Buchholz v. North Dakota Department of Transportation

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Dakota reviewed the reversal of an administrative suspension of Deanna Buchholz's driving privileges after an Intoxilyzer test recorded a blood alcohol concentration of .22 percent. The court held that the State Toxicologist's approved method did not require the test operator to inspect the subject's mouth or ask whether the subject had anything in it, so long as the operator continuously observed the subject for the required twenty-minute period. The court reversed the district court and reinstated the hearing officer's ninety-one-day suspension.

Holdings

1. The State Toxicologist's approved method, which requires the operator to ascertain that the subject had nothing to eat, drink, or smoke within twenty minutes before the breath sample, does not require the operator to ask whether the subject has anything in her mouth or to inspect her mouth before administering the test.
2. The Intoxilyzer test was fairly administered under the approved method, and the test results were properly admitted in evidence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State Toxicologist's approved Intoxilyzer testing method requires an operator to ask the subject whether she has anything in her mouth or to inspect her mouth before administering the test.
2. Whether the evidence established that the Intoxilyzer test was fairly administered and that its results were admissible in the administrative license-suspension hearing.
3. Whether the hearing officer's findings and suspension decision were supported by the evidence under the Administrative Agencies Practices Act.

Disposition

reversed