After an individual has been arrested for a DUI they face two separate legal actions. The first legal action is with the court system. This is where they will be charged with a DUI and face a criminal conviction and will have to go to court. The second legal action is with the department of licensing. This is where the individual will face a drivers license suspension. The length will be determined by the alcohol content or whether there is allegation the individual refused the breath or blood test.
When the arrested individual challenges the drivers license suspension with the department of licensing this is typically a telephone hearing that will occur with a hearing hearing examinor who works for the DOL. At this hearing there are four main issues that will be decided.
Was there a lawful basis to contact the driver?: This is the first issue that will be decided. In order for a stop to be valid there needs to be a reasonable suspicion the individual is committing a crime or committing a traffic infraction.
Was there enough evidence to arrest the driver?: This is the second issue that is litigated at a DOL hearing. Essentially in order for a driver to be arrested for a DUI the police officer needs to have probable cause to arrest the driver. In other words they need to have enough evidence considering the totality of the circumstances that the driver was under the influence or affected by alcohol.
Were all rights properly read?: The third issue generally deals with the instructions that are read to the driver prior to submitting to the breath or blood test. These are called the implied consent warnings. They will advise the driver what will happen if they take the test and what will happen if the decline. These rights need to be read verbatim and the driver cannot express any confusion.
Was the breath or blood test administered properly, and functioning correctly?: The last issue that will be litigated at the DOL hearing deals with the breath or blood test. Was the test administered properly by the arresting officer? Was all the proper protocols and steps taken? Also was the machine functioning correctly at the time of the subjects sample? This deals with whether the machine was maintained properly, or in actual working order.
These are the four main issues that are litigated at the DOL hearing following a DUI arrest. The driver only needs to show one of these issues existed in order to prevail at the DOL hearing.
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