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

32 A.3d 677, 613 Pa. 64, 2011 Pa. LEXIS 2829
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 23, 2011
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 32 A.3d 677 (Whalen v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whalen v. Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 32 A.3d 677, 613 Pa. 64, 2011 Pa. LEXIS 2829 (Pa. 2011).

Opinions

OPINION

Justice McCAFFERY.

In this case, we must determine whether acceptance into an Accelerated Rehabilita-five Disposition (“ARD”) program following a second charge of driving under the influence of alcohol (“DUI”) constitutes a DUI violation and thus triggers the requirement for installation of an ignition interlock system as a condition of license restoration. Because we determine that the Commonwealth Court erred in its interpretation of the relevant statutory provisions when it concluded that acceptance into ARD did not establish a DUI violation, we reverse.

On August 30, 1997, John K. Whalen (“Appellee”) was arrested in Florida for DUI, and on May 11,1998, he was convicted of this offense. Nine years later, on June 29, 2007, Appellee was again arrested for DUI, this time in Pennsylvania, and he was charged with DUI, highest rate of alcohol, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(c). The trial court admitted Appellee into an ARD program on January 16, 2009, after expressly making a determination that Appellee’s 1998 Florida DUI conviction did not present a bar to his entry into this program.1 Appellee successfully completed his ARD program.

Pursuant to one provision of the ARD program, Appellee’s driver’s license was suspended for a period of sixty days,2 effective January 16, 2009. Subsequently, the Department of Transportation (the “Department”) informed Appellee that, as a condition for restoration of his operating privileges, he would be required to install [679]*679an ignition interlock system on each of his vehicles. The Department’s action was taken pursuant to the ignition interlock statute, which provides that if a person who has violated Section 3802 and who has also had a prior offense within the past ten years subsequently seeks a restoration of operating privileges, the Department shall require, as a condition of issuing a restricted license, that each motor vehicle owned by the person be equipped with an ignition interlock system. See 75 Pa.C.S. § 3805. In March 2009, Appellee appealed the ignition interlock requirement to the court of common pleas, arguing that the Department had no authority to impose this requirement in his case because ARD was not an adjudication of guilt. Notes of Testimony, 5/12/09, at 8-10. The trial court reversed the Department’s decision, holding that the statutory ignition interlock requirement did not apply to Appellee because he had not been “convicted” of “violating” any Pennsylvania DUI provision. Trial Court Opinion, filed 7/1/09, at 8. The Commonwealth Court affirmed in a published opinion. Whalen v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 990 A.2d 826 (Pa.Cmwlth.2010).

The Department filed a petition for allowance of appeal, which we granted as to the following issue:

Does [Appellee’s] acceptance of ARD for his second DUI charge establish a DUI violation and thereby trigger the statutory ignition-interlock requirement where: the general assembly and the courts have consistently treated the acceptance of ARD for a DUI charge as an adjudication mandating the imposition of suspensions or revocations, even where the language of the statute required conviction; and the statute at issue here only requires a violation and suspension in order to require installation of an ignition interlock as a condition of license restoration?

Whalen v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 608 Pa. 142, 10 A.3d 900 (2010).

The issue presented is purely a matter of statutory interpretation, and hence our standard of review is de novo and our scope is plenary. Holt’s Cigar Company, Inc. v. City of Philadelphia, 608 Pa. 146, 10 A.3d 902, 906 (2011). The object of all statutory interpretation is to ascertain and effectuate the intent of the General Assembly. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(a); McGrory v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, 591 Pa. 56, 915 A.2d 1155, 1158 (2007). In general, the best indication of legislative intent is the plain text of the statute. McGrory, supra. However, when the words of the statute are not explicit, the General Assembly’s intent may be ascertained by considering other factors, including the occasion and necessity for the statute; the circumstances under which it was enacted; the mischief to be remedied; the object to be attained; a former version of the law or other statutes on a similar subject; and the consequences of a particular interpretation. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(c); Commonwealth v. Shiffler, 583 Pa. 478, 879 A.2d 185, 189 (2005). In ascertaining the General Assembly’s intent, we presume that the legislators have not intended an absurd or unreasonable result, and that they intend to favor the public interest as against any private interest. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1922(1) and (5).

The statute at issue is 75 Pa.C.S. § 3805, pursuant to which the General Assembly has mandated the installation of an ignition interlock system as a condition for the restoration of operating privileges of repeat drunk driving offenders. An “ignition interlock system” is statutorily de[680]*680fined as “[a] system approved by the department which prevents a vehicle from being started or operated unless the operator first provides a breath sample indicating that the operator has an alcohol level less than 0.025%.” 75 Pa.C.S. § 3801. The purpose of the ignition interlock statute is not to impose further punishment on repeat DUI offenders for past conduct, but rather to protect society from those whose history suggests that they may continue to drive while intoxicated. Alexander v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, 583 Pa. 592, 880 A.2d 552, 560-61 (2003).

The ignition interlock statute reads, in relevant part, as follows:

§ 3805. Ignition interlock
(a) General rule. — If a person violates section 3802 (relating to driving under influence of alcohol or controlled substance) and, within the past ten years, has a prior offense as defined in section 3806(a) (relating to prior offenses) ... and the person seeks a restoration of operating privileges, the department shall require as a condition of issuing a restricted license pursuant to this section that the following occur:
(1)Each motor vehicle owned by the person or registered to the person has been equipped with an ignition interlock system and remains so for the duration of the restricted license period.

75 Pa.C.S. § 3805 (emphasis added to text).

The definition of “prior offense” for purposes of Section 3805, as set forth in Section 3806(a), is, in relevant part, the following:

§ 3806. Prior offenses
(a) General rule. — ...

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Bluebook (online)
32 A.3d 677, 613 Pa. 64, 2011 Pa. LEXIS 2829, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whalen-v-commonwealth-department-of-transportation-bureau-of-driver-pa-2011.