 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Colorado Dep't of Revenue v. Hibbs11/7/2005
JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
EN BANC
We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals judgment in Hibbs v. Colorado Department of Revenue, 107 P.3d 1061 (Colo. App. 2004). The court of appeals upheld a judgment of the District Court for Chafee County that overturned the Department of Revenue's one-year revocation of Terry Lee Hibbs's commercial vehicle driver's license.
The Department of Revenue's ("Department") revocation order stemmed from Officer Theresa Barger's ("Barger") arrest of Terry Lee Hibbs ("Hibbs") for driving a commercial vehicle while intoxicated. Using the form specified by the Department, Barger submitted to Hibbs and to the Department a report documenting the circumstances of the arrest and that Hibbs's breath alcohol content while driving was 0.151, nearly four times the legal limit, § 42-2-126(2)(a)(III), C.R.S. (2002). Barger signed and swore, under oath, to the veracity of the report but did not notarize the report or otherwise affirm the report before a third party. Shortly thereafter, Barger testified at Hibbs's administrative hearing, under oath and subject to cross examination, concerning the events surrounding Hibbs's arrest for driving while intoxicated. After reviewing all of the evidence, the Department's hearing officer ordered revocation of Hibbs's commercial driver's license for one year.
The district court and the court of appeals overturned this revocation and ruled that the statute then in effect for a commercial vehicle driver's license, section 42-2-126(3)(b), C.R.S. (2002), required a law enforcement officer to forward to the Department a notarized report setting forth the basis for the revocation action.
The Department contends that Barger's report to the Department satisfied section 42-2-126(3)(b). We agree, and hold that the verification requirement of section 42-2-126(3)(b), C.R.S. (2002), did not require notarization and was satisfied in this case by Barger's signature and affirmation, under penalty of perjury, that the facts contained in her report submitted on the Department's form were true to the best of her belief. Thus, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals with directions to reinstate the Department's one-year revocation of Hibbs's commercial vehicle driver's license.
I.
On the icy night of December 4, 2002, Silverthorne Police Department Officer Barger stopped Hibbs, who was driving a semi tractor-trailer, for running a red light. She observed that he had "watery, red bloodshot eyes, and slow, deliberate, thick tongued, and slurred speech." He failed three roadside sobriety tests: the horizontal gaze, the walk and turn, and the one leg stand tests.
Advised of Colorado's express consent law, Hibbs elected to take a breath test. He tested at 0.151 grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath, nearly four times the legal limit of .04 grams for commercial drivers. Barger transported Hibbs to the Summit County Jail and issued him a court summons for driving while intoxicated and running a red light. She also signed and filled-out the Department's Affidavit and Notice of Revocation form (Department of Revenue Form DR-2576).
This was the first situation in which Barger had been called upon to utilize the Department's form when a commercial vehicle was involved. Although she checked that Hibbs was driving a commercial vehicle, she did not check the "0.04" box that stated the limit for commercial vehicle drivers. Instead, she checked the "0.10" box for other motor vehicle drivers. Nevertheless, the back side (second page) of the Affidavit and Notice of Revocation form clearly placed Hibbs on notice that hi
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colorado DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|