Moomjian

Introduction

Respondent Robin L. Moomjian, a Georgia resident, was convicted in Georgia of two driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) offenses more than five years apart. Georgia treats DUI offenses more than five years apart as first offenses, and first offenders’ licenses remain valid if they complete a basic drinking driver program. Because Moomjian completed such programs, her Georgia driver’s license remained valid.

Less than seven years after her first offense, Moomjian moved to California and applied for and received a California driver’s license from the appellant California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). A few months later, after discovering Moomjian’s Georgia DUI convictions, the DMV suspended her driver’s license under authority of Vehicle Code section 13352, subdivision (a)(3), which mandates license suspension for drivers convicted of two DUI offenses within seven years.

Moomjian petitioned for a writ of mandamus, arguing that had her convictions occurred in California, she could have sought probation from a California court under conditions permitting her license to be restricted rather than suspended. Moomjian argued that section 13363,…