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Ringsaker v. Director7/13/1999
Appeal from the District Court of Cass County, East Central Judicial District, the Honorable Norman J. Backes, Judge.
AFFIRMED.
Opinion of the Court by VandeWalle, Chief Justice.
Ringsaker v. Dir., ND Dept of Transportation No. 980369
[ ] The North Dakota Department of Transportation (Department) appealed from a district court judgment reversing the administrative hearing officer's decision to suspend Jolynn N. Ringsaker's driving privileges for ninety-one days for driving under the influence of alcohol. We affirm.
[ ] North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Tanya Sprecher arrested Ringsaker for driving under the influence of alcohol. Ringsaker was transported to the Fargo Police Department where she consented to an Intoxilyzer test. The Intoxilyzer test administered by Trooper Sprecher recorded Ringsaker's blood alcohol concentration at .11 percent by weight. A Report, Notice and temporary operator's permit was issued to Ringsaker under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-03.1(1). Ringsaker requested and received an administrative hearing.
[ ] During the hearing, Trooper Sprecher testified she followed the state toxicologist's approved method for conducting a breath test. According to Trooper Sprecher, when the Intoxilyzer machine is working properly it prints the testing date in numerical form. However, in the present case, the Intoxilyzer machine incorrectly printed "22/*0/17" where the date should have been. Trooper Sprecher stated she was not aware of this until the hearing. Over the objection of Ringsaker's attorney, the hearing officer admitted the Intoxilyzer test result into evidence. At the Conclusion of the administrative hearing, the hearing officer issued his findings of fact, Conclusions of law and decision suspending Ringsaker's driving privileges, determining:
"The Intoxilyzer incorrectly printed the date of the test. The approved method requires that if the test information printed is not legible the test information should be reprinted. The test information on Exhibit 11 is legible. There is no difficulty in reading the information printed by the Intoxilyzer. For some reason the date is not accurate. However Exhibit 11 is the test information from the test conducted on Ms. Ringsaker by Trooper Sprecher on June 24, 1998."
[ ] Ringsaker appealed to the district court which reversed the license suspension. The district court's order read: "This Court is of the opinion that the State's failure to establish an accurate date on the results of the alcohol concentration test creates a doubt. However small that doubt may be as to the correctness of the entire test, this Court cannot conclude that the test was fairly administered." The Department appealed to this Court.
[ ] The Administrative Agencies Practices Act, N.D.C.C. ch. 28-32, governs the review of administrative license suspensions. Luebke v. North Dakota Dept. of Transp., 1998 ND 110, 8, 579 N.W.2d 189. Our review is limited to the record before the agency, and we do not review the decision of the district court. Id. Section 28-32-19, N.D.C.C., requires us to affirm the agency's order unless we find any of the following:
". The order is not in accordance with the law.
2. The order is in violation of the constitutional rights of the appellant.
. Provisions of this chapter have not been complied with in the proceedings before the agency.
4. The rules or procedure of the agency have not afforded the appellant a fair hearing.
. The findings of fact made by the agency are not supported by a preponderance of the evidence.
. The Conclusions of law and order of the
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