By Susan Montoya Bryan

The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE — The state Motor Vehicle Division said Friday that a wrong-way driver who plowed into a carload of teenagers, killing four, had a valid license and that a computer error is likely to blame for authorities initially believing that his license was expired.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office released a report Thursday that said a check of MVD records showed Scott Owens' license had expired in January.

However, the MVD said Owens had renewed his license in November and received a temporary license with a Jan. 9, 2009, expiration date. A permanent license with an expiration date of Nov. 9, 2012, was mailed to him in December but the expiration date was never updated in MVD's records.

Taxation and Revenue Secretary Rick Homans, who oversees MVD, said the agency discovered the error just days after the June 28 crash but treated it as "an internal database issue" because officials didn't realize it would be included in the police report and that Owens could be cited.

"We just didn't want this to be reported over and over again when it was not correct and we take reasonability for the mistake," Homans told The Associated Press on Friday.

Sheriff Greg Solano said the report will be amended but it doesn't change the case since Owens had not been cited for having an expired license.

Owens, 27, is jailed on four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of great bodily injury by vehicle. Test results showed he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.16 percent — twice the legal limit — after the crash.

Authorities allege that Owens was driving in the wrong lane on a two-lane road just outside Santa Fe when his sport utility vehicle broadsided the teenagers' station wagon, apparently as they attempted to dodge him.

Killed in the early-morning crash were Kate Klein, Julian Martinez and Alyssa Trouw, all 16, and Rose Simmons, 15. The driver of the teenagers' car, Avree Koffman, survived the crash.

The sheriff's report also said Koffman, 16, had a provisional license for beginning drivers. Such licenses prohibit driving between midnight and 5 a.m. or carrying more than one passenger under age 21 who isn't a family member.

Homans said the error with Owens' record is being investigated, but he said it likely is the result of a computer problem. The company that issues New Mexico driver's licenses routinely transmits information to MVD's server but the agency has learned that if the server is down, the information is lost and MVD's system is not updated.

"This is a system that is just 1 year old. There are always problems and challenges when you put a new system in place," Homans said. "So through this unfortunate incident we discovered a problem in our system that we can fortunately fix right away."

Homans could not say how many other driver's license records would need updating, but he expected the work to be done early next week and the server problem fixed.

Solano said deputies normally ask drivers for their license during traffic stops or accidents and always verify it with MVD records. He said some drivers could still have their actual license even though it has been revoked due to a drunken driving conviction or outstanding fines.

"We always have to check Motor Vehicle's records because those are considered the true record," the sheriff said.