Taylor

Just before midnight on Friday, February 4, 1994, 17-year-old Erik D. Taylor was driving his 2 friends home from a school dance in his Toyota pickup truck. He was not exceeding the speed limit. Scotts Valley Police Officer Hohmann was driving northbound on Scotts Valley Drive, and Taylor’s truck was southbound on the same street. As Hohmann’s car passed by Taylor’s truck, “someone inside [Taylor’s] vehicle yelled loudly, and [Taylor’s] vehicle cut sharply behind [Hohmann]” as Taylor made a left turn onto a cross street. Taylor was in the left-turn lane using his left-turn signal when he initiated this turn. Hohmann detained Taylor, administered a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test and discovered that plaintiff’s blood-alcohol concentration was greater than .01.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (hereafter the DMV) suspended Taylor’s privilege to drive a motor vehicle pursuant to Vehicle Code section 23137. Taylor sought a writ of mandate in the superior court alleging that this suspension was invalid because the PAS testing had not been incidental to a lawful detention. The DMV denied this allegation and claimed that “there were specific, articulable facts…