding the conduct underlying the conviction, or change the fact that the licensee was convicted of DWAI, omission of such information does not preclude the Department from suspending the licensee’s driving privilege in reliance upon the out-of-state conviction report. Crooks v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 564 Pa. 436, 768 A.2d 1106 (2001).

As to Stiver’s arguments regarding alleged differences in levels of impairment _ between the foreign statute and the Vehicle Code, this Court in Crytzer v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 770 A.2d 820, 823 (Pa.Cmwlth.2001), stated:

The Supreme Court ... clarified the appropriate analysis in Petrovick and established a two-pronged analysis: first, the Pennsylvania statute must be evaluated to determine whether the offense in question is of a substantially similar nature to Article IV(a)(2) of the Compact; second, the out-of-state statute is evaluated to determine if it too is of a substantially similar nature to Article rV(a)(2). The Supreme Court held in Petrovick that the Pennsylvania DUI statute is substantially similar to Article IV(a)(2), satisfying the first prong of the test.4

On the issue of substantial similarity of DUI offenses, the Crytzer Court further noted:

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

Related

Simpson v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing
173 A.3d 321 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
783 A.2d 841, 2001 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stiver-v-commonwealth-department-of-transportation-bureau-of-driver-pacommwct-2001.