84 Hawai'i 138, Gray v. Administrative Director of the Court, State of Hawaii

• Decision Date: 30 January 1997
• Docket Number: No. 18401,18401
• Parties: 84 Hawai'i 138 Bradford L. GRAY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COURT, STATE OF HAWAI'I, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: Hawaii Supreme Court

Page 580

931 P.2d 580

84 Hawai'i 138

Bradford L. GRAY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COURT, STATE OF HAWAI'I Respondent-Appellee.

No. 18401.

Supreme Court of Hawai'i.

Jan. 30, 1997.

Arthur E. Ross, on the briefs, Honolulu, for petitioner-appellant Bradford L. Gray.

Girard D. Lau and Steven S. Michaels, Deputy Attorneys General, on the briefs, Honolulu, for respondent-appellee State of Hawai'i.

Before MOON, C.J., and KLEIN, LEVINSON, NAKAYAMA and RAMIL, JJ.

LEVINSON, Justice.

The petitioner-appellant Bradford L. Gray appeals the decision and order of the District Court of the First Circuit affirming the administrative revocation of his driver's license under the rubric of the Hawai'i Administrative Revocation of Driver's License Act (HARDLA), Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) ch. 286, part XIV (1993). ¹ In accordance with HRS § 286-258 (1993), ² an Administrative Review Officer, appointed by the respondent-appellee Administrative Director of the Courts (Director), ³ revoked Gray's driver's license for life, pursuant to HRS § 286-261(b)(4) (1993), ⁴ following his fourth "alcohol enforcement contact" within the ten years preceding the date of his arrest for DUI that precipitated this appeal. The administrative revocation was subsequently affirmed by a hearing officer of the Administrative Driver License Revocation Office of the Judiciary of the State of Hawai'i (hereinafter, "ADLRO"). Gray filed a timely request for judicial review, as a result of which the district court affirmed Gray's lifetime license revocation. Gray then filed a timely appeal to this court.

On appeal, Gray raises a number of related points of error. First, with respect to HRS § 286-261(b), see supra note 4, Gray contends that: (1) the statute (a) operates as an unconstitutional ex post facto law and (b) is ambiguous and was erroneously interpreted both by the ADLRO hearing officer and by the district court; and (2) HRS § 286-261(b)(4) violates his right to due process of law by virtue of its allegedly "retroactive" application. Second, Gray urges that both the Director and the district court committed abuses of discretion in revoking Gray's driver's license for life.

Gray's arguments regarding the constitutionality, interpretation, and operation of HRS § 286-261(b) are without merit. ⁵ Moreover, for the reasons discussed below, we hold: (1) that the Director lacked the discretion to impose any period of administrative revocation upon Gray other than "for life"; and (2) that the district court was therefore correct in affirming the Director's decision and order. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court affirming Gray's lifetime administrative driver's license revocation.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 5, 1994, Gray was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI) and driving an automobile without no-fault insurance, after making a U-turn on Le'ahi Avenue, located in the City and County of Honolulu, despite two recent admonitions by police that he was intoxicated and would face arrest if he began to drive. As required by HRS §§ 286-254 and -255 (1993), the arresting officer explained HARDLA to Gray and apprised him of the consequences of refusing to be tested for blood alcohol concentration. Gray agreed to a breath test, which reflected a blood alcohol concentration of 0.285. The arresting officer confiscated Gray's driver's license pursuant to HRS § 286-255 and gave him a thirty-day permit.

An administrative review, mandated under HRS § 286-258, ⁶ was conducted on May 10, 1994. The Administrative Review Officer revoked Gray's license for life on the grounds that: (1) Gray's blood alcohol concentration was above 0.10; (2) the sworn statements from law enforcement officials were substantiated by the case file; (3) the arresting officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Gray's vehicle; and (4) the police had probable cause to believe that Gray drove, operated, or was in actual physical control of the motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.

Pursuant to HRS § 286-259, ⁷ Gray requested an administrative hearing, which occurred on May 27, 1994. The ADLRO hearing officer sustained the decision of the Administrative Review Officer and entered findings on the record.

On June 28, 1994, pursuant to HRS § 286-260, ⁸ Gray appealed to the district court from the ADLRO hearing officer's decision on the grounds that the Director had exceeded his constitutional or statutory authority, erroneously interpreted the law, acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner, committed an abuse of discretion, and made a determination unsupported by the evidence. The district court rejected Gray's arguments and affirmed the administrative revocation in a judgment entered on August 11, 1994.

Gray filed a timely appeal to this court from the district court's judgment. ⁹

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

"The interpretation of a statute is a question of law reviewable de novo." State v. Arceo, 84 Hawai'i 1, 10, 928 P.2d 843, 852 (1996) (quoting State v. Camara, 81 Hawai'i 324, 329, 916 P.2d 1225, 1230 (1996) (citation omitted)). See also State v. Toyomura, 80 Hawai'i 8, 18, 904 P.2d 893, 903 (1995); State v. Higa, 79 Hawai'i 1, 3, 897 P.2d 928, 930, reconsideration denied, 79 Hawai'i 341, 902 P.2d 976 (1995); State v. Nakata, 76 Hawai'i 360, 365, 878 P.2d 699, 704, reconsideration denied, 76 Hawai'i 453, 879 P.2d 558 (1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1147, 115 S.Ct. 1095, 130 L.Ed.2d 1063 (1995).

Judicial review of a decision of the Director regarding the revocation of a driver's license is governed by HRS § 286-260, see supra note 8, and is limited to the record of the administrative hearing and the questions whether the Director exceeded constitutional or statutory authority, erroneously interpreted the law, acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner, committed an abuse of discretion, or made a determination that was unsupported by the evidence in the record. Kernan v. Tanaka, 75 Haw. 1, 20, 856 P.2d 1207, 1217 (1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1119, 114 S.Ct. 1070, 127 L.Ed.2d 389 (1994).

"Review of a decision made by [a] court upon its review of an [administrative] decision is a secondary appeal. The standard of review is one in which this court must determine whether the court [under review] was right or wrong in its decision[.]" University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly v. Tomasu, 79 Hawai'i 154, 157, 900 P.2d 161, 164 (1995) (citations and quotation signals omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Positions Of The Parties And The Necessity Of Meaningful Appellate Review

As indicated in section I. of this opinion, supra, and pursuant to HRS § 286-260, Gray appealed--unsuccessfully--to the district court for judicial review of the Director's lifetime administrative revocation of his driver's license on the grounds, inter alia, that the Director had acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner and committed an abuse of discretion. On further appeal to this court, see supra note 9, Gray argues that the Director, through the Administrative Review Officer and the ADLRO hearing officer, committed an abuse of discretion by failing to consider or articulate any reasons for the particular period of administrative revocation imposed pursuant to HRS § 286-261(b). Gray's contention presupposes, of course, that the Director possessed the statutory discretion to impose a period of administrative revocation upon him, in accordance with HRS § 286-261(b)(4), other than "for life."

In this connection, we have held in the past that every decision governed by the Hawai'i Administrative Procedure Act (HAPA), HRS ch. 91, must explicate its findings and decisions in writing. "The parties and the court should not be left to guess, with respect to any material question of fact, or to any group of minor matters that may have cumulative significance, the precise finding of the [administrative] agency." In re Application of Terminal Transp., Inc., 54 Haw. 134, 139, 504 P.2d 1214, 1217 (1972) (emphasis added). See also In re Application of Hawaii Elec. Light Co., Inc., 60 Haw. 625, 642, 594 P.2d 612, 623 (1979) ("[F]indings of ultimate facts must be supported by findings of basic facts which in turn are required to be supported by the evidence in the record." (Citations and footnote omitted.) (Emphasis in original.)).

We recognize that administrative license revocation proceedings conducted pursuant to HRS §§ 286-258 and -259, see supra notes 6 and 7, are not governed by the "contested case" requirements of HAPA. HRS § 286-263 (1993). ¹⁰ Nevertheless, as the Intermediate Court of Appeals recently observed, "[t]here are very practical reasons for requiring an [administrative] agency's findings and conclusions upon all material issues of fact, law, or discretion to be stated in its decisions." Rife v. Akiba, 81 Hawai'i 84, 87, 912 P.2d 581, 584 (App.1996) (emphasis added).

The reasons have to do with facilitating judicial review, avoiding judicial usurpation of administrative functions, assuring more careful administrative consideration, helping parties plan their cases for rehearing and judicial review, and keeping [administrative] agencies within their jurisdiction.

... [T]he most prominent reason ... is the facilitation of judicial review.

Id. (quoting K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise § 16.05 (1958) (footnotes omitted)) (emphasis added).

Therefore, even though HARDLA does not, as a facilitator of judicial review, expressly require a written record of the reasons forming the basis for determining the period or term of an arrestee's administrative driver's license revocation, we believe that HRS §§ 286-258, -259, -260 and -261, see supra notes 4, 6, 7, and 8, imply such a requirement; the requisite scope of the written record depends, of course, upon: (1) whether HARDLA accords the Director any discretion to depart--in either an upward or downward manner--from the periods (or any of them) enumerated in ...