Motor Vehicle Administration v. Richards10/14/1999
h-analysis test upon arrest. First, the very existence of the summary sanction of the statute serves as a deterrent to drunken driving. Second, it provides strong inducement to take the breath-analysis test and thus effectuates the Commonwealth's interest in obtaining reliable and relevant evidence for use in subsequent criminal proceedings. Third, in promptly removing such drivers from the road, the summary sanction of the statute contributes to the safety of public highways.
The summary and automatic character of the suspension sanction available under the statute is critical to attainment of these objectives.
Mackey v. Montrym, 443 U.S. 1, 18, 99 S. Ct. 2612, 2621, 61 L. Ed. 2d 321 (1979).
Given the similarly multi-purposed nature of the sanctions in § 16-205.1, we do not view the statute as quasi-criminal. See Powell v. Secretary of State, 614 A.2d 1303, 1307 (Me. 1992) (concluding that "a license suspension hearing is not a quasi-criminal proceeding"). Nor do we see any principled reason to differentiate for our present inquiry a license suspension hearing under § 16-205.1(f)(1)(ii)(1)-for test failures-from one under § 16-205.1(f)(1)(ii)(2)-for test refusals. Though prompted by distinct occurrences, the two hearings are both remedial in nature: their primary goals are first, to help effectuate the administrative goals of the MVA in ridding Maryland roadways of drunk drivers and, second, to encourage both general compliance with Maryland law as well as specific fulfillment of the consent to taking a properly requested chemical breath test implied by a motorist's entry upon and usage of this State's roads.
With respect to the benefit of applying the exclusionary rule of the Fourth Amendment in a § 16-205.1(f) hearing, whether the case involves test failure or test refusal, we do not view any possible deterrent effect to be sufficiently significant. In either case, there would likely be only scant marginal deterrence because the police already suffer the exclusion of unlawfully seized evidence from criminal proceedings. See Pennsylvania Bd. of Probation v. Scott, 524 U.S. 357, , 118 S. Ct. 2014, 2020, 141 L. Ed. 2d 344 (1998); United States v. Janis, 428 U.S. 433, 448, 96 S. Ct. 3021, 3029, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1046 (1976); United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. 338, 351, 94 S. Ct. 613, 621, 38 L. Ed. 2d 561 (1974). Furthermore, because the MVA is a separate and independent agency from the police department and has no control over the actions of police officers, imposing the exclusionary rule in license suspension proceedings would add little force to the deterrence of unlawful police action. See Riche v. Director of Revenue, 987 S.W.2d 331, 335 (Mo. 1999) (en banc); Westendorf v. Iowa Dept. of Transp., 400 N.W.2d 553, 557 (Iowa 1987). We find as a general matter that the administrative mechanisms and proceedings relative to license suspension or revocation fall "outside the offending officer's zone of primary interest." Janis, 428 U.S. at 458, 96 S. Ct. at 3034; see also Scott, 524 U.S. at , 118 S. Ct. at 2022. There is scarce reason to believe that police would be motivated to seize evidence illegally simply to use it in license suspension proceedings. See Scott, 524 U.S. at , 118 S. Ct. at 2022 (commenting that "the officer's focus is not upon ensuring compliance with parole conditions or obtaining evidence for introduction at administrative proceedings, but upon obtaining convictions of those who commit crimes."). See also Sheetz v. City of Baltimore, 315 Md. 208, 215, 553 A.2d 1281, 1284 (1989) ("Because their primary interest is not typically in [employment] discharge proceedings, the police are not especially tempted to violate the fourth amendment in order to obtain evid
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