Driver License Required: Snavely v. City of Huntsville, 785 So. 2d 1162 (Ala. Cr. App. 2000) [Requirement to hold valid driver license; proof of status]

Snavely was convicted of driving while his license was revoked, failure to wear a seat belt, and operating a vehicle without proper license plate. He argued the state was without power to “restrict his constitutional right to travel.”

The Court of Criminal Appeals held:

“Pursuant to section 32-6-1(a), Ala. Code 1975, every person who is not statutorily exempt is required to procure a driver’s license before driving on the highways of Alabama….a state may regulate its public highways and may impose reasonable regulations for securing the safety of the travelers using the highways. Hendrick v. Maryland, 235 U.S. 610, 622, 35 S. Ct. 140, 142, 59 L. Ed. 385 (1915) (holding that it is an acceptable exercise of a state’s power to require licensing of their drivers and registering of vehicles, and to charge a reasonable fee to implement these requirements.) See R.T.M. v. State, 677 So. 2d 801, 804 (Ala. Cr. App. 1995) (recognizing that the State of Alabama has the authority under its exercise of police power to regulate motor vehicles on public highways and to impose reasonable fees to implement that policy.) See also Lindsey v. Barton, 260 Ala.419, 70 So. 2d 633 (1954); Bozeman v. State, 7 Ala. App. 151, 61 So. 604 (1913).”

“Because it is a privilege to operate a motor vehicle on public roadways, see R.T.M., 677 So. 2d at 806, and because licenses, registration, and the accompanying fee are not taxes but the exercise of the state’s police powers to ensure safety on the public roadways, the regulation and its accompanying fee do not inhibit a person’s right to interstate travel.” 785 So. 2d at 1166.¹

To sustain a conviction for driving with a revoked driver license, the prosecution must show that the defendant had previously possessed a driver license that was in a state of revocation on the day the traffic stop took place.

“The most common method of proving a driving offense is through the admission of a certified copy of the defendant’s driving history as maintained by the State Department of Public Safety. See Goodwin v. State, 728 So. 2d 662, 670 (Ala. Cr. App. 1998). … A computer printout of a defendant’s driving history, certified by the official having custody of the driving records in the State Department of Public Safety and showing the status of the defendant’s driving history on the date in question, is admissible under the public records exception to the hearsay rule.” 785 So. 2d at 1168.

See also, Farmer v. Town of Daphne, 782 So. 2d 808 (Ala. Cr. App. 2000): Certified copy of printout from the Department of Public Safety of defendant’s driving history was admissible under public records exception to the hearsay rule, in prosecution of driving while license was revoked. Citing Code of Alabama, section 12-21-35 and Ala. Rules of Evidence, Rule 803 (8).

¹ See, generally, 60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles, § 15: “The operation of a motor vehicle upon a public highway or street is not a matter of right except in the sense that it is a civil right to which every person is entitled if he or she meets the requirements and qualifications established by law and in the sense that it is a right or liberty which is protected by the guarantees of the federal and state constitutions.”