Sullivan v. State

948 A.2d 121, 180 Md. App. 35
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMay 9, 2008
Docket00068, September Term, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 948 A.2d 121 (Sullivan v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sullivan v. State, 948 A.2d 121, 180 Md. App. 35 (Md. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

ADKINS, Judge.

After a bench trial, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County found appellant Christopher Carl Sullivan guilty of driving a motor vehicle on a highway on a revoked “license or privilege to drive,” in violation of Md.Code (1976, 2006 Repl. Vol., 2007 Cum.Supp.), section 16-303(d) of the Transportation Article (Trans.). 1 He challenges that conviction, raising two issues for our review, the first of which presents a question of first impression in Maryland:

I. Did the trial court err in rejecting Sullivan’s argument that he could not be convicted of driving on a revoked license when he has never been issued a driver’s license?
II. Did the trial court err in admitting a copy of Sullivan’s MVA record in the place of the original when the copy is without an appropriate foundation and compliance with the Maryland Rules?

Concluding that Sullivan could not be convicted of driving on a revoked license when he has never been issued a driver’s license, we reverse his conviction.

FACTS AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

At approximately 7:15 p.m. on August 31, 2006, Montgomery County patrol officer Darrell Furdock stopped Sullivan while he was driving near the intersection of Fisher Avenue and Milford Mill Road. Furdock noted the odor of alcohol. Sgt. Furdock asked Sullivan, a Maryland resident, for his driver’s license, but appellant could not produce a license. He ticketed *38 Sullivan for, inter alia, driving on a revoked “license or privilege to drive” in violation of section 16-303.

At trial, Sullivan testified that he had never been issued a Maryland driver’s license. Sullivan moved for acquittal on the ground that he could not be convicted of driving on a revoked license because he never had a license, much less had one revoked. In his view, the appropriate charge would have been driving without a license under section 16-101(a), which carries a lesser penalty.

The trial court denied the motion, reasoning that one could have a privilege to drive even without having a license. The court said: “[T]he right to drive, it’s a privilege to drive, it’s not a card you carry in your pocket[.]” When defense counsel disagreed, the following colloquy occurred:

The Court: Well, there’s — how does one acquire a privilege to drive in the State of Maryland?
[Defense Counsel]: Make an application.
The Court: I know how you get a license, you make an application, but how do you get a privilege? There’s a distinction between the two.
[Defense Counsel]: Sure, you make an application to get a license and they grant you the privilege by giving you that license.
The Court: See I think, in a lot of these statutes and in a lot of the cases they distinguish between the privilege to drive and the license to drive____and it seems to me ..., because the way they deal with it is that the privilege is sort of an automatic thing, as opposed to a license which you have to apply for until such time that, that privilege gets taken away.

The trial court then observed that MVA records “show[ed] that based upon accumulation of points, the State of Maryland has revoked his privilege[.]” This record shows that, as of March 20, 2007, Sullivan had 15 “total current points,” and lists Sullivan’s “license status” as “revoked & suspended.” It identifies Sullivan’s “OLN” as S-415-115-108-830, and lists various offenses and administrative actions beginning March *39 30, 1997. An entry for September 13, 2003 reads: “DELETED FROM RECORD POINT SYSTEM REVOCATION.” Other entries show that Sullivan’s license was “revoked” on October 3, 2003 and “suspended” on July 8, 2005. 2

Rejecting Sullivan’s argument that, having never acquired a license, he could not be convicted under section 16-303(d), the trial court found Sullivan “guilty of driving on revoked privilege.” Sullivan noted this timely appeal.

DISCUSSION

Statutory Construction Of Vehicle Laws

Established principles of statutory construction govern our review. To discern the legislature’s intent in enacting a penal statute such as this traffic law, “we look first to the language of the statute,” which we “read in light of the full context of the statute[.]” Jones v. State, 357 Md. 141, 159, 742 A.2d 493 (1999). Our interpretation of this motor vehicle law is informed by “a common sense approach” that eschews the use of “narrow and strained construction” to exclude from its operation circumstances that fall within the plain meaning and scope of the language used by the legislature. See State v. Fabritz, 276 Md. 416, 422, 348 A.2d 275 (1975); Comstock v. State, 82 Md.App. 744, 752, 573 A.2d 117 (1990). Moreover,

“[wjhere statutes relate to the same subject matter, and are not inconsistent with each other, they should be construed together and harmonized where consistent with their general object and scope.” We accept the presumption that the Legislature intended that which it enacted and “[njeither statute should be read ... so as to render the other, or any portion of it, meaningless, surplusage, superfluous or nugatory.”

*40 Gwin v. Motor Vehicle Admin., 385 Md. 440, 462, 869 A.2d 822 (2005) (citations omitted).

Driving On A Revoked “Privilege To Drive”

Under section 16-101(a) of the Transportation Article, all drivers of passenger cars on Maryland highways must be either licensed or exempted from licensing requirements:

(a) In general. — An individual may not drive or attempt to drive a motor vehicle on any highway in this State unless:
(1) The individual holds a driver’s license issued under this title;
(2) The individual is expressly exempt from the licensing requirements of this title; or
(3) The individual otherwise is specifically authorized by this title to drive vehicles of the class that the individual is driving or attempting to drive.

Section 16-102, in turn, excludes certain drivers from the licensing requirement, but none of these exclusions applies to Sullivan. 3 A misdemeanor conviction for “driving while not licensed” results in the assessment of five points and a fine of up to $500. See Transp. § 16-402(a)(14)(after conviction for violation of vehicle laws, “points shall be assessed” as specified in this subsection); Transp.

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Bluebook (online)
948 A.2d 121, 180 Md. App. 35, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sullivan-v-state-mdctspecapp-2008.