Bouchard v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the Superior Court's judgment dismissing her administrative appeal from the defendant's decision to suspend her motor vehicle operator's license. She claimed that the court improperly rejected her claim that a Department of Motor Vehicles' hearing officer improperly admitted into evidence at the administrative hearing an A-44 form because it was not transmitted to the department within three business days of the incident, as required by statute ((Rev. to 2023) § 14-227b (c)). Held: This court concluded that the trial court's dismissal of the plaintiff's appeal was not improper on the alternative ground that the plaintiff's evidentiary claim regarding the transmittal requirement of § 14-227b (c) was unpre- served, as the factual question of whether the arresting officer complied with the transmittal requirement of § 14-227b (c) was neither presented to nor decided by the hearing officer, and, even if the claim had been preserved, the record was inadequate to review the merits of the plaintiff's claim as the hearing officer never made any findings with respect to that factual issue. Argued December 10, 2025—officially released April 14, 2026