James Kelly Leno v. Director, North Dakota Department of Transportation

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed a judgment upholding the Department of Transportation’s 91-day suspension of James Kelly Leno’s driving privileges. The Court held that the arresting officer’s testimony sufficiently established compliance with the specimen submitter’s checklist for the blood sample. The Court also concluded that the hearing officer properly allowed the officer to refresh his memory using a blank checklist and that Leno received a fair and impartial hearing.

Holdings

1. When the specimen submitter's checklist is not submitted to the Department or introduced at the administrative hearing, testimony from participants may establish scrupulous compliance with the approved blood-sample collection and submission procedures. Here, the arresting officer's testimony was sufficient to support the finding that he complied with every required checklist step.
2. A hearing officer does not abuse her discretion by allowing a witness to review an admitted blank copy of a specimen-submitters checklist to refresh memory when the witness demonstrates a need for refreshing and confirms that the material assists recollection, so long as the witness does not testify directly from the material and the opposing party may cross-examine the witness.
3. The hearing officer did not deny Leno a fair and impartial hearing by asking leading questions because most questions were not leading and the leading questions used were necessary to refresh the officer's memory. The hearing officer acted within her discretion.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the arresting officer's testimony was sufficient to establish scrupulous compliance with the specimen submitter's checklist requirements when the completed checklist was not presented at the administrative hearing.
2. Whether the hearing officer abused her discretion or denied Leno a fair hearing by allowing the officer to review a blank copy of the checklist to refresh his memory.
3. Whether the hearing officer denied Leno a fair and impartial hearing by using leading questions to elicit testimony about compliance with the checklist.

Disposition

affirmed