PER CURIAM.
Kurt Klinker ("Klinker") seeks a writ of certiorari from this Court quashing a circuit court opinion which affirmed a hearing officer's determination that Klinker's driver's license suspension should be sustained. We deny, as meritless, Klinker's petition to the extent that it challenges whether there was probable cause for Trooper Ramirez' traffic stop. Likewise, we deny Klinker's remaining claims challenging the hearing officer's refusal to issue subpoenas to FDLE employees Roger Skipper, Jennifer Keegan, and Laura Barfield; the hearing officer's refusal to set aside Klinker's suspension based on his claim that the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test machine has never been properly approved for evidentiary use in Florida; and his claim that the record before the hearing officer failed to include a copy of the most recent Florida Department of Law Enforcement Department ("FDLE") Inspection Report (FDLE/ATP Form 41) for the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine used to test him.
We conclude, however, that because these latter claims have resulted in conflicting decisions in the circuit courts below, it is incumbent upon us to address the issues presented in order to resolve the confusion that currently exists. Cf. Department of H'wy Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Alliston, 813 So.2d 141, 145 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) ("[W]e conclude that the circuit court's error results in a miscarriage of justice requiring certiorari relief because it has precedential value and the circuit court is applying the same error to numerous other administrative proceedings involving the suspension of driver's licenses.").
On June 18, 2010, Klinker was lawfully stopped in his vehicle by Trooper Ramirez after having been observed by the officer to be travelling over the posted speed limit. Trooper Ramirez approached Klinker's vehicle and observed Klinker to have glassy, blood-shot eyes, a flushed face, slurred speech, and an odor of alcohol. After Klinker performed poorly on field sobriety exercises, Trooper Ramirez arrested Klinker for DUI and transported him to the Orange County Breath Test Center where Klinker would later submit to a breath test utilizing an Intoxilyzer 8000 breath test machine (using software version 8100.27). The results of Klinker's two breath tests were readouts of 0.196 and 0.200, considerably above the statutory maximum of .08. Based upon this information, Trooper Ramirez suspended
Klinker would subsequently request that a formal administrative review of his license suspension be conducted by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles ("DHSMV"). See Fla. Admin. Code R. 15A-6.006. The hearing was scheduled to be held in Orlando, Florida, where the notice of suspension was issued. See Fla. Admin. Code R. 15A-6.009.
In preparation for his hearing, Klinker listed 20 separate issues to be resolved and requested that the hearing officer issue subpoenas and/or subpoenas duces tecum for three FDLE employees: Roger Skipper, Laura Barfield, and Jennifer Keegan. According to the subpoena requests, both Barfield and Keegan worked at an FDLE office in Tallahassee, and Skipper worked at an FDLE office in Orlando. According to Klinker's prehearing statement, these three FDLE employees would be needed to testify on all the following matters at the formal administrative review hearing:
Utilizing this testimony, Klinker sought to demonstrate that his breath test results recorded on June 18, 2010 were invalid and unreliable because they were obtained through the use of a breath testing machine that had not been properly approved pursuant to FDLE Rule 11D-8.003, Florida Administrative Code. The hearing officer denied each of Klinker's written subpoena requests by writing the word "Denied" and "F.S. 322.2615" across the the top of each request.
On July 28, 2010, Klinker's formal administrative review hearing was conducted. At the hearing, the DHSMV admitted into evidence Klinker's driver's license, Trooper Ramirez' arrest affidavit, the breath alcohol test affidavit prepared by Orange County Sheriff's Office employee Jimmy Burke, the Agency Inspection Report for the utilized Intoxilyzer 8000 machine (FDLE/ATP Form 40) prepared by Orange County Sheriff's Office employee Kelly Melville, and an uncertified transcript of Klinker's driving record. In addition, the following three individuals provided live testimony at the hearing: Burke, Melville, and Trooper Ramirez. Klinker was present and represented by his attorney, Stuart Hyman. On August 6, 2010, the hearing officer entered a written order sustaining Klinker's license suspension.
Klinker next sought to challenge the hearing officer's decision to sustain his driver's license suspension by filing a first-tier petition for writ of certiorari in the Orange County circuit court. See
Klinker now seeks second-tier certiorari review raising essentially the same issues that were asserted before the circuit court. For the reasons which follow, we deny the instant petition.
The Division of Driver Licenses of the DHSMV is tasked with the responsibility of conducting formal administrative review hearings, when requested by a driver, in order to determine whether the DHSMV's decision to suspend a driver's license should be sustained, amended, or invalidated. See Fla. Admin. Code Rs. 15A-6.013(1); 15A-6.002(3). The formal review process is initiated when a law enforcement officer, on behalf of the DHSMV, issues an administrative suspension to a driver for driving with an unlawful breath alcohol level. See § 322.2615(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2010). Once this occurs, the officer is provided five days within which he or she must provide certain documentation to the DHSMV, including "the results of any breath or blood test," which support the officer's determination. § 322.2615(2), Fla. Stat. (2010).
At a formal review hearing, the proceedings are presided over by a hearing officer who is a division employee and who is tasked with the responsibility of determining "whether the suspension ... is supported by a preponderance of the evidence." Fla. Admin. Code R. 15A-6.013(7). See also Fla. Admin. Code R. 15A-6.002(2).
§ 322.2615(7), Fla. Stat. (2010) (Emphasis added).
Notably, the hearing officer is empowered by statute and rule to issue subpoenas to individuals whose attendance is requested by the driver at the formal administrative hearing. However the scope of the hearing officer's subpoena-issuing power in this regard is strictly limited to "the officers and witnesses identified in documents in subsection (2) ...." § 322.2615(6)(b); Fla. Stat. (2010); Fla. Admin. Code R. 15A-6.012(1).
As noted above, in the present case the record demonstrates that the only documents submitted by Trooper Ramirez to the DHSMV pursuant to his section 322.2615(2) responsibilities were Klinker's driver's license, Trooper Ramirez' arrest affidavit, the breath alcohol test affidavit prepared by Orange County Sheriff's Office employee Jimmy Burke, the Agency Inspection Report for the utilized Intoxilyzer 8000 machine (FDLE/ATP Form 40) prepared by Orange County Sheriff's Office employee Kelly Melville, and an uncertified transcript of Klinker's driving record. Accordingly, on the face of the record it is clear that the only individuals for whom Klinker would have the right to seek subpoenas would be Burke, Melville, and Trooper Ramirez, as these were the only "officers and witnesses identified in documents in subsection (2)." See § 322.2615(6)(b), Fla. Stat. (2010). In fact, Klinker did seek to subpoena these witnesses and, in each case, the subpoenas were issued and the witnesses appeared.
However, Klinker also seeks to challenge the proceedings below on the ground that the record of his formal administrative review hearing did not include a copy of the most recent FDLE Inspection Report (FDLE/ATP Form 41) for the Intoxilyzer 8000 machine used to test him. An FDLE Inspection Report is a yearly inspection of a given Intoxilyzer machine conducted by an FDLE inspector in order to "validate[ ] the instrument's approval for evidentiary use." Fla. Admin. Code R.
Thus, a key question presented in the instant case is whether an FDLE Inspection Report would qualify as a document that law enforcement must submit to the DHSMV pursuant to section 322.2615(2). If it is determined to be such a document, then it would necessarily follow that Klinker would have a statutory right to subpoena the author of that document (presumably Roger Skipper) pursuant to the express language of section 322.2615(6)(b).
We conclude, however, that an FDLE Inspection Report (FDLE/ATP Form 41) is not a document which is contemplated in the language of section 322.2615(2).
Furthermore, as has previously been discussed, an FDLE Department Inspection Report is designed to "validate[ ] the instrument's approval for evidentiary use." Fla. Admin. Code R. 11D-8.004(2). In achieving this goal, an FDLE inspector performs an annual inspection and maintenance of each Intoxilyzer 8000 machine in the State of Florida in order to determine that each machine is functioning properly. See Fla. Admin. Code R. 11D-8.004(4).
Given this purpose of an FDLE Inspection Report, it is our view that such a report is more akin to a report related to the maintenance of a breath testing instrument, as opposed to the results of a breath testing instrument. While it is true that a report related to "the maintenance of a breath testing instrument" is a document that the Florida Administrative Code expressly states that a hearing officer "may" consider, see Fla. Admin. Code R. 15A-6.013(2)
Finally, we reject Klinker's arguments contending that his breath test results were invalid and unreliable due to his claim that they were obtained through the use of an Intoxilyzer machine that had not been properly approved by the FDLE pursuant to Rule 11D-8.003, Florida Administrative Code. We conclude that such challenges to the approval process of the Intoxilyzer machine are simply beyond the scope of a formal driver's license review proceeding. We are buttressed in this conclusion by the restrictive statutory language located in sections 322.2615(2) and 322.2615(6)(b), which require law enforcement officers to produce to the DHSMV documentation related only to the "results" of the actual breath test at issue, and which limits a hearing officer's subpoena powers to only the individuals identified in the documents provided pursuant to section 322.2615(2). Furthermore, we are compelled to this result by the recent amendments to the language of Florida Administrative Code Rule 15A-6.013(2), which now give the hearing officer the discretion to consider certain pieces of documentation, such as reports related to the maintenance of a breath testing instrument, where once such consideration was required.
PETITION DENIED.
SAWAYA, JACOBUS and BERGER, JJ., concur.