known law gives DMV power to take away your license
Thpatagonia fleece pullover amazonuan Ha was arrested on drunken driving charges but was never convicted of his DUI relabanco patagonia telefonoted charge. The California Department of Motor Vehicles still suspended his driver s license for four months.
How did that happen?
An Orange County judge threw out Ha s DUI case, ruling officers had illegally obtained a test showing Ha s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit. Yet a month later, a midlevel DMV employee suspended the Westminster resident s license based on the same evidence the courts rejected.
The DMV ofpatagonia new backpackficer convicted him, suspended his license and put the DUI on his record, said Ha s attorney, Alex L. Benedict. The law has been in effect for nearly 25 years, but it now faces a legal challenge in a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit group called the Calipatagonia upslope hoody review3fornia DUI Lawyers Association and attorney Steven R. Mandell.
The lawsuit contends that allowing DMV employees to act as prosecpatagonia better sweater jacket tealutor and judge in administrative reviepatagonia better sweater coat xsws is a violation of constitutional rights. It also charges that the DMV employees, who often suspend or revoke licenses based on little more than an arresting officer s sworn report, are pressured by the DMV to decide against drivers instead of making fair and neutral decisions.
DMV officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.
A review of DMV data from 2012, the most recent year available, found that DMV employees suspended discount patagonia nano puffor revoked the licenses of at least 135 DUI arrestees who were never charged with the crime or who had their criminal cases dismissed for lack of evidence.
According to the DMV, The only instance in which the department will set aside an action as a result of a court decision are in those cases where a driver has (gone to trial and) been acquitted.
Josh Needle, a criminal appellate and constitutional rights attorney based in Santa Monipatagonia upslope hoody reviewca, said the DMV s practice of allowing a single employee to act as both an advocate for the DMV s interests and decision maker in administrative proceedings creates a conflict of interest.
The whole system is jupatagonia down sweater vest reviewsst rigged, Needle said. It is designed and implemented in such a way that the drivers of the state of California don t have a fair chance.
Needle is one of several attorneys who last month filed the lawsuit against the DMV.
DUI RECIDIVISM DROPS
In 2011, the most recent full year of data available, 186,712 drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI in California, according to DMV records. About 20 percent of the arrestees beat DUI related charges in court, yet thousands of them still lost their licenses.
When asked exactly how many drivers got their licenses suspended that year without being convicted of DUI related crimes, DMV officials said an accurate count was not available because they had not done the required data analysis.
Along with requpatagonia upslope hoody review2iring annual reports, the law passed in 1990 created a DMpatagonia upslope hoody review0V administrative system to allow on the spot license suspensions for drivers arrested on suspicion of driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit, or who refuse to take a DUI test after detention or arrest.
The idea was to swiftly impose a proven effective DUI countermeasure that saves lives by virtue of its immediacy, certainty and severity, according to a DMV report published in 1998.
After the system was in place, crash rates dropped 19 percent and recidivism plunged 37 percent for people arrested on suspicion of DUI, the report said. This improvement occurred whether or not the offenders were ever convicted of the DUI offense.
The administrative suspepatagonia discount code travelocitynsion process typically works like this: After an officer arrests a driver on suspicion of DUI, the law enforcement agency takes away the driver s license and gives the driver a temporary one. The DMV s process starts when the department receives the officer s sworn report unless the driver requests a hearing to contest the suspension.
A DMV employee known as a hearing officer reviews police reports and decides whether to impose or discard the temporary suspension, according to the DMV. If the driver requests a hearing, the DMV employee reviews the police report, gpatagonia everlong review your teacherathers testimony from the driver and may consider other evidence before ruling.
The hearing officer has a dual role as the trier of fact as well as an advocate for the DMV, DMV officials said, but must remain fair and impartial, and render a decision in conformance with the evidence.
DUI defense attorneys, however, contend fair and impartial is an unrealistic expectation.
They are pressured by the DMV to go ahead and rule against licensees, said Don Bartell, a defense apatagonia upslope hoody review1ttorney with Riverside based law firm Bartell Hensel. It s just an impossible task to be both the prosecutor and the judge.
Bartell said DMV managers pressure hearing officers by keeping tabs on how many decisions each hearing officer makes in favor of licensees, and, on occasion, telling hearing officers how to rule.
In a written response to questions, DMV officials confirmed the DMV keeps records of hearing officers decisions in favor of drivers.
DMV officials also said superiors sometimes reverse hearing officers decision in favor of drivers. They denied hearing officers face sanctions if they decide in favor of drivers too often.
DUE PROCESS?
The Constitution demands neutrality in decision making and trumps any purported statutory encroachment, Needle said.
