Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Trimble4/8/2002
Petition for Writ of Certiorari - Original Jurisdiction.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles seeks common law certiorari review of a circuit court order that was entered in a certiorari proceeding wherein the circuit court set aside a driver's license suspension order entered by the Department's hearing officer, based upon the circuit court's determination that no competent, substantial evidence (CSE) supported the officer's decision that motorist Trimble had first been given an implied consent warning of her right to refuse to submit to a breath, urine or blood test before she declined to take the test. The Department argues that in so deciding, the circuit court misapplied the law by reweighing the evidence on the issue of whether Bonnie Jean Trimble had been so warned. We cannot agree, and therefore deny the petition.
In a certiorari proceeding concerning an administrative action, the circuit court is required to determine (1) whether procedural due process is accorded, (2) whether the essential requirements of law have been observed, and (3) whether the administrative findings and judgment are supported by CSE. Haines City Cmty. Dev. v. Heggs, 658 So. 2d 523, 530 (Fla. 1995); Educ. Dev. Ctr., Inc. v. City of W. Palm Beach Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 541 So. 2d 106, 108 (Fla. 1989); City of Deerfield Beach v. Vaillant, 419 So. 2d 624, 626 (Fla. 1982); Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Favino, 667 So. 2d 305, 308 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). When exercising its certiorari review power, the circuit court is not permitted to reweigh the evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the agency. Favino, 667 So. 2d at 308; Educ. Dev. Ctr., 541 So. 2d at 108.
The standard of review applicable to the district court of appeal reviewing the circuit court's order is more narrow. The appellate court is limited to determining (1) whether the circuit court afforded procedural due process, and (2) whether the circuit court applied the correct law. Heggs, 658 So. 2d at 530; Educ. Dev. Ctr., 541 So. 2d at 108; Favino, 667 So. 2d at 308. The appellate court does not consider CSE.
In the case before us, the circuit court concluded that the documentary evidence presented by the Department, which was the only evidence submitted to prove its case, was legally insufficient to constitute CSE on the warning issue, because the documents were hopelessly in conflict and the discrepancies on the critical facts went unexplained. For example, the arresting officer's sworn Affidavit of Refusal to Submit to Breath, Urine or Blood Test recited that on September 27, 2000, at 11:40 p.m., Trimble was arrested for DUI. Inconsistently, however, it further recounted that a request was made to Trimble at 12:45 a.m., on September 27, 2000, to submit to a breath test with a warning that a refusal could result in a one-year suspension of her driver's license, but that Trimble had then refused. A printout from the Breathalyzer machine reflected that refusal had occurred at 12:47 a.m. on the 27th. The officer's Alcohol Influence Report, which was not attested to, narrated, however, that the consent warning was given at 12:50 a.m., on the 27th.
In reaching its decision, the circuit court relied upon Hall v. Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 4 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 208 (Fla. 18th Jud. Cir. July 9, 1996), which states, in pertinent part, as follows:
We grant the Writ of Certiorari and quash the action of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in suspending Charles Brockington Hall's driver's license. We find a lack of competent, substantial evidence to support the suspension, or the hearing officer's determination that the inconsistenc
Page 1 2 3 Florida DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|