Wolski v. N.C. Div. of Motor Vehicles
Wolski v. N.C. Div. of Motor Vehicles
Opinion
*422 North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles (collectively referred to as "the DMV" or the "Respondents") 1 appeal from a trial court *153 order reversing an agency *423 decision that revoked Jennifer Anne Wolski's driver's license. After careful review, we affirm the trial court's order.
I. Background
In April 2015, a Huntersville police officer arrested Jennifer Anne Wolski for driving while under the influence.
After being advised of her rights under
The officer, who is a certified chemical analyst, executed a sworn affidavit and revocation report 2 that contained conflicting information regarding Ms. Wolski's refusal to submit to breathalyzer testing. 3 Although the affidavit referred to an attached Rights Form as evidence of Ms. Wolski's refusal to submit to testing, the attached Rights Form did not indicate that Ms. Wolski had refused testing.
The officer later amended the attached Rights Form to reflect Ms. Wolski's refusal to submit to testing. The officer did not re-execute the affidavit to reflect this change.
The DMV notified Ms. Wolski of the impending revocation of her driver's license. Ms. Wolski requested a hearing to challenge the imminent revocation on jurisdictional grounds. The hearing officer rejected Ms. Wolski's jurisdictional arguments and affirmed the DMV's decision to revoke her driver's license.
Ms. Wolski appealed the DMV hearing officer's decision. The trial court reversed the revocation of Ms. Wolski's driver's license. The DMV filed an appeal. 4
*424 II. Standard of Review
As the trial court reviewed the hearing officer's decision as an
appellate court
,
see
Johnson v. Robertson
,
III. Analysis
The DMV contends in part that the trial court erred as the officer's affidavit was executed in compliance with
*154
At the outset, we note that the trial court applied the correct standard of review. The trial court revealed that "[t]he standard of review applied ... is ... whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to support Respondents' findings of fact, whether the conclusions of law are supported by the findings of fact and whether Respondents committed an error of law in revoking the license."
As to the DMV's substantive argument, we hold that
Lee v. Gore
,
*425
Much like the officer in
Lee
,
id. at 233,
IV. Conclusion
As the Rights Form was not modified in front of a magistrate or official, we hold that the DMV lacked jurisdiction to revoke Ms. Wolski's license. We therefore affirm the trial court's ruling.
AFFIRMED.
Judges ELMORE and ZACHARY concur.
While the two are separate entities, a number of the pleadings and documents before this Court refer to the "North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles" as one single, fused entity.
Pursuant to
The affidavit indicated that Ms. Wolski had both submitted and refused to submit to breathalyzer testing.
The DMV's notice of appeal refers to the "Respondents"-namely the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles
and
the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles-as one single, fused entity. Nevertheless, we have appellate jurisdiction to review this matter as the DMV's intent to appeal the trial court's order as
two separate entities
"can be fairly inferred from the notice [of appeal]."
State v. Springle
, --- N.C.App. ----, ----,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.