Opinion

Najafi v. Motor Vehicle Administration

  • 418 Md. 164
  • 12 A.3d 1255
  • 2011 Md. LEXIS 20
Court
Court of Appeals of Maryland
Filed
Jan 31, 2011
Status
Published
Author
Harrell
On the bench
Bell, Harrell, Battaglia, Greene, Murphy, Adkins, Barbera
Cited by
17 cases

noting that “an administrative agency’s interpretation and application of the statute which the agency administers should ordinarily be given considerable weight by reviewing courts. Furthermore, the expertise of the agency in its own field should be respected.”

How later courts described this case

  • noting that “an administrative agency’s interpretation and application of the statute which the agency administers should ordinarily be given considerable weight by reviewing courts. Furthermore, the expertise of the agency in its own field should be respected.”
  • TR 16-205.1’s “purpose ... [i]s to protect the public rather than the accused[.]” (Citation omitted)
  • discussing the substantial evidence test

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

HARRELL, J.,

concurring.

The Majority opinion could, and should, have been quite a bit shorter, by its own admission. Twenty-three pages into the opinion there appears a paragraph beginning with this sentence: “Ultimately, however, our discussion in the instant case as to the effect, in the administrative context, of the applicability of a right to counsel prior to making a test election is really dicta, because Najafi clearly was given an opportunity to contact counsel.” (Emphasis added.) Moreover, in the last paragraph of the Majority opinion (op. at 188, 12 A.3d at 1270), it is stated that “we avoid having to determine whether or not a police officer must afford the right to counsel to a detained driver in the administrative license suspension hearing.... ” I construe these statements as conceding that: (1) the considerable discussion devoted to Petitioner’s first question on certiorari is unnecessary to decide this case; and, (2) the first question is a moot one, on this record. I join the judgment and the remaining analysis of the Majority opinion supporting affirmance.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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