Opinion ID: 2967454
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Requirement of Scienter

Text: Brewer argues that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-16.5 requires a finding of scienter because scienter is implicit in committing the crime of driving while impaired. But, as the State observes, driving while impaired is a strict liability offense; one is guilty simply by virtue of operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit, and there is no requirement that the state prove any mens rea as to intoxication as an element of the offense. See, e.g., State v. Hill, 230 S.E.2d 579, 580 (N.C. App. 1977) (holding, under a predecessor to North Carolina’s current DWI statute, that guilty knowledge as to the alcoholic nature of the beverage consumed and the level of alcohol in one’s bloodstream is not an element of the offense). One could very 4 Brewer’s argument from the holding of Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535 (1971), which held that deprivation of a voluntarily-granted license can trigger due process protections, is not persuasive because the fact that license revocation triggers due process protections does not mean that such revocation involves an affirmative disability. BREWER v. KIMEL 11 well have a blood alcohol level slightly above the legal limit, have a substantial alcohol tolerance, and be unaware that one’s blood alcohol level exceeds the limit or even that one is intoxicated as the law defines that term; such lack of scienter is not a defense to a charge of driving while intoxicated. We thus conclude that no finding of scienter is required before the sanction in this case may be imposed, a factor which cuts against a finding that it is a criminal punishment.