Suppose a police officer patrolling a city street lawfully pulls over a car with out-of-state tags. When the officer asks the driver for his driver’s license, the driver tells the officer: I had a Maryland driver’s license, but it was revoked. May the law enforcement officer properly charge the defendant with driving while license revoked in violation of G.S. 20-28(a)? After all, the defendant (1) drove (2) a motor vehicle (3) on a highway (4) with a revoked license (5) knowing it was revoked. G.S. 20-28(a). G.S. 20-28(a) historically has been interpreted not to support charges of driving while license revoked on these facts. See Ben F. Loeb & James C. Drennan, Motor Vehicle Law and the Law of Impaired Driving in North Carolina 84 (UNC Institute of Government, 2000) (“The offense of driving while license revoked has generally been interpreted to require that one’s license be revoked by the State or North Carolina and that notice of that fact be provided by the state.”); see also N.C. Pattern Jury Instruction-Crim. 271.10 (stating that for jury to find that notice of the revocation was given, of which the defendant had knowledge, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) notice was personally delivered, (2) the defendant surrendered his or her license to an official of the court, or (3) that DMV provided notice by mail in accordance with G.S. 20-48). Why out-of state revocations don’t count. The terms “revocation: and “suspension” are defined in G.S. 20-4.01(36) and G.S. 20-4.01(47) [...]
Faculty Coordinators
