Opinion ID: 2087446
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Public Policy; Comity

Text: Perhaps the most difficult issue is whether we should refrain from the application of collateral estoppel, for reasons of public policy or out of comity to the legislature. The state argues that the application of collateral estoppel here would be contrary to sound public policy. Although the ultimate purposes of each proceeding may differ, the question is whether they are so different that the parties are not likely to take the implied consent proceeding as seriously as the DWI proceeding. On that issue, I agree with the observation by the court of appeals in State v. Victorsen that any differences have blurred considerably over time. 627 N.W.2d 655, 661-62 (Minn.App.2001), superseded by statute, Minn.Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 3(g). The court of appeals stated: Penalty enhancements are now available to criminal prosecutors by virtue of license revocations pursuant to the implied consent statute. See, e.g., Minn. Stat. §§ 169A.25, 169A.26 (elevating severity of DWI offenses to a gross misdemeanor if the offender had a prior license revocation within the past ten years), 169A.275 (increasing the mandatory penalties for each prior license revocation within a ten-year period), 169A.28 (providing for mandatory consecutive sentences if the person has prior license revocations), 169A.31 (2000) (elevating severity of alcohol-related bus driving offenses to a gross misdemeanor if the offender had a prior license revocation within the past ten years). Therefore, when defending a license revocation, the actions of the Commissioner of Public Safety now affect the potential criminal penalties available to the state. Similarly, prior impaired driving convictions serve the commissioner's interests by lengthening the duration of administrative license revocations. See, e.g., Minn.Stat. §§ 169A.52, subd. 4, 169A.54, subd. 1 (2000) (increasing duration of administrative license revocations with prior license revocation). The relationship between these parties is symbiotic, and the differences in their interests, as articulated in [ State v. Juarez, 345 N.W.2d 801 (Minn.App.1984)] have become a fictional construct. Moreover, the effect of Juarez has been the institutionalization of a process whereby duplicative proceedings are frequent with inconsistent outcomes a distinct possibility. Drivers may challenge the legality of traffic stops at both implied consent hearings and at pretrial hearings in criminal matters. These parallel proceedings involve the same substantive law, elements of proof, standard of proof, burden of proof, and, often, the same evidence as well. This unnecessary duplication of hearings is contrary to the rules of criminal procedure, which are intended to provide for the just, speedy determination of criminal proceedings. Minn. R.Crim. P. 1.02. Furthermore, does not justice presume the consistent application of the law? The potential for inconsistency, realized in this case, is among the most objectionable results of the present system. Multiple hearings on the same record and for the determination of the same question unnecessarily burden the parties and provide no justifiable benefit. Id. (footnote omitted). Since Victorsen, the implied consent and DWI provisions have become even more integrated. Because the loss of license is a qualified prior impaired driving incident, Minn.Stat. § 169A.03, subd. 22 (2006), an implied consent proceeding may provide the basis to increase a future driving while impaired offense to first-degree, which is a felony, see Minn.Stat. § 169A.24, subds. 1 and 2 (2006). [5] The loss of license may also elevate the penalty for lesser degrees of driving while impaired offenses, see Minn.Stat. §§ 169A.25-169A.27 (2006); increase mandatory penalty provisions, see Minn. Stat. §§ 169A.275-169A.276 (2006); [6] and trigger mandatory consecutive sentencing provisions, see Minn.Stat. § 169A.28 (2006). [7] Because the stakes have been increased significantly for both a license revocation and a DWI conviction, there is no reasonable likelihood that the state or the driver will treat an implied consent proceeding less seriously than a DWI prosecution. When we compare the implied consent hearing with a suppression hearing in the DWI proceeding, the differences become even less. The legal standard is the same; the underlying fact issues are the same; the burden of proof is the same; each will be heard de novo by a district judge; and the statute authorizes the two to be heard by the same judge at the same time, Minn. Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 3. Because the suppression hearing would be focused, as in this case, on the legality of the stop, the issues are relatively simple. Thus, it is difficult to see how the state would be prejudiced by being required to conduct them together, or to coordinate their roles. One treatise has suggested this very solution: It had long been the rule that an order suppressing evidence in an implied consent case did not collaterally estop the prosecutor from relitigating the issue in a later impaired driving criminal prosecution. But this rule has been modified so that the earlier ruling will be collateral estoppel if the prosecutor had notice of and an opportunity to participate in the initial suppression hearing. The previous rule made for an unfortunate duplication of effort in certain cases, where the identical issues are presented in both proceedings. It also creates the possibility of directly conflicting orders by two judges in the same court. Except where constitutional considerations may dictate different approaches, it would obviously be more efficient to require only one hearing and decision on these questions. The courts, having authority to regulate procedural matters, could establish such a procedure. The collateral estoppel doctrine may be avoided by having both state agencies participate in the hearing, or waive their appearances. 9A Henry W. McCarr & Jack S. Nordby, Minnesota Practice  Criminal Law and Procedure § 56.33 (3d ed.2001) (footnotes omitted). It is true that section 169A.53, subd. 3(b), limits the scope of an implied consent hearing. The limitation of that statute might prevent collateral estoppel if the issue that was to be determined in the DWI proceeding was not one that was within the scope of review in the implied consent hearing, but that is not the case here. The issue is identical. The scope of the hearing permitted in the implied consent proceeding specifically includes Did the peace officer have probable cause to believe the person was driving, operating, or in physical contact of a motor vehicle    in violation of section 169A.20 (driving while impaired)? Minn.Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 3(b)(1). This is the precise issue presented by the motion to suppress in the DWI proceeding. Thus, although the narrower scope of hearing in implied consent proceedings might mean that the issues determined there will not always be identical to the issues presented in the DWI proceeding, the issue is identical here. Similarly, any argument that the implied consent proceeding does not offer the procedural safeguards available to the driver in a DWI proceeding is irrelevant where the driver prevailed on the issue with fewer procedural safeguards in the implied consent proceeding. The state can hardly complain that Lemmer should have to try the legality of the stop over again because Lemmer could have even greater procedural protections in the second trial. This argument would only have merit if the party to be estopped (here, the state) had fewer procedural safeguards in the implied consent proceeding. Because the public policy considerations that underlie the collateral estoppel doctrine are fundamental to the judicial function, and the detriment to the state of being faced with collateral estoppel is only a matter of inconvenience, not of fundamental right, I would not defer to the legislature as a matter of comity. I would hold that Minn.Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 3(g), is unconstitutional and that the judgment in the implied consent proceeding operates as collateral estoppel in the DWI proceeding to establish that the stop of Lemmer was unlawful and that the evidence obtained by that stop must be suppressed.