Hamilton

Plaintiff Robert Martin Hamilton (Hamilton) appeals from the denial of his petition for writ of mandate, by which he sought to set aside a one-year suspension of his commercial driving license privilege imposed by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) upon his conviction of driving a vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent or more. (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (b), all further unspecified statutory references are to this code.)

We find the DMV exceeded its jurisdiction in taking away Hamilton’s commercial license for one year, because the statute under which it purported to act (§ 15300, subd. (a)(1)) does not authorize that penalty for the offense of which Hamilton was convicted. We will reverse the judgment with directions to grant the writ.

Background

On August 27, 2000 (all unspecified calendar references are to that year), Hamilton was issued a misdemeanor traffic citation for violating section 23152, subdivision (d) (section 23152(d)), i.e., driving a commercial vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of .04 percent or higher. The citation indicated on its face that Hamilton was driving a 1969 Peterbilt 3x dump truck, a commercial vehicle. A printout of the…