subject: Massachusetts OUI DWAI Suspended Driver License Registrar of Motor Vehicle RMV BAC [print this page] Massachusetts OUI DWAI Suspended Driver License Registrar of Motor Vehicle RMV BAC
PAUL G. BRESTEN vs. BOARD OF APPEAL ON MOTOR VEHICLE LIABILITY POLICIES & BONDS.
No. 09-P-1126.
APPEALS COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS
76 Mass. App. Ct. 263; 921 N.E.2d 134
Issue: Whether the Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicle properly suspended the driver's license, due to an out-of-state conviction?
The plaintiff states that the interstate compact applies only if he is convicted of an offense that is comparable to a Massachusetts offense. The Colorado conviction for driving while alcohol impaired does not have a counterpart in the Massachusetts statutory scheme. The statutes are not substantially similar because of significant differences in the potential punishment prescribed and the differing license consequences, because the relevant provisions of G. L. c. 90, 22 (c), require that the registrar revoke his license if she receives notice that his license was revoked or suspended in another jurisdiction. The registrar did not receive notice that his license was suspended or revoked in another jurisdiction, because the Colorado statute does not require a license suspension for violating its DWAI provision, so the registrar should not have suspended the license to operate.
The court held that "We also find no merit in the plaintiff's argument. Similar evidentiary value is allowed in both States for BAC readings below 0.05, and both States permit an inference of being under the influence of alcohol and prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle with a BAC reading of 0.08 or more. Finally, we recognize that in Colorado a reading between those two values permits an inference of impaired ability, whereas Massachusetts does not create any inference. In our view, this difference is not significant since both statutes allow for prosecution of the respective offenses at issue with a BAC reading of 0.05 or more.
Conclusion:
The judgment denying the plaintiff's motion for judgment on the pleadings and ordering the entry of judgment in favor of the board, as its decision was not based upon an error of law, was correct. The Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicle properly suspended the driver's license, due to an out-of-state conviction.
