Summary
In Troutman, we held that even if the ticket bears some indication that the payment was in satisfaction of a fine, there must be something showing that the fine corresponds to the offense charged, otherwise "the payment could have been for a reduced charge [of fewer points]."
Summary of this case from Gillespie v. Dep't of RevenueOpinion
No. 75-931
Decided December 2, 1976. Opinion modified and as modified petition for rehearing denied December 30, 1976.
In action to review driver's license suspension ordered because driver had allegedly accumulated 12 "points" in one year, district court reversed the order of suspension, and motor vehicle division appealed.
Affirmed
1. AUTOMOBILES — Driver's License Suspension — "Points" Accumulation — Only Record — One Charge — Payment to Municipal Court — Insufficient — Show Conviction. Where plaintiff's driving privileges were suspended because she had allegedly accumulated 12 points against her driving record within a 12-month period, but four of the points were based on a charge with regard to which the record indicated only that $15 had been paid to a municipal court clerk, such was not sufficient to prove a conviction of the offense, and therefore, suspension of plaintiff's driving privileges was without proper foundation.
Appeal from the District Court of Arapahoe County, Honorable William B. Naugle, Judge.
Willard B. Rogers, Jr., for plaintiff-appellee.
J. D. MacFarlane, Attorney General, Jean E. Dubofsky, Deputy Attorney General, Edward G. Donovan, Assistant Attorney General, Arthur G. Staliwe, Assistant Attorney General, for defendants-appellants.
Following proceedings before a hearing examiner of the Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, plaintiff's driver's license was suspended for point accumulation pursuant to § 42-2-123, C.R.S. 1973. She appealed to the district court which reversed the order of suspension and enjoined the Department from interfering with her driving privileges. The Department appeals and we affirm the order of the district court.
Plaintiff's driving privileges were suspended by the Department because she had allegedly accumulated 12 points against her driving record within a 12 month period. Of these points, four were based on an alleged conviction of a charge of driving 41 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone in the City of Golden, a four point offense. With respect to this charge, the record indicates only that $15 was paid on September 26, 1974, to the Golden Municipal Court Clerk, and the plaintiff, at the license suspension hearing before the examiner, challenged this as not constituting a "conviction" within the statutory meaning of that word.
[1] We agree with the district court that proof of payment of $15, even if it be assumed that it was to pay a fine, does not prove that there was a conviction of the offense for which plaintiff was ticketed. From all that appears in the record, the payment could have been for a reduced charge constituting a three point violation.
Therefore, suspension of plaintiff's driving privileges is without proper foundation. See Gurule v. State, 38 Colo. App. 295, 558 P.2d 587 (1976).
Judgment affirmed.
JUDGE COYTE and JUDGE ENOCH concur.