State v. StorhoffState v. Storhoff
Habitual traffic offenders Douglas Storhoff, Virgil Tucker, and Jeffrey S. Oropesa (Defеndants) seek dismissal of charges of driving while license revoked1 based on incorrect notices of the time limit for requesting a formal license revocation hearing under
The Department of Licensing (DOL) sent each Defendant written notice that, as a habitual traffic offender, the Defendant‘s license had been revoked. Each notice stated that the Defendant could request a formal hearing pursuant to ”
Defendants were subsequently charged with driving while license revoked. Each Defendant moved to dismiss, arguing that DOL‘s failure to correctly inform them of the time limit for requеsting a formal hearing violated due process, precluding prosecution for driving while license revoked. Defendants did not allege, and have never alleged, that they were actually prejudiced by the incorrect revocation notices.
The District Court granted the Defendants’ motions. The Superior Court denied the State‘s RALJ appeal. The Court of Appeals reversed, observing that the incorrect revocation notices could not have caused Storhoff‘s and Oropesa‘s failures to request a formal hearing. The Court of Appeals invited defendant Tucker to establish on remand that he would have requested a hearing if he had received a correct notice. State v. Storhoff, 84 Wash.App. 80, 83-84, 925 P.2d 640 (1996), review granted, 131 Wash.2d 1015, 936 P.2d 416 (1997). We granted review.
Notice of Habitual Traffic Offender Status—
When a person is determined to be a habitual traffic offender, as defined by
Notices of revocation shall inform the recipient thereof of his or her right to a formal hearing and specify the steps which must be taken in order to obtain a hearing. Within fifteen days after the notice has been given, the person may, in writing, request a formal hearing.
Procedural Due Process:
An administrative revocation of a driver‘s license must comply with procedural due process. Bell v. Burson, 402 U.S. 535, 539, 91 S.Ct. 1586, 1589, 29 L.Ed.2d 90 (1971). In a prosecution for driving while license revoked, the State has the burden to prove that the revocation of the defendant‘s license complied with due process. See State v. Whitney, 78 Wash.App. 506, 514, 897 P.2d 374, review denied, 128 Wash.2d 1003, 907 P.2d 297 (1995); City of Seattle v. Foley, 56 Wash.App. 485, 488, 784 P.2d 176, review denied, 114 Wash.2d 1016, 791 P.2d 534 (1990); State v. Baker, 49 Wash.App. 778, 782, 745 P.2d 1335 (1987), statutory abrogation recognized by State v. Rogers, 127 Wash.2d 270, 276, 898 P.2d 294 (1995); State v. Thomas, 25 Wash.App. 770, 610 P.2d 937 (1980).
Defendants contend the DOL notices violated due process simply because those notices were incorrect. However, minor procedural errors do not necessarily rise to the level of due process violations. Due process requires notice and an opportunity to be heard. Rogers, 127 Wash.2d at 275, 898 P.2d 294. To establish a violation of due process, Defendants must at least allеge that the incorrect DOL revocation notices deprived them of notice and/or an opportunity to be heard. See Broom v. Department of Licensing, 72 Wash.App. 498, 505, 865 P.2d 28 (1994). But the Defendants, including defendant Tucker, have not explained how DOL‘s error deprived them of notice of their license
Furthermore, due process does not require express notification of the deadline for requesting a formal hearing as long as the order of revocation cites the statute that contains the applicable time limit. Payne v. Mount, 41 Wash.App. 627, 635, 705 P.2d 297 (termination letter citing statute containing applicable ten-day deadline for appeals to the civil service commission satisfied the minimum notice requirements of due process), review denied, 104 Wash.2d 1022 (1985), appeal dismissed, 476 U.S. 1154, 106 S.Ct. 2269, 90 L.Ed.2d 713 (1986); McConnell v. Seattle, 44 Wash.App. 316, 325, 722 P.2d 121 (1986). The DOL revocation notices cited
Defendants attempt to distinguish Payne and McConnell, arguing that the citation to ”
In the absence of any suggestion that the erroneous DOL revocation notices deprived Defendants of notice or an opportunity to be heard, we hold that the notices did not violate the Defendants’ rights to procedural due process.4
DOL‘s Failure to Comply With
Defendants also contend DOL‘s mere violation of
In Holmberg, defendants charged with driving while intoxicated argued that their breath test results should be suppressed due to the arresting officers’ failure to advise them that their refusal to submit to the breath test could be used against them in a criminal trial. Despite the obvious lack of prejudice to the defendants, the Court of Appeals held that the error required the suppression of the test results. “Society is penalized when officers derogate from the
In Gonzales, drivers whose licenses were revoked for refusing to take a breath test appealed their revocations. The licensees had been warned that they had the right to take additional tests “at your own expense.” Gonzales, 112 Wash.2d at 893, 774 P.2d 1187. The statutory warnings did not include the “at your own expense” language and, with respect to indigent drivers, such additional language was inaccurate. However, the licensees made no claim of indigence and were consequently not prejudiced by the inaccurate warning. Gonzales, 112 Wash.2d at 902, 774 P.2d 1187. Relying on Holmberg, the Gonzales licensees argued that no showing of prejudice was necessary. Rejecting this argument, the Gonzales court quickly distinguished Holmberg, observing that Holmberg was a criminal case. Gonzales, 112 Wash.2d at 900, 774 P.2d 1187.
Based on this apparent civil/criminal distinction, the present Defendants argue that they, like the defendants in Holmberg, are not required to demonstrаte any prejudice in a criminal prosecution. But the distinction suggested in Gonzales and relied on by Defendants is illusory. While Gonzales seemed to suggest that we would follow Holmberg in a criminal case, we have not done so. In a companion criminal case, State v. Battels, 112 Wash.2d 882, 774 P.2d 1183 (1989), decided on the same day as Gonzales, this court declined to follow Holmberg.
In Bartels, defendants charged with driving while intoxicated moved to suppress their breath test results based on the same erroneous warning as in Gonzales. Again, this court acknowledged that the “аt your own expense” language was inaccurate with respect to indigent defendants. Bartels, 112 Wash.2d at 889, 774 P.2d 1183. Like the licensees in Gonzales, the Bartels defendants relied on Holmberg for the proposition that the erroneous warning language required suppression of test results whether they were indigent or not. We disagreed. Ignoring the suggestion in Gonzales that we would follow Holmberg in criminal cases, we distinguished Holmberg again, and remanded each case to allow the State to prove that the defendants were not indigent.7
The real issue—in both Bartels and Gonzales, as well as the present case—is whether persons charged with serious criminal traffic offenses should escape punishment due to minor procedural errors that did not actually prejudice them. Ultimately, our opinions in both Bartels and Gonzales required a showing of prejudice. We have never actually approved or followed the Holmberg rule, and we find no rationale to recommend adoption of the rule in this case.
We affirm the Court of Appeals and remand for further proceedings.8
DOLLIVER, SMITH, GUY and TALMADGE, JJ., concur.
MADSEN, Justice (concurring).
Although I concur with the result reached by the Court, I disagree with the majority‘s finding that the incorrect revocation notices meet the requirements of procedural due process. I write separately to make it clear that procedural due process is not satisfied by a revocation notice bearing an incorrect number of days to appeal coupled with an incomplete statutory cite. Defendants should be given an opportunity to show any actual prejudice that resulted from the incorrect information. I agree with the majority that Defendants Storhoff‘s and Oropesa‘s cases should not be remanded since the incorrect revocation notice did not prejudice them in any way but that Defendant Tucker‘s case needs to be remanded to ascertain whether he was prejudiced by the incorrect notices.
Although the majority reaches the correct result in a footnote on page 11, it errs in mаking its inconsistent finding that the information provided in the revocation notices fulfills procedural due process requirements under Payne v. Mount, 41 Wash.App. 627, 705 P.2d 297 (1985). In Payne, the court held that due process does not require express notification of a deadline to request a hearing; revocation notices that cite the relevant statute containing thе time limit for appeal are adequate. Id. at 635, 705 P.2d 297. Relying on Payne, the majority finds the incomplete cite to the statute accompanied by the incorrect number of days sufficient to satisfy procedural due process. However, unlike the notice in Payne, the Department of Licensing (DOL) revocation notices that were given to Defendants cited
The majority also reasons in support of its procedural due process argument that “To the average person, the main obstacles presented by DOL‘s citation to `RCW 46.65’ (the entire Washington Habitual Traffic Offenders Act) would be to determine the meaning of the unfamiliar citation, and obtain a cоpy of the statute from a law library. Having accomplished that much, a person would find it a comparatively simple matter to locate the hearing request time limit in
Finally, I take exception to the majority‘s characterization of the incorrect notices as “a minor procedural error.” Majority at 788. The underpinning of due process law is
JOHNSON, ALEXANDER and SANDERS, JJ., concur.