Baker

This case centers on the so-called “Admin Per Se” laws where the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspends a driver’s license when a motorist has been arrested for drunk driving before the motorist has had the benefit of a trial in a court of law. It does not involve a criminal prosecution for drunk driving. As we explain below, because the Admin Per Se law operates in a summary fashion, the DMV is required to show that the motorist had a certain amount of blood alcohol (.08 percent) at the time he or she was driving. And that requires a valid chemical test.

Of course, a jury in a court of law could certainly conclude in a criminal prosecution that a driver was intoxicated based on such indicia as slurred speech and an unsteady gait without a valid chemical test. And trial judges, even in a case of a first offense, have always had the power to suspend a driver’s license as a condition of probation (see Veh. Code, § 13352). But before the DMV can summarily suspend a license without court proceedings it must have the definite evidence of a valid chemical test showing blood alcohol while driving of at least .08 percent. As the DMV itself is well aware, some symptoms of…