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Medina v. Arizona Department of Transportation12/5/1995
Opinion
THOMPSON, Judge
The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the alleged failure of Petitioner-Appellee Daniel Medina ("Medina") to exhaust all available administrative remedies following suspension of his driver's license, pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. ("A.R.S.") § 28-694, deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to entertain his appeal. We hold that the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies does not implicate subject-matter jurisdiction, but rather is a procedural prerequisite to judicial review of an agency determination, and that the failure of Respondent-Appellant Arizona Department of Transportation ("ADOT") to timely raise this potential procedural defense resulted in its waiver. We therefore affirm the trial court's judgment.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On August 7, 1992, Kingman Police Officer Mattosa stopped Medina for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor ("DUI"). Medina's speech was extremely slurred, he had difficulty with his balance, and he admitted having consumed alcohol earlier that day. Officer Sipe arrived at the scene and performed field sobriety tests on Medina. He performed poorly on these tests and was placed under arrest for DUI.
At the county jail, Medina submitted to several breath tests administered by Officer Sipe. Officer Sipe, a certified intoxilyzer operator, used the Intoxilyzer Model 5000 to collect Medina's breath sample. Initially, Medina refused to blow into the machine. He then blew very lightly into the machine, producing an invalid test due to insufficient air flow. On his second deficient attempt, Medina continued to blow short, light breaths. After the machine was readied again, Medina finally provided an adequate breath sample, which registered .203 percent blood alcohol.
Based on Medina's breath test results, Officer Sipe seized his driver's license and served him with a ninety-day suspension order on behalf of ADOT. Medina timely requested a hearing with ADOT regarding his license suspension pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-694. The ADOT hearing officer affirmed Medina's ninety-day license suspension following the hearing. Medina thereafter filed a petition to review his license suspension in superior court. In his petition, Medina alleged that a motion for rehearing before ADOT was not required and that the superior court had jurisdiction. ADOT admitted these allegations in their answer.
Following oral argument, the superior court reversed the hearing officer's decision because the breathalyzer calibration records had been wrongfully admitted into evidence at the ADOT hearing. After the court reached this decision, but before judgment was entered, ADOT filed a motion to dismiss Medina's appeal, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction because Medina had failed to exhaust administrative remedies prior to seeking judicial review. ADOT maintained that Medina was required to request an administrative rehearing before the superior court could consider his appeal.
The superior court entered a minute order "temporarily declining to exercise jurisdiction" and ordered Medina to file a request for a rehearing with ADOT within forty-five days. The court indicated that it would "pick up the case at its present posture" if the request for rehearing was denied for any reason. Medina filed a motion for rehearing which was denied for untimeliness because almost a year had elapsed since the hearing. Medina then filed a motion for reconsideration in superior court. On January 14, 1994, the superior court "re-exercised" jurisdiction and affirmed its prior order reversing the hearing of
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