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Dabin v. Director of Revenue1/11/2000
This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court.
Appeal From: Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Hon. Robert S. Cohen
Opinion Vote: REVERSED AND REMANDED. All concur.
Opinion:
Appellants, Steven C. Ressel and James R. Dabin, challenge the validity of section 479.500, RSMo Supp. 1998, which authorizes the establishment of a traffic court, the appointment of traffic judges, and procedures to be followed in the traffic court, and section 302.535, which enables the presiding judge of the circuit court to assign a traffic judge to hear cases pursuant to the provisions of section 479.500. Dabin additionally alleges that he was not lawfully under arrest when he refused to submit to a chemical test to determine the alcohol content of his blood. Dabin claims that the officer was outside his jurisdiction when he pulled Dabin over, and that there is no evidence that the officer was in pursuit of Dabin within the officer's jurisdiction. Dabin also maintains that the arresting officer stopped Dabin solely to determine his compliance with a seat belt law, which is not permitted by statute. See section 307.178.2. Dabin further challenges the validity of sections 577.020 and 577.041. The appeals are ordered consolidated because of common issues of law and fact. Reversed and remanded.
A police officer arrested James Ressel for driving a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol concentration was ten-hundredths of one percent or more by weight. The director of revenue, pursuant to section 302.505, suspended Ressel's driver's license. Ressel requested an administrative hearing pursuant to sections 302.505.2 and 302.530.1. He was aggrieved by the hearing examiner's decision, after which he petitioned for a trial de novo in the circuit court pursuant to section 302.535.
The presiding judge of the circuit court assigned Ressel's case to a traffic judge, whom the circuit court judges, en banc, authorized to act as a commissioner to hear nonfelonly traffic law cases in the first instance, pursuant to sections 479.500.2 and 302.535.1. Ressel filed written objections to the assignment. He claimed that sections 479.500 and 302.535 are unconstitutional "on their face and as applied" because they allow the delegation of judicial power to a traffic judge, who is not selected according to the provisions of article V, section 25 of the Missouri Constitution "without any provision for de novo review or rehearing by a circuit or associate circuit court judge . . . ." The presiding judge overruled Ressel's objections. The case was tried before a traffic court commissioner. Ressel renewed his continuing objections regarding the traffic court commissioner's authority and jurisdiction to hear and determine his case. The commissioner found that the arresting officer had probable cause to arrest Ressel for driving while intoxicated and that Ressel had a blood alcohol concentration of ten-hundredths of one percent or more by weight. The presiding judge entered the commissioner's findings of facts as the judgment of the court on the same day that the commissioner entered her findings. The presiding judge also denied Ressel's petition for a trial de novo.
James Dabin was charged with driving without a seat belt and driving while intoxicated. Dabin refused to submit to a chemical test of his breath in violation of section 577.041. The director of revenue revoked Dabin's license. Dabin petitioned for a hearing before the circuit court pursuant to section 302.311. The presiding judge assigned the case to a traffic judge, acting as a commissioner, in accordance with sections 479.500 and 302.535. Dabin filed written object
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