Argued: October 7, 2019
Circuit Court for Carroll County Case No. C-06-CV-18-000090
Barbera, C.J., McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, Booth, Wilner,
Alan M. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
OPINION
HOTTEN, J.
This
appeal was taken from a decision of the Circuit Court for
Carroll County, which affirmed the decision of an
Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"), holding that an
officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe Ariel
Medvedeff ("Respondent") was driving or attempting
to drive a motor vehicle while impaired, when the officer
approached the vehicle following a traffic infraction,
observed Respondent sitting in the driver's seat, and
smelled alcohol on her breath and person. The Motor Vehicle
Administration ("Petitioner") appealed the decision
by the ALJ and the circuit court, and presents a single issue
for our review:
Did the administrative law judge err in imposing his
credibility determinations and inferences from circumstances
at the scene of the drunk driving arrest to make a legal
determination that the detaining officer lacked reasonable
grounds to suspect that [Respondent], who was seated in the
driver's seat after a traffic stop, was driving the
vehicle, and therefore the officer could not request that she
take an alcohol concentration test under Transportation
Article § 16-205.1?
For
reasons we shall explain infra, we answer that
question in the affirmative and reverse the decision of the
Circuit Court for Carroll County.
FACTUAL
AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The
administrative show-cause hearing elicited the following
facts. On December 30, 2017 at approximately 11:45 p.m.,
Deputy Kathleen Yox ("Deputy Yox") and another
unnamed deputy from the Carroll County Sheriff's
Department conducted a routine traffic stop of a vehicle they
observed failing to stop at a stop sign in Westminster,
Maryland. The vehicle-a Ford F-350 pick-up truck-made a right
turn at the stop sign instead of coming to a complete stop.
As a result of the traffic infraction, Deputy Yox pulled
behind the pickup truck and attempted to pull the driver
over. Upon noticing the police vehicle, the driver of the
pick-up truck traveled for a short distance before turning
left into a shopping center parking lot, where Deputy Yox
approached the vehicle from behind. At that time, Deputy Yox
observed Respondent sitting in the driver's seat. A man,
who was later identified during the traffic stop as Anthony
Crany ("Mr. Crany"), was seated in the back of the
truck, behind Respondent.
Upon
approach, Deputy Yox detected the odor of alcohol on
Respondent's breath and person. Accordingly, Deputy Yox
requested that Respondent exit the vehicle and submit to a
series of Standard Field Sobriety Tests ("SFSTs")
to ascertain whether she had been driving while under the
influence of or impaired by alcohol. Respondent complied with
the request to exit the vehicle, while Mr. Crany remained in
the backseat.
One of
the SFSTs Deputy Yox performed on Respondent was a
Preliminary Breath Test. The Preliminary Breath Test sample
determined that Respondent had a blood alcohol concentration
("BAC") level of 0.14.[1] Because Respondent's BAC
exceeded the legal limit of 0.08, Deputy Yox determined that
she was impaired. During the course of administering the
SFSTs, the alleged passenger, Mr. Crany, exited the vehicle
and approached the other deputy. Mr. Crany insisted that
Respondent had not been driving the vehicle when they were
stopped. Instead, Mr. Crany alleged that he was the driver
and that Respondent agreed to switch seats with him so that
it appeared Respondent was driving at the time of the traffic
violation. In light of this new narrative, the unnamed deputy
administered a series of SFSTs on Mr. Crany, which revealed
that Mr. Crany was also impaired. Ultimately, both occupants
were placed under arrest and transported to the local police
station for a breathalyzer test ("breath test"),
where Respondent was informed of her right to refuse the
test. She was also informed of the potential administrative
consequences should she refuse the breath test.[2] After receiving
this information and signing the DR-15 "Advice of
Rights" form, Respondent refused to submit to the breath
test and the officers confiscated her driver's
license.[3] Respondent challenged the suspension of
her driving privileges before the Office of Administrative
Hearings.[4]
The
Administrative Proceeding
The ALJ
heard this case on May 15, 2018 and considered testimony from
Respondent and Mr. Crany. Respondent testified that she and
Mr. Crany were traveling from a restaurant in
Westminster-where they both had been drinking alcohol-when
Mr. Crany ran the stop sign. Mr. Crany and Respondent
testified that they switched seats "almost
immediately" after pulling into the parking lot to avoid
negative consequences for Mr. Crany, who was afraid a drunk
driving arrest would interfere with his security clearance at
work. They alleged that Mr. Crany stopped in the parking lot,
turned the vehicle off, and climbed over the center console
into the backseat with the car keys, while Respondent entered
the driver's seat. Both parties also testified that Mr.
Crany exited the vehicle as Respondent began the field
sobriety tests and advised the other deputy on the scene that
Respondent had not been driving. Respondent testified that,
after she had observed Mr. Crany exit the vehicle and advise
the other deputy that he had been the one driving, Respondent
confirmed Mr. Crany's assertion to Deputy Yox. Respondent
maintained that she had not operated the vehicle that
evening. Deputy Yox and the other deputy on the scene did not
appear or testify at the show-cause hearing to corroborate or
contradict this version of events.
Respondent
then moved, through counsel, for "No Action,
"[5] arguing that the deputies did not observe
her driving or attempting to drive, and merely sitting in the
driver's seat of a motor vehicle while impaired or under
the influence is not sufficient for a driving under the
influence ("DUI") arrest. Respondent further argued
that it was not possible for her to operate or attempt to
operate the vehicle while intoxicated because the truck had
been stopped when Deputy Yox observed her sitting in the
driver's seat, and the keys were in the backseat with Mr.
Crany at that time. The ALJ interpreted the Motion for No
Action as a motion "based on [the] argument that the MVA
has failed to meet its burden of proving by a preponderance
of the evidence that the Licensee was driving or attempting
to drive[, ]" and clarified that the appropriate
...