STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
 

Patricia S. Reed, Commissioner of the 

West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, FILED 

Respondent Below, Petitioner June 17, 2016 

RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK 

vs) No. 15-0313 (Monongalia County 12-AA-1) SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

OF WEST VIRGINIA 

Charles Lee Hussing, 

Petitioner Below, Respondent 

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Petitioner Patricia S. Reed, Commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Motor 

Vehicles, (“DMV”), by counsel Janet E. James, appeals the March 9, 2015, order of the Circuit 

Court of Monongalia County that reversed the November 13, 2012, order of the Office of 

Administrative Hearings (“OAH”). The OAH’s November 13, 2012, order affirmed the DMV’s 

revocation of Respondent Charles Lee Hussing’s driver’s license for driving under the influence 

of alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs (“DUI”). Respondent, by counsel S. Sean Murphy, 

filed a response in support of the circuit court’s order. In this appeal, the DMV contends that the 

circuit court erred in finding that there was no reasonable suspicion for the stop of respondent’s 

vehicle; that respondent was not given a copy of the implied consent statement; and that 

respondent did not refuse to submit to the designated secondary chemical test. 

This Court has considered the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal. The facts and legal 

arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be significantly aided 

by oral argument. Upon consideration of the standard of review, the briefs, and the record 

presented, the Court finds no substantial question of law, and finds that the circuit court was 

clearly wrong in its decision. For these reasons, a memorandum decision reversing the circuit 

court’s order is appropriate under Rule 21(d) of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

On July 14, 2011, a commercial vehicle operated by respondent was stopped by 

Patrolman Kenneth Murphy (“Officer Murphy”) of the Morgantown Police Department.1 Officer 

Murphy stopped the vehicle after he observed it straddle the center line, drive on the center line, 

and nearly strike another vehicle. At the vehicle stop, Officer Murphy observed that respondent’s 

gait was unsteady (when exiting the vehicle and while standing); that respondent’s eyes were 

bloodshot, red, and glassy; and that respondent’s speech was slurred. Officer Murphy 

administered a series of field sobriety tests to respondent, including the horizontal gaze 

nystagmus (“HGN”) test, the walk and turn test, and the one leg stand test. Respondent failed the 

one leg stand and HGN tests, was placed under arrest, and transported to the police station. 

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At all times relevant hereto, respondent was licensed and qualified to operate Class “B” 

commercial motor vehicles in the State of West Virginia. 

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While at the police station, Officer Murphy read respondent the implied consent 

statement,2 provided him with a copy of the same, and asked respondent if he would agree to 

submit to a secondary chemical test of the breath. Respondent answered that he was unsure 

whether he wanted to submit to the secondary chemical test. Fifteen minutes later, the officer 

again asked respondent to submit to a secondary chemical test of the breath, to which respondent 

stated that he was still not sure whether he wanted to take the test. Officer Murphy then began 

the process to ready the Intoximeter (the machine by which he would conduct the secondary 

chemical test of respondent’s breath). When the time came for respondent to provide a breath 

sample, he refused. Officer Murphy then obtained a warrant for a sample of respondent’s blood, 

and respondent was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital where his blood was drawn. 

Respondent’s privilege to drive was revoked and the disqualification of his commercial 

driving privilege was completed by the DMV’s Order of Revocation dated August 12, 2011. An 

administrative hearing was held on January 19, 2012, before the OAH. At the administrative 

hearing, petitioner’s records were admitted into evidence, and Officer Murphy testified. 

Respondent did not testify. By decision dated November 13, 2012, the OAH affirmed the 

revocation of respondent’s driver’s license (including his commercial driving privileges) for DUI 

and his refusal to submit to the secondary chemical test. 

Respondent appealed the OAH’s decision to the circuit court. A hearing was held on 

respondent’s appeal and, on March 9, 2015, the circuit court entered its order granting 

respondent’s petition for appeal and reversing the OAH’s November 13, 2012, order. In its order, 

the circuit court found there was no reasonable suspicion for the stop of respondent’s vehicle. 

Further, the circuit court found that Officer Murphy did not provide respondent with the implied 

consent statement, such that respondent could not be said to have refused the secondary chemical 

testing of his breath. It is from the March 9, 2015, order that petitioner now appeals. 

This Court has previously established the standards for our review of a circuit court’s 

order deciding an administrative appeal: 

On appeal of an administrative order from a circuit court, this Court is 

bound by the statutory standards contained in W.Va. Code § 29A-5-4(a) and 

reviews questions of law presented de novo; findings of fact by the administrative 

officer are accorded deference unless the reviewing court believes the findings to 

be clearly wrong. 

Syl. Pt. 1, Muscatell v. Cline, 196 W.Va. 588, 474 S.E.2d 518 (1996). Syllabus point two of 

Muscatell provides: “In cases where the circuit court has [reversed] the result before the 

administrative agency, this Court reviews the final order of the circuit court and the ultimate 

disposition by it of an administrative law case under an abuse of discretion standard and reviews 

questions of law de novo.” With these standards in mind, we consider the parties’ arguments. 

2

The implied consent statement is a written document containing the penalties for 

refusing to submit to a designated secondary chemical test. 

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In its petition for appeal, petitioner asserts two assignments of error. First, it alleges that 

the circuit court erred in finding that there was no reasonable suspicion for the stop of 

respondent’s vehicle. Second, it contends that the circuit court erred in finding that respondent 

was not given a copy of the implied consent statement and that he did not refuse the designated 

secondary chemical test. 

As to petitioner’s first assignment of error, this Court has long held that “[p]olice officers 

may stop a vehicle to investigate if they have an articulable reasonable suspicion that the vehicle 

is subject to seizure or a person in the vehicle has committed, is committing, or is about to 

commit a crime.” Syl. Pt. 1, in part, State v. Stuart, 192 W.Va. 428, 452 S.E.2d 886 (1994). 

“When evaluating whether or not particular facts establish reasonable suspicion, one must 

examine the totality of the circumstances, which includes both the quantity and quality of the 

information known by the police.” Id. at 430, 452 S.E.2d 888. In Navarette v. California, 134 

S.Ct. 1683 (2014), the United States Supreme Court stated that whether a police officer had an 

articulable reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop depends on “the factual and 

practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal 

technicians, act.” Id. at 1690 (internal quotation and citation omitted). See Dale v. Ciccone, 233 

W.Va. 652, 760 S.E.2d 466 (2014). 

In the instant case, the circuit court determined that “[w]ithout some elaboration on the 

officer’s testimony that [respondent] was driving erratically or that he was legally stopped, it is 

difficult to ascertain how [Officer Murphy] inferred that [respondent] was in violation of the 

law.” We disagree. We have previously recognized that “credibility determinations by the finder 

of fact in an administrative proceeding are ‘binding unless patently without basis in the record.’” 

Webb v. W.Va. Bd. of Med., 212 W.Va. 149, 156, 569 S.E.2d 225, 232 (2002). When applying 

this standard to the record herein, we have no reason to second guess the credibility 

determinations made by the OAH regarding the testimony of Officer Murphy. Officer Murphy 

testified before the OAH that “[w]hile following [respondent’s] vehicle, I observed it go left of 

center, drive on the center lane, and . . . [w]hile going around this right-hand turn, [respondent] 

went on the opposite side, the oncoming traffic side, almost striking a vehicle.”3 As such, we find 

that the circuit court abused its discretion in finding that there was no reasonable suspicion for 

the stop of respondent’s vehicle. 

In its second assignment of error, petitioner contends that the circuit court erred in 

finding that respondent was not given a copy of the implied consent statement and, thus, he could 

not be determined to have refused the secondary chemical test of the breath. As we noted in 

Jordan v. Roberts, 161 W.Va. 750, 246 S.E.2d 259 (1978), 

3

Respondent’s erratic driving, as described by Officer Murphy during his OAH 

testimony, is a misdemeanor pursuant to West Virginia Code § 17C-8-2, which provides, in 

pertinent part, that “(a) . . . a right turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand 

curb or edge of the roadway.” 

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[u]nder the provisions of W.Va. Code § 17C-5A-1, commonly known as 

the implied consent law, a person is deemed to give his consent to a chemical test 

to determine the content of alcohol in his body by operating a motor vehicle on a 

public highway in this State. The test may only be administered as an incident to a 

lawful arrest by a law enforcement officer who has reasonable grounds to believe 

the driver was driving on a public highway while under the influence of 

intoxicating liquor. 

161 W.Va. at 751, 246 S.E.2d at 260. 

In Jordan, we further held that 

[w]here the request is made to take the ultimately designated test under the 

implied consent law and the licensee by his conduct or words manifests a 

reluctance to take the test or qualifies his assent to take the test on factors that are 

extraneous to the procedures surrounding the test, proof of refusal is sufficiently 

established. 

161 W.Va. at 751, 246 S.E.2d at 260. 

Respondent argues that the record is devoid of any documentation to support Officer 

Murphy’s testimony that he advised respondent that refusal to take the secondary chemical test 

would result in a suspension of his license. We disagree. To the contrary, our review of the 

record reveals that there is sufficient evidence to establish respondent’s failure to submit to a 

secondary chemical test of the breath. Through his own testimony before the OAH, Officer 

Murphy advised that he read respondent the implied consent statement and provided respondent 

with a copy of the same. Further, the record reflects that respondent ultimately refused to submit 

to the designated testing. Accordingly, we find that the circuit court abused its discretion in 

finding otherwise. We thus agree with the OAH that there is sufficient evidence to warrant the 

conclusion that respondent refused to submit to a secondary chemical test of the breath. 

For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the circuit court’s March 9, 2015, order. 

Reversed. 

ISSUED: June 17, 2016 

CONCURRED IN BY: 

Chief Justice Menis E. Ketchum 

Justice Robin Jean Davis 

Justice Brent D. Benjamin 

Justice Margaret L. Workman 

Justice Allen H. Loughry II 

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