Key Takeaway
Court vacates aggravated unlicensed operation conviction due to insufficient proof of proper DMV mailing procedures and lack of personal knowledge testimony.
People v Francis, 2014 NY Slip Op 00682 (2d Dept. 2014)
In order to support a conviction of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, the People must establish that the defendant knew or had reason to know that his or her driving privilege had been revoked, suspended, or otherwise withdrawn by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
Here, the evidence was legally insufficient to prove that the defendant knew or had reason to know that her license had been suspended. The testimony on behalf of the People, given by an employee from the Kings County [*2]office of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (hereinafter the DMV), revealed that the employee had no personal knowledge of the procedures utilized by the Albany DMV office, which handled the mailing of the notices of impending and actual suspension of the defendant’s license. Consequently, the People failed to present sufficient proof regarding the standard practice and procedure of the Albany DMV office that were designed to ensure that the suspension orders were properly addressed and mailed, did not establish that the suspension orders were mailed to the defendant, and, thus, failed to prove that the defendant knew, or had reason to know, that her license had been suspended”
