Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Couick v. Jessup, ___ N.C. App. ___, 832 S.E.2d 241 (Aug. 6, 2019)
In this license revocation case arising from a DWI charge, the court concluded that the DMV did not have jurisdiction to revoke the petitioner’s drivers license because the affidavit submitted to the DMV showed that the arresting officer designated a blood test but that the petitioner refused a breath test. Quoting extensively from Lee v. Gore, 365 N.C. 227 (2011) and emphasizing the DMV’s “limited authority” to suspend a driver’s license, the court explained that because the Affidavit and Revocation Report of Law Enforcement Officer form (DHHS 3907) filed in this case “states that [the officer] designated one type of test and the petitioner refused another type of test,” it did not evidence a willful refusal under G.S. 20-16.2 – a necessary condition precedent under these circumstances to the DMV’s exercise of jurisdiction to revoke the petitioner’s license.