Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Minnesota DUI Attorney Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is Johnson v. Commissioner of Public Safety (Decided December 27, 2016, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Published), which stands for the proposition that the limited time period to file a challenge to a license revocation does not begin to run until the driver is actually served with the revocation notice.

In Johnson, the Appellant was arrested for DWI on April 23, 2015.  The police asked Mr. Johnson to submit to a blood or urine sample and he refused both tests.  The arresting officer then told Mr Johnson that his license would be revoked Mr. Johnson was asked to sign an electronic copy of the notice and order of revocation.  Mr. Johnson refused to provide an electronic copy of his signature.  The officer then left the room to get a physical copy of the revocation notice from the printer. When the officer returned to the room, Mr. Johnson was having a medical episode, lying on the ground and screaming of stomach pain. The officer asked dispatch to send an ambulance.

The officer never handed the notice and order of revocation to Mr. Johnson.  The officer testified he believed he placed the notice and order of revocation with Johnson's personal belongings and gave them to paramedics to be brought to the hospital with Johnson. The officer testified that he "can't remember exactly what happened with the paperwork" and was "not 100 percent" certain that it was delivered to the hospital with Johnson's personal belongings. But the officer testified that if the notice had been left behind, someone at the police department would have mailed it to Johnson. The officer did not believe there was a police officer with Johnson when he was released from the hospital and did not know if anyone ever gave Johnson the paperwork.

Mr. Johnson testified that no one gave him any paperwork regarding his driver's license and that he did not find any papers with his personal belongings at the hospital. Johnson testified that he believed he was allowed to drive after April 23 and that he first found out his license was revoked when he received a letter from the state sometime during the next month.

Mr. Johnson filed a petition for judicial review on June 22, 2015 and the commissioner of public safety moved to dismiss the petition, arguing that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the matter is the petition was not filed within 30 days after the receipt of the notice and order of revocation as required by Minnesota Statute.

The district court found that the officer told Johnson his license would be revoked and asked Johnson to electronically sign the notice on a computer. The district court also found that, during Johnson's medical episode, the officer placed the notice and order of revocation with Johnson's personal belongings and gave them to ambulance staff to be brought to the hospital with Johnson. The district court further found that the notice document was not at the police station after Johnson left. The district court did not make findings as to whether Johnson actually received a copy of the notice and order of revocation or whether the notice was actually with Johnson's belongings when he left the hospital. However, the district court found it credible that Johnson "was aware of what took place," that "the paperwork went with him [to the hospital]," and that Johnson was notified "at least as required by the statute, that he needed to review that paperwork and take action if he wanted to avoid the revocation going on his record." The district court reasoned that it didn't "know what else [the officer] could have done," other than contact the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and ask it to send notice by mail because of the "unusual set of circumstances."

The district court dismissed Johnson's petition as untimely and sustained the revocation based upon the conclusion that the officer "properly" served the notice and order of revocation on April 23, 2015.

On appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals quite properly reversed the district court, stating:

"The commissioner of public safety is authorized to revoke a driver's license "[u]pon certification by the peace officer that there existed probable cause to believe the person had been [driving while impaired], and that the person refused to submit to a test." Minn. Stat. § 169A.52, subd. 3(a) (2014). Such a revocation becomes effective when the commissioner or a peace officer 'notifies the person of the intention to revoke . . . and of revocation." Id., subd. 6 (2014). 'The notice must advise the person of the right to obtain administrative and judicial review as provided in section 169A.53.' Id."

"A person may obtain judicial review by serving and filing a petition "[w]ithin 30 days following receipt of a notice and order of revocation or disqualification pursuant to section 169A.52." Minn. Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 2(a). "A failure to file a petition for judicial review within the 30-day statutory period deprives the district court of jurisdiction to hear the petition." Thole v. Comm'r of Pub. Safety, 831 N.W.2d 17, 19 (Minn. App. 2013), review denied (Mi\m. July 16, 2013)."

"The issue is whether the 30-day period began to run on April 23. If Johnson received a notice and order of revocation on April 23, then the 30-day period began to run and Johnson's petition was untimely. But if he did not receive a notice and order of revocation, then the 30-day period did not begin to run, Johnson's petition was timely, and the district court had jurisdiction to decide the petition."
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"Here the district court found that the officer never offered a copy of the notice and order of revocation to Johnson. Instead, the notice was placed with other items not secured in a bag, at least one non-law-enforcement intermediary handled it, and it was moved from the police station to the ambulance and then into the hospital before it reached Johnson's possession, all amidst a medical emergency. Under the facts of this case, where no officer ever offered a copy of the notice and order of revocation to Johnson personally, and there is no evidence that Johnson ever actually received it, it would be erroneous to find receipt of the notice document by Johnson."

Moral Of The Story: If they tell you your license is going to be revoked, it does not hurt to throw a fit!

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DUI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.

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