I had the great fortune the other day to read a response from the Attorney Generalโs office. It was a response to a Motion called a โMotion to Compel.โ
You see, when defending life, liberty, or property from the government, which includes the right to life (say in death penalty cases) or liberty (such as if the government wants to throw you in jail for attempted murder) or property (such as taking a piece of property for government use), youโre entitled to whatโs called due process under the law.
What this requires is that the government has to turn over whatโs called all discoverable evidence (evidence that may or may not be beneficial to you). This means you are entitled to inspect any evidence collected at the scene of the crime or that may be used against you in a court of law.
Does the Bureau have to let you inspect the Car?
So, because a Bureau of Automotive Repair License Defense falls under both liberty and property (liberty to practice your chosen profession and property because a professional license is a property right under the law) the government must turn over all available evidence for inspection.
This includes the vehicle they sent in for the undercover run. Itโs needed for inspection for a proper defense. I need to see how it was set up, I need to check the timing, PCV system, missing air pump, or whatever they claim the technician missed to determine if he in fact did do so. Just because the Bureau says so, doesnโt make it so.
Itโs akin to the police saying, “The blood matched the defendant, trust me, it did โ no, no, Iโm not giving you the sample we used in our crime lab, just trust us.”
If you buy that, I have a bridge to sell you. Itโs substantive and procedural due process; you have to give access to all discoverable evidence.
Part of the Bureauโs response was:
โBecause of economic necessity, the BAR has a finite fleet of vehicles . . . [requiring the BAR to produce the vehicles for inspection] would effectively shut down the program. . . โ
I couldnโt help but laugh at this statement. The Bureau of Automotive Repair crying poverty. Thatโs a new one.
Iโll share a little secret with you:
http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/StateAgencyBudgets/1000/1111/spr.html
Scroll down and take look at Code 31 โ the bureauโs line. Now look at the rest of the Bureaus โ Dental, Cemetery, Telephone Medical Advice Bureau, etc. . . now look back at the BAR.
Notice a difference?
Oh, those numbers are in the thousands โ so add โ,000.00โ to those numbers.
So the Bureau of Automotive Repairโs budget for this year is:
$166,249,000.00.
Thatโs $166 Million Dollars for anyone keeping score at home.
And theyโre crying poverty for having to hold a vehicle for a few months for defense inspection.
I love it.
Iโm sure that poverty line will do well in front of a judge;
โYour honor, we only have $166 million dollars this year, we canโt be expected to park a car for 6 months.โ
I canโt wait for this conversation.
-William Ferreira