Monday, April 2, 2018

Minnesota DWI Lawyer F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is Olson v. One 2009 Lexus (Decided April 2, 2018, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Published) which stands for the proposition that the Minnesota DWI Forfeiture Statute is unconstitutional because it does not provide for a prompt hearing!

The Minnesota DWI Forfeiture Statute § 169A.63, subd. 9(d) states:

"A judicial determination under this subdivision must be held at the earliest practicable date, and in any event no later than 180 days following the filing of the demand by the claimant. If a related criminal proceeding is pending, the hearing shall not be held until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings. The district court administrator shall schedule the hearing as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the criminal prosecution. The district court administrator shall establish procedures to ensure efficient compliance with this subdivision. The hearing is to the court without a jury."

In other words, no hearing on the DWI forfeiture of the vehicle can be scheduled until after the criminal case against the driver has been resolved.  The Minnesota Court of Appeals rightly held that the statute violates due process, noting:

"In Fedziuk, the supreme court considered the constitutionality of the 2003 amendments to Minnesota's implied-consent law, which authorized the court to stay a prehearing suspension of a driver's license revocation if a hearing was not held in 60 days, but which removed the previous requirement that judicial review be "held at the earliest practicable date, and in any event no later than 60 days following the filing of the petition for review." 696 N.W.2d at 345-46. The supreme court noted that "[b]y eliminating the requirement for prompt postrevocation judicial review, the 2003 amendments affected the driver's private interest in continued possession and use of the license pending the outcome of a hearing, the first part of the three-part test ixom Mathews." Id. at 346."

"The Fedziuk court held that because the amended statute did not specify a time period for judicial review, it did not provide sufficiently prompt review of the prehearing deprivation of property. Id. at 347-48. It also held that the immediate administrative hardship relief contemplated by the statute, although prompt, did not provide sufficiently meaningful review to adequately protect the procedural due-process rights of deprived parties. Id. at 348. The Fedziuk court explained that "minimal due process requires that the petitioner be given the right to compel witnesses to attend the hearing and to cross-examine persons who prepared [the police reports and lab reports relied upon]" and that the immediate administrative review contemplated under the implied-consent law did not provide for such an evidentiary hearing. Id. at 347-48. It concluded that a prehearing revocation of a driver's license under the amended implied-consent law procedure offended the driver's right to constitutional due process, and reinstated the earlier version of the law. Id. at 348-49."

"Applying Fedziuk, here, the record shows that, because the resolution of the Olsons' forfeiture action was tied to the resolution of Megan's related criminal and implied-consent actions, pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 169A.63, subd. 9(d), no hearing was held on the validity of the initial or continued seizure of the Lexus for over 18 months. We agree with the district court's conclusion that this procedure unconstitutionally denied the Olsons prompt review of the prehearing seizure of the Lexus."

I have been raising this same argument in all of my Minnesota DWI forfeiture cases and it looks like all my clients will soon be sitting in the driver's seat!!

Moral Of The Story: Justice delayed is justice denied!

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI or are facing the DWI forfeiture of your motor vehicle, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Lawyer, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI and forfeiture questions.


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