Allen v. Louisiana State Bd. of Dentistry
| Decision Date | 01 May 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-C-2736,88-C-2736 |
| Citation | 543 So.2d 908 |
| Parties | William D. ALLEN, D.D.S. v. LOUISIANA STATE BOARD OF DENTISTRY. 543 So.2d 908 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Paul R. Baier, for applicant.
Guy Wootan, Patricia Haker, Wootan & Stakelum, for respondent.
This case arises out of Dr. William D. Allen's petition for judicial review of the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry's decision suspending his license to practice dentistry for ten years. The district court, after an administrative remand and additional evidentiary hearings, reversed six of the Board's findings of professional misconduct but left the suspension intact. The Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, reversed three other of the Board's findings but otherwise affirmed the trial court. 1 We granted certiorari 2 to consider the important statutory and constitutional due process questions raised below, particularly those dealing with prosecutorial involvement in the administrative decision making process.
On November 4, 1985, the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry (Board) brought formal charges against Dr. William Allen (Allen) alleging various violations of the Louisiana Dental Practice Act, La.R.S. 37:751 et seq. These charges arose out of complaints made to the Board by certain of Dr. Allen's former employees. The charges were investigated by Guy Wootan, counsel for the Board. Seven separate charges were filed, with specifications totaling 45 separate counts. 3 The Notice to Show Cause Why License Should Not Be Suspended or Revoked was set for an administrative hearing before a panel of four dentists on December 7, 1985. The hearing was continued until February 21, 1986 to permit discovery by the parties.
On February 13, 1986, Allen filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court against all Board members and Wootan. The federal court abstained from hearing the case pending resolution of the State proceedings and the abstention was upheld by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. 4 On February 20, 1986, Allen filed a Motion to Recuse all Board members because of the pending federal action. The Board denied the motion and the hearing commenced as scheduled on February 21, 1986.
The administrative hearing, with Wootan serving as prosecutor for the Board, lasted four days, concluding on February 24. The four members of the disciplinary committee 5 (committee) took the matter under advisement and met on March 1, 1986 to deliberate and reach a decision. Neither Wootan nor Allen's counsel were present at these deliberations. When the committee deliberated, it had all the trial exhibits but it did not have the transcript of the hearing. Certain members of the committee had notes they had made during the hearing. After two and one half hours of deliberation, the committee found Allen "guilty" of 27 of the 45 violations charged, fixed the fines for these violations at $25,500.00, suspended Allen's license for ten years with an additional ten years probation, and ordered him to pay costs of $61,478.19.
On the following Monday, Dr. de la Houssaye, the chairman of the committee, contacted Wootan. He informed him of the committee's decision and instructed him to prepare the findings of fact and conclusions for the committee. The parties dispute whether Dr. de la Houssaye informed Wootan of any factual findings of the committee apart from the "guilty/not guilty" decision and the amount of the fines. Wootan then drafted detailed findings and conclusions which were signed by each committee member.
Dr. Allen subsequently filed three separate petitions for rehearing with the Board. In the petition filed February 26, 1986 (before the committee met to deliberate), Allen accused Wootan of inciting an illegal entry into his office by Brenda Gremillion and Terry Marino, two former employees of Dr. Allen who were among the initial complaintants. These accusations were supported by affidavits given by Gremillion and Marino. On April 14, 1986, the committee denied the petitions. Wootan again drafted the reasons for the committee's denial of rehearing despite the accusations made against him.
Beginning on March 27, 1986, Allen filed several petitions for judicial review of the Board's decision in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. On May 2, 1986, the trial court ordered the administrative hearing re-opened for two limited purposes: first, to develop a record concerning the illegal entry into Allen's office; and, second, to permit Allen to make all proffers of proof he was not allowed to make at the initial hearing. This limited rehearing was held June 21, 1986, and at its conclusion the committee orally reaffirmed its prior decisions.
On October 6, 1986, Allen filed a Petition for Evidentiary Hearing in the district court to develop a record concerning Wootan's involvement in the Board's decision making process and in drafting the findings and conclusions of the hearing committee. The district court denied the petition and the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, affirmed. On November 21, 1986 this Court granted supervisory writs, reversed the Court of Appeal, and remanded the case to the district court to take evidence on the issue of Wootan's involvement. 6
On May 29, 1987, Allen filed another Petition for Evidentiary Hearing in the district court, alleging he had new evidence of Wootan's involvement in the illegal entry into his office. An evidentiary hearing was held on both petitions on June 22, 1987 and argument was heard on Allen's Petitions for Judicial Review. On September 29, 1987, the trial court entered judgment reversing six of the Board's findings, reducing the fines accordingly, and affirming the board in other respects. Allen appealed and the Fourth Circuit, after reversing three additional findings of misconduct and reducing the fine, affirmed the trial court. Neither the trial court nor the Court of Appeal modified the ten year license suspension imposed by the committee and the Board.
In his application for certiorari and briefs to this court, Allen raised four substantive and procedural issues:
1) Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding the admission of evidence obtained in the illegal entry was proper;
2) Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding the dictates of the Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act and due process were not violated by Wootan's ex parte involvement in drafting the findings and conclusions adopted by the Board;
3) Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding the Board had no statutory duty under La.R.S. 37:779 to contact patients and thus substantiate the charges made by former employees; and
4) Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding Allen was not denied his due process right to a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal.
All of these issues are properly subject to our review under the Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act. See La.R.S. 49:964(G).
Allen argues the Board and the courts below erred in failing to suppress evidence allegedly obtained in an illegal entry into his office on August 26, 1985 by two of the principal complainants: Brenda Gremillion and Terry Marino. He contends Wootan "incited" the break-in and the Board "knowingly" utilized the fruits of the illegal entry. The Board denies both charges and submits they are not supported by the record. Apart from the legal issues raised by this allegation, two critical factual questions are presented: who knew what and when did they know it?
The chief fact supporting Allen's allegation Wootan "incited" the break-in is that the illegal entry occurred on the evening of August 26, 1985. Wootan had spoken with Terry Marino by telephone that same day. Marino and Gremillion testified Wootan told them it would be "helpful" if they could remember names, dates and the procedures they performed on patients contrary to the Louisiana Dental Practice Act. The two women stated they entered Allen's office through a window at approximately 10:00 P.M. They then copied information concerning patients and procedures from appointment books into a small notebook they brought with them. The information they obtained in the break-in was allegedly passed on to Wootan. Gremillion positively stated, however, that she did not inform Wootan how she had obtained the information she provided. 7
We conclude, as a matter of fact, Wootan did not in any way "incite" the illegal entry into Allen's office. It seems undisputed that Wootan, and therefore the Board, did not know of the break-in until after the disciplinary committee hearing in February, 1986. Thus we find Allen's claim the Board "knowingly" utilized illegally obtained evidence is also without merit.
In light of these factual determinations, the application of the pertinent legal rules becomes relatively straightforward. Allen asks us to apply the exclusionary rule in an administrative proceeding to suppress information illegally obtained by private parties acting independently. Following well-established legal principles, we decline to do so.
As the Court of Appeal correctly observed, the exclusionary rule is designed as a general deterrent to future violations of constitutional rights rather than a private remedy for a past violation. United States v. Janis, 428 U.S. 433, 96 S.Ct. 3021, 49 L.Ed.2d 1046 (1976); United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. 338, 94 S.Ct. 613, 38 L.Ed.2d 561 (1974). More importantly, the prohibitions of the Louisiana and United States Constitutions against illegal searches and seizures are aimed at governmental conduct rather than the actions of private citizens operating independently of the government or its agents. 8 Here, the illegal search of Allen's office was done by private parties. Allen has failed to produce evidence showing them to be in any way "agents" of the Board. Therefore, the exclusionary rule...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Gulf States Utilities Co. v. Louisiana Public Service Com'n
...that the combination of prosecutorial and fact-finding functions in one person violates due process, Allen v. Louisiana State Board of Dentistry, 543 So.2d 908 (La.1989), is not comparable to a ratemaking proceeding. Allen involved the adjudication provisions of the Louisiana Administrative......
-
South Cent. Bell Telephone Co. v. Louisiana Public Service Com'n
...special counsel, of the advocacy and decisionmaking functions denied South Central Bell due process of law. See Allen v. State Board of Dentistry, 543 So.2d 908, 914-16 (La.1989) (idea of same person serving as judge and prosecutor is anathema under our notions of due CALOGERO, Chief Justic......
-
Alliance for Affordable Energy, Inc. v. Council of City of New Orleans
...a decision of the Louisiana Supreme Court which was issued in its final form on June 29, 1989. This decision, Allen v. Louisiana State Board of Dentistry, 543 So.2d 908 (La.1989), dealt with 45 counts of misconduct brought against a dentist before the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry. Thi......
-
Lp v. Morris County Bd. Of County Comm'rs
...and adjudicative roles. See, e.g., Georgia Gulf Corp. v. Bd. of Ethics, 694 So.2d 173, 176 (La.1997) (discussing Allen v. State Bd. of Dentistry, 543 So.2d 908, 915-16 [La.1989] ). Even given the Board's position on appeal that Kassebaum was merely a scribe, i.e., he provided no input of hi......