Opinion ID: 2717801
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Walton’s License

Text: This factual question is very murky. The government provides only two pieces of evidence indicating that Walton’s license was suspended, and neither one is conclusive. First, the government points to an email from the Illinois state trooper who pulled the Suburban over, in which the trooper observes that Walton’s license was “SUSPENDED in Ohio.” But that email is dated October 30, 2012, and nothing in the purported driver’s record indicates that Walton’s license was suspended in August of 2012, when he was arrested. Indeed, the only date on the record appears to be “10/30/12”—the same date as the email. The email does not state that Walton’s license was suspended on the relevant date. No. 14-1177 7 The government’s second piece of evidence is stronger, but still indirect. It consists of a ticket written by a Kansas highway patrolman, which has a check mark by the printed term, “Driver’s license” and a written description of “other violations” that reads, “D.L. suspended.” This ticket was dated August 28, 2012, at 9:00 p.m.—the night before the search of the Suburban and Walton’s arrest. It is made out to a “Kenyon R. Walton,” but it lists an address different from that identified in the state trooper’s email discussed above. How the ticket was resolved is unknown, but it is unlikely Walton had an opportunity to challenge it after his arrest the following day. As we have seen, Walton provided two pieces of evi- dence of his own. 3 A record from Kentucky shows that his driver’s license had been transferred from that state to Ohio at some point. The record notes his Kentucky license had been suspended at one time, but his driving privileges were restored as of April 4, 2012. The Kentucky license, up to the point it was transferred to Ohio, was “in force.” The second piece of evidence is an “abstract” of Walton’s driving record in Ohio. The record reflects that the Ohio driver’s license was issued on July 30, 2012. The abstract also purports to list Walton’s traffic “Convictions.” It lists five total offenses, but it does not state that Walton’s license was ever suspended. The abstract states that his license “as of 6/26/2013” is “valid.” 3 Although Walton belatedly introduced this evidence with his motion for reconsideration, the district court considered it, and the government does not argue that the court erred in doing so. And as it turns out, Walton’s evidence will have no bearing on our decision. 8 No. 14-1177 Walton argues that the district court clearly erred by failing to infer that his license was not suspended because no suspension was listed on the Ohio abstract. The problem with this argument is that it is entirely unclear whether the abstract would list a suspension. The applicable Ohio statute provides that “the registrar of motor vehicles shall search and furnish a certified abstract of the following information with respect to any person: (1) An enumeration of the motor vehicle accidents in which such person has been involved … [and] (2) Such person's record of convictions for violation of the motor vehicle laws.” Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 4509.05. This statute makes no mention of recording whether a license has been suspended. Sections 4509.31–40 and Chapter 4510 deal with suspensions of licenses, but they do not indicate that a suspension is to be listed on the abstract. Without the assumption that the abstract would list any past suspensions, all the document shows is that Walton’s license was valid as of June 26, 2013. It is certainly possible that the license could have been suspended for, to take an example, three months, including August 28, 2012, and still be valid in 2013. See id. § 4510.02(B)(5) (providing for a Class E suspension lasting three months). And because Walton was arrested on August 29, 2012, it is unlikely that he committed an infraction afterward that would have caused his driver’s license to be suspended as of October of 2012, the date of the state trooper’s email record. Perhaps Ohio belatedly suspended his license in October for an earlier infraction, but that is pure speculation. Of course, the government’s evidence is not much stronger. The state trooper’s email indicates only that Walton’s license was suspended on October 30, 2012. The Kansas No. 14-1177 9 ticket is the most chronologically precise evidence, but it is second-hand, based on the observations of a highway patrolman and not challenged in any adversarial legal proceeding. It is also unclear why, if Walton was driving with a suspended license, the patrolman let him go with just a ticket. The government asserts that, upon receiving the ticket, Walton let his companion Smoot drive. Letting Smoot drive would have violated Walton’s rental agreement because she was not an authorized driver, but the Kansas patrolman may not have known that. Another awkward problem for the government is that Walton successfully rented a car with his license; his Ohio license number is on the rental paperwork. The Dollar Rent- A-Car rental agreement clearly states that a driver must “warrant” that he possesses “a valid driver’s license.” This is significant proof that Walton did have a valid license, and the district court was not able to square this circle: “[T]he Court is unsure as to how Walton was able to enter into a rental agreement with Dollar Rent-A-Car without a valid license.” In light of the paucity of evidence either way, we cannot be confident that the district court committed clear error. And in any event, Walton bore the burden of establishing that he had standing, and we doubt that he has met that burden. Because we can resolve the standing issue regardless of whether Walton’s license was valid, we may safely assume for present purposes that the government is correct that his license was suspended. 10 No. 14-1177