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Politics & Government

Court Denies License Revocation Appeal

Falls man says he was hospitalized and jailed until it was too late to fight the revocation

A 22-year-old Menomonee Falls man who was hospitalized and then jailed for two months after being cited for driving under the influence lost his appeal to get his license back Wednesday.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled that Jesse M. Schaefer did not give sufficient legal evidence that he was unable to respond to a notice that his driver’s license would be revoked within 10 days. The decision was released Wednesday.

Schaefer was stopped by Menomonee Falls police on Feb. 13, 2009. No alcohol was found in his system and police assumed he was driving under the influence of drugs, according to court records. Schaefer had trouble understanding what officers were telling him and police had to repeat their instructions to him four or five times.

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Schaefer was asked to submit to a drug test but refused. Such a refusal results in license revocation but the matter can be appealed within 10 days of the citation being issued.

Schaefer was taken to a medical facility immediately after being stopped because officers had “concern for his mental capabilities.” While at the hospital, a probation hold was found and Schaefer was taken to the Waukesha County Jail where he remained far past the time for an appeal.

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He did not have access to his medications while he was in jail and the paperwork regarding his right to appeal the revocation was kept in a locker, according to Schaefer’s appellate lawyer, James A. Gramling Jr.

The Menomonee Falls Municipal Court ruled that his license should be revoked and denied an appeal. Schaefer appealed to the Waukesha Circuit Court where Judge Linda Van de Water affirmed the decision.

Gramling said Wednesday that he was asked by Disability Rights Wisconsin, an advocacy group for those with physical and mental disabilities, to appeal the case.

"The position of the court has been that once the period of time to appeal has passed, the opportunity to appeal a decision is forever gone,” Gramling said. “Mr. Schaefer was never able to present the facts in municipal court or to the circuit court.”

H. Stanley Riffle, the lawyer for Menomonee Falls, could not immediately be reached. In a brief to the appellate court he argued that the mandate that a person who refuses to take a test for drugs is intended to “to swiftly punish drivers who improperly refuse to take the chemical test.”

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