Koller v. Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division

In Koller v. Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division, 195 Ariz. 343, 348, P24, 988 P.2d 128, 133 (App. 1999), the Court addressed the circumstances under which a violator could recant her refusal for purposes of an administrative hearing to suspend her license. The Court stated that "the statutory provision allowing the nonconsensual taking of blood upon a judicial officer's finding of probable cause is triggered by a DUI suspect's refusal to agree to the chemical test selected by an officer." Id. In Koller, the suspect refused to take a breath test several times. Id. at P 3. The arresting officer then obtained a search warrant for a blood test. Id. at P 4. At the administrative hearing to revoke her license, the suspect claimed that she had recanted her refusal by offering to take a breath test to another officer, but she could not establish that the alleged recantation was prior to the issuance of the warrant. Id. at 347, P 19, 988 P.2d at 132. She also recanted her refusal when the arresting officer came back to her holding cell to serve the search warrant. Id. at P 18. The Court held that "a driver cannot prevent a license revocation by recanting his refusal to agree to a chemical test after a search warrant for a blood sample is issued." Id. at 346, P 15, 988 P.2d at 131.