The Massachusetts Court of Appeals held on February 17, 2011 in the case of DiGregorio v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles that a motorist convicted of drunk driving out of state is entitled to have the period of the Massachusetts license suspension run from the date of the out of state conviction rather than the date on which the RMV learns of the conviction. Under Massachusetts OUI law, if a motorist is convicted of DUI in another state the RMV will suspend the motorist as if the offense occurred in Massachusetts.
The issue in DiGregoria is that the RMV did not learn that the defendant was convicted of his third DUI in Connecticut until three years after the conviction. Any motorist who has DUI conviction in Massachusetts or any other state will incur an eight year loss of license. The RMV asserted that the eight year period did not run until the RMV receives notice of the suspension. The Appeals Court held that the RMV's interpretation of the statute is contrary to the plain meaning of the statute. Further, the court notes that the RMV should have learned of the suspension as the information pertaining to the conviction was accessible to the RMV.
