Court Opinion

ID: 9793312
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:45:55.363921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:04:29.252833
License: Public Domain

OAKS, Justice
(dissenting):
I cannot agree,that the district courts’ proceedings were “a legal nullity” or that these courts lacked jurisdiction to revoke a driver’s license under U.C.A., 1953, § 41-6-44.10 because the officers’ reports were not personally sworn to before a notary. Admittedly, that statute requires a “sworn report,” and admittedly that is the preferred course, for the reasons stated in the majority opinion. But what happened here did not deviate far from that requirement in substance.
In Stevens’ case, where we have detailed findings, the court found that “the sworn report submitted by the arresting officer to the department was dropped in a box the night before and notarized subsequently by the notary, and not in the presence of the officer.” We may fairly infer from the record that the department’s notary was familiar with the signature of the officer, so the administrative proceeding was not begun without most of the protections advocated in the majority opinion.
The most important protection of these petitioners’ rights, one that is probably an ingredient of fundamental fairness required by due process, is that the officers gave sworn testimony at the administrative hearing and again in the district court before petitioners’ licenses were revoked. Under the statute, the department and the court take their action not on the basis of the officer’s signed report — sworn or otherwise — but on the basis of the testimony given and other evidence submitted at the hearing. Petitioners do not challenge the truthfulness of that testimony or the adequacy of evidence for the ordered revocations. Instead, persons arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol seek to retain their licenses in the face of admitted grounds for revocation because “the constable has blundered.” Cf. People v. Defore, 242 N.Y. 13, 21, 150 N.E. 585, 587 (1927) (Cardozo, J.).
The sole and simple issue on these appeals is whether the district court loses its power to enter a valid order on admittedly sufficient evidence because the officer was not present and personally affirming his signature when the department’s notary subscribed the report that commenced the underlying administrative proceeding. I cannot see how the statute requires that result in a case where the officer later confirmed his signed report by sworn testimony at the hearing. I would follow People v. Rehfeldt, 103 Ill.App.3d 368, 59 Ill.Dec. 165, 431 N.E.2d 450 (1982). (The department’s power to revoke the license of a person who has failed to appear for the hearing may be a different case, but that issue is not before us on this appeal.)
I would affirm.
HALL, C.J., concurs in the dissenting opinion of OAKS, J.