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Hyle v. Motor Vehicle Administration11/20/1997
Opinion by Chasanow, J.
Filed: November 20, 1997
In the instant case, we are called upon to determine whether it is proper to suspend a licensee's driver's license for refusing to take a blood test for alcohol concentration pursuant to Maryland Code (1977, 1992 Repl. Vol., 1997 Supp.), Transportation Article, § 16-205.1 (b)(1)(i)(2)(A), where the licensee agrees to take a breath test and the apparatus for administering the test is available, but no qualified person is available to administer the breath test. The resolution of this issue turns on a determination of whether the term "equipment" as used in Md. Code (1974, 1995 Repl. Vol.), Courts and Judicial Proceedings Art., § 10-305(a)(3), the section specifying the type of test to be administered under § 16- 205.1, includes a qualified person (or "technician") to administer the test. For the following reasons, we cannot construe the term equipment so broadly and, therefore, hold that a licensee's driver's license should not be suspended under those circumstances.
In the early morning hours of January 25, 1996, Petitioner, Matthew John Hyle, was stopped by Police Officer Andrew Wheeler and Police Officer Trainee William P. Hoover after Hyle was observed crossing the double yellow lines and running a red light. Upon questioning, Hyle admitted that he had had a couple of drinks. It was also noted that Hyle had a moderate odor of alcohol. Hyle was then given a variety of field sobriety tests, including the one leg stand, the walk and turn, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. After performing unsuccessfully on the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, Hyle was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and transported to the Central District Police Station in Baltimore City.
At the police station, Hyle was given, but refused to sign, a DR-15 Advice of Rights Form informing him of the possibility that his license would be suspended if he submitted to a test for alcohol and was found to have an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more, or if he refused to take such a test. Hyle then agreed to submit to a breath test. Because no technician was available to perform the breath test, however, Hyle was informed that he would be transported to Mercy Hospital for a blood test. Hyle refused. As a consequence of this refusal, Hyle's license was suspended for 120 days as provided for in § 16-205.1(b)(1)(i)2.A.
Hyle then requested an administrative hearing regarding the proposed suspension. The administrative law judge (ALJ) upheld the suspension. After finding that the officers had reasonable grounds to make the stop, the ALJ determined that there was no technician available to take a breath test from Hyle and that this amounted to the equipment being unavailable under § 10-305(a)(3). The ALJ further concluded that Hyle's failure to submit to a blood test for alcohol constituted a "refusal" to submit to a test for alcohol pursuant to § 16-205.1 The ALJ, therefore, found that Hyle's license had properly been suspended. On appeal, the Circuit Court for Worcester County affirmed the ALJ's decision to uphold the suspension. Hyle then petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari, which we granted on February 14, 1997. For the reasons set forth below, we shall reverse the judgment of the circuit court.
Under § 16-205.1(a)(2), Maryland's "implied consent" law, a person who drives on a highway or private property used by the public in Maryland is deemed to have impliedly consented "to take a test if the person should be detained on suspicion of," inter alia, driving under the influence of alcohol or driving while intoxicated. Section 16-205.1(b)(1)(i)2 provides for the suspension of a driver's license wh
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