When you were arrested for DUI in California, the officer filled out a form called the DS-367, also known as the Officer’s Statement. That pink document you received at the scene is the officer’s written account of everything that happened: why they stopped you, what they observed, how they administered the field sobriety tests, and what your chemical test results showed. The DMV relies almost entirely on that form when deciding whether to suspend your license at your administrative hearing.
Because the DS-367 carries that much weight, mistakes on it matter. Officers fill these out quickly, often at the end of a long shift, and errors are more common than most people expect. Some mistakes are minor and will not change anything. Others go to the heart of whether the DMV can legally sustain a suspension against you. Knowing what to look for is one of the first things your attorney should do when your case begins.
What the DS-367 Contains
The DS-367 is a multi-page form covering the key elements the DMV needs to justify a license suspension. It includes your personal and license information, the date, time, and location of the arrest, the officer’s account of why they stopped you, their observations of impairment, the field sobriety tests they administered and how you performed, your chemical test results, and the officer’s sworn certification that everything in the form is accurate. Each of those sections is a potential source of error.
Mistakes Worth Looking For
Wrong or Missing Personal Information
Errors in your name, address, driver’s license number, or date of birth are more common than they should be. These seem like minor clerical issues, but they can create questions about whether the form actually applies to you and whether the officer was paying close enough attention to the details of the arrest. In some cases, a significant error in identifying information can raise legitimate due process concerns.
Errors in the Date, Time, or Location of the Arrest
If the officer recorded the wrong date, wrote the wrong time, or listed the wrong city or street, those inconsistencies become part of the record. Discrepancies between what the DS-367 says and what other documents show, such as the booking report or the police report, undermine the credibility of the officer’s account and give your attorney something concrete to work with at the DMV hearing.
The Wrong Box Checked
Near the top of the DS-367, the officer checks a box indicating the type of case: a standard BAC of 0.08% or higher, a refusal case, a commercial driver case, or a DUI probation case. That designation matters because it determines the type of hearing you will have and the penalties you are facing. If the wrong box is checked, you may not have received proper notice of what you were actually being subjected to. Using that error, an attorney can argue that proceeding with the hearing as noticed would be a denial of due process, and at minimum seek a continuance to prepare for the correct type of hearing.
A Timeline That Does Not Add Up
The DS-367 requires the officer to record three specific times: when the driving occurred, when the arrest was made, and when the officer first observed objective symptoms of intoxication. Read those times carefully and apply basic common sense. Did the officer record the arrest happening before the driving? Does the timeline allow enough time between the stop and the chemical test for the results to be meaningful? If the timeline is impossible or internally inconsistent, that is a problem for the DMV’s case.
Vague or Missing Probable Cause
Page two of the DS-367 is where the officer is supposed to explain in specific factual terms why they stopped you and why they believed you were impaired. Conclusions are not enough. Stating that a driver appeared intoxicated is a legal conclusion, not a factual observation. What the form needs to say is something along the lines of the driver’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, their speech was slurred, and they had difficulty locating their registration. If the officer skipped page two entirely, or filled it with generic conclusions instead of specific observations, the DMV will have difficulty proving the lawful arrest element of its case without calling the officer to testify in person.
If the only reason documented for the stop is a statement made by a civilian, that is hearsay. The DMV would need to subpoena that witness to establish the stop was legal. An officer’s summary of what a bystander told them is not enough on its own.
Problems With the Field Sobriety Test Documentation
Field sobriety tests are only as reliable as the conditions under which they were administered and the accuracy with which they were recorded. The DS-367 should reflect the specific tests given, the conditions present at the time such as uneven pavement, poor lighting, or weather, any medical conditions or physical limitations you disclosed, and the specific clues the officer noted. If the form does not document these things, or if it shows tests that were improperly administered, that weakens the value of the FST results as evidence of impairment.
Incomplete or Incorrect Chemical Test Information
The chemical test section requires the officer to record the type of test administered, the time it was given, and the result. Errors here can be significant. A missing result in a breath test case, for example, makes it very difficult for the DMV to sustain the suspension. An incorrect BAC reading, or a result that was recorded at a time inconsistent with the rest of the timeline, raises questions about the test’s reliability and admissibility.
Missing or Improper Signature
The DS-367 is a sworn statement. The officer is certifying under penalty of perjury that the contents are true and correct. If the form is unsigned, or if the signature is in the wrong place or appears to have been added improperly, the form fails to meet the procedural requirements that allow the DMV to treat it as reliable evidence. A defective certification can be grounds for dismissal of the administrative suspension entirely.
Late Submission to the DMV
The officer is required to complete the DS-367 and submit it to the DMV within five days of the arrest. Look at the date stamp on the top of the form showing when the DMV received it. If that date is more than a week after your arrest, the officer likely missed the deadline. A late submission alone will not win a hearing. But combined with other deficiencies in the form, it supports an argument that the document is unreliable and should not receive the hearsay exception the DMV depends on to use the form in place of live testimony.
Blank Refusal Questions
If your case involves a refusal to submit to a chemical test, the back of the first page of the DS-367 contains a section where the officer is supposed to document the admonishment they gave you and your response. This section is frequently left blank or only partially completed. Without a complete account of the admonishment and your refusal in the form itself, the DMV will have a very hard time sustaining a refusal suspension unless the officer appears in person to testify.
How These Mistakes Get Used
At your DMV hearing your attorney has the opportunity to cross-examine the officer about the contents of the DS-367 and to argue that deficiencies in the form prevent the DMV from meeting its burden of proof. The DMV must establish specific elements to sustain a suspension, and each error in the form potentially chips away at one of those elements.
In criminal court, the same deficiencies can support motions to suppress evidence, challenge the legality of the stop, or attack the reliability of the chemical test results. The DS-367 and the police report are often inconsistent with each other in ways that an experienced DUI attorney will catch and exploit.
None of this requires the form to be completely wrong. A single significant error in the right place, such as a missing probable cause statement or an impossible timeline, can be enough to change the outcome of a DMV hearing. The form deserves a careful read as soon as it is in your attorney’s hands.
Conclusion
The DS-367 is the foundation of the DMV’s case against your license. Officers complete it quickly and under pressure, and the mistakes that result are not always trivial. Reviewing the form closely for the issues described in this article is one of the most basic and important things a DUI attorney does at the start of your case. If you have not yet retained an attorney, read Just Got a DUI: What Do I Do? and act before your 10-day DMV hearing window closes.
Citations
- California Vehicle Code § 13353.2 (Administrative Per Se suspension requirements).
- California Vehicle Code § 13380 (officer’s duty to submit sworn statement to DMV).
- California Vehicle Code § 13558 (DMV hearing procedures).
- California Vehicle Code § 23612 (implied consent and chemical testing).