Sloop v. Dep't of Revenue
Annotate this CaseAn officer arrested Appellant, suspecting Appellant was intoxicated. After performing two field sobriety tests, Appellant refused to take the evidentiary breath test the officer requested. The Kansas Department of Revenue suspended Appellant's driving privileges for one year under Kan. Stat. Ann. 8-1014(a)(1), which provides that privileges can be suspended for refusing to take a breath test the arresting officer is authorized to request. The district court affirmed Appellant's suspension, concluding that a reasonable officer could have believed it was more than a possibility that Appellant operated his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed and reinstated Appellant's driving privileges, holding (1) the officer's statutory authority to request Appellant to take the breath test depends upon a valid arrest; (2) the arrest was invalid in this case because the officer had no probable cause to support it; and (3) Appellant's refusal to take a breath test the officer had no statutory authority to request could not be the basis for suspending his driving privileges under section 8-1014(a)(1).
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