JOHN ANDREW LINBLADE V SECRETARY OF STATE
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
JOHN ANDREW LINBLADE,
UNPUBLISHED
December 21, 1999
Petitioner-Appellee,
v
No. 208255
Washtenaw Circuit Court
LC No. 97-008494 AL
SECRETARY OF STATE,
Respondent-Appellant.
Before: Murphy, P.J., and Hood and Neff, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Respondent appeals by leave granted from the circuit court’s order granting restoration of
petitioner’s driving privileges without restrictions by reversing the respondent’s refusal to reinstate
petitioner’s driver license. We reverse.
The circuit court’s review of the Secretary of State’s hearing officer’s decision is limited to the
criteria set forth in MCL 257.323(6); MSA 9.2023(6). The circuit court did not find that any of the
criteria contained in MCL 257.323(6); M 9.2023(6) had been satisfied. Rather, the trial court
SA
expressly stated that it was substituting its judgment for that of the hearing officer. In reversing the
respondent’s refusal to issue a driver’s license with restrictions, the circuit court did not afford deference
to the assessment of credibility by the hearing officer, Walters v Secretary of State, 170 Mich App
466, 469; 429 NW2d 188 (1988), but substituted its own judgment to fully reinstate petitioner’s
driver’s license privileges based upon the circuit court’s prior contacts with a probation officer, who
evaluated petitioner. Accordingly, the decision of the circuit court must be reversed. MCL
257.323(6); MSA 9.2023(6).
Reversed.
/s/ William B. Murphy
/s/ Harold Hood
/s/ Janet T. Neff
-1
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