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Knapp v. Miller6/14/1990
Petitioner-appellant John L. Knapp ("Knapp") appeals from a judgment affirming an administrative order suspending Knapp's driver's license pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-694. We affirm the judgment.
I.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on February 19, 1988, Knapp was involved in a minor automobile accident in Phoenix, Arizona. When Officer Wilson of the Department of Public Safety arrived at the accident scene fifteen minutes later, the Phoenix police officers at the scene told Wilson that they thought they had smelled alcohol on Knapp's breath. During conversation with Knapp, Wilson detected a moderate smell of alcohol on Knapp's breath. Knapp admitted to Wilson that he had drunk "a couple of beers" earlier in the afternoon.
Because of Knapp's admission, the smell of alcohol on his breath, and the accident, Wilson asked Knapp to perform standard field sobriety tests. Wilson concluded that Knapp failed the tests and placed Knapp under arrest for driving under the influence pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-692 A.
Wilson then transported Knapp to the police station. At 7:56 p.m., more than two hours after the accident, Knapp took a breath test, which indicated that his blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.10. Pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-694 A, Wilson required Knapp to surrender his driver's license and issued him a temporary driving permit. Wilson served the statutorily required order of suspension on Knapp, effective within 15 days after the date of service. Knapp immediately exercised his right under section 28-694 C to request an administrative hearing to challenge his license suspension.
At the administrative hearing, Gary Carmack, Knapp's expert witness, testified that Knapp's BAC at the time he was driving on the day of his arrest would have been approximately 0.08. Mr. Carmack also testified that the breathalyzer used to test Knapp has an inherent error of plus or minus 0.01. The Department of Transportation did not dispute this testimony. The hearing officer found that Knapp's BAC at the time of the test was 0.10 or more and sustained the order suspending Knapp's driver's license.
Knapp filed a superior court action seeking review of the administrative decision. See A.R.S. § 12-901 et seq. The trial court found the administrative decision supported by competent evidence, rejected Knapp's argument that section 28-694 is unconstitutional, and affirmed the administrative decision.
Knapp filed a timely appeal in this court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21.A and -2101.B.
II.
In this appeal, Knapp argues that section 28-694 violates the United States Constitution's guarantees of substantive due process, procedural due process, and equal protection of the law. U.S. Const. Amend. XIV. A strong presumption favors the constitutionality of a legislative enactment. We will not declare invalid a legislative enactment unless we are satisfied that the enactment conflicts with the state or federal constitution. See Chevron Chemical Co. v. Superior Court, 131 Ariz. 431, 438, 641 P.2d 1275, 1282 (1982); State v. Book-Cellar, Inc., 139 Ariz. 525, 528, 679 P.2d 548, 551 (App.1984).
A. Substantive Due Process
Knapp's challenge to section 28-694 centers upon the statutory requirement that, before the Department of Transportation may suspend the license of a driver arrested under section 28-692,
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