Daggs v. Personnel Commission

• Citation: 82 Cal.Rptr. 157,1 Cal.App.3d 925
• Parties: Charles R. DAGGS, Petitioner and Appellant, v. PERSONNEL COMMISSION OF the CITY OF MODESTO et al., Respondents. Civ. 1095.
• Decision Date: 19 November 1969
• Court: California Court of Appeals

Page 157

82 Cal.Rptr. 157

1 Cal.App.3d 925

Charles R. DAGGS, Petitioner and Appellant, v. PERSONNEL COMMISSION OF the CITY OF MODESTO et al., Respondents.

Civ. 1095.

Court of Appeal, Fifth District, California.

Nov. 19, 1969.

E. Paul Fulfer, Modesto, for appellant.

Elwyn L. Johnson, City Atty., and Frank C. Damrell, Jr., Asst. City Atty., Modesto, for respondents.

GARGANO, Acting Presiding Justice.

OPINION

The chronology of events in this litigation which centers around the demotion of a police officer is this: On February 24, 1966, Charles R. Daggs, a sergeant on the Modesto city police force, was demoted to the rank of patrolman by the city manager; he was demoted upon the recommendation of the chief of police, Robert L. Meester. Two disciplinary reasons were given. The first was that the appraisal reports, incident reports and reprimands contained in Daggs' personal file indicated that he did not possess the degree of judgment and reliability necessary to perform the duties of a supervisory officer. The second was that the sergeant took certain personal property belonging to one Sandra Atwood, and gave the property to a subordinate officer to be destroyed.

On March 29, 1967, the Personnel Commission of the City of Modesto, at Daggs' request, held a hearing on his demotion. The main evidence presented against the employee at this hearing was supplied through his personnel file and the testimony of Chief Meester. The chief testified that he thoroughly reviewed Sergeant Daggs' personnel file before he recommended the demotion, and was of the opinion that Daggs did not possess the degree of judgment and reliability necessary to perform the duties of a supervisory officer. He also said that when he interviewed Daggs prior to the demotion, Daggs admitted the Sandra Atwood incident. It seems that certain papers were found in Miss Atwood's purse after she was arrested, suggesting that she and an Officer Sauls had engaged in a sexual relationship while she was a minor. Daggs gained possession of the purse and removed all documents in which Sauls' name appeared. He gave the documents to Sauls and advised the officer to destroy them.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the personnel commission found that Daggs' ability to perform the required duties of sergeant had fallen below acceptable standards; that he took personal property belonging to a citizen and turned it over to a subordinate officer to be destroyed; and that the sergeant acquired information suggesting possible misconduct on the part of a subordinate officer, but instead of reporting this information through the normal channel of command wilfully suppressed it in violation of police regulations. The Commission affirmed Daggs' demotion.

On May 31, 1967, Daggs petitioned the Superior Court of Stanislaus County for a writ of mandate to compel the city manager and the Personnel Commission of the City of Modesto to reinstate him to the rank of sergeant. The petition as amended was founded on two separate grounds. The first ground was that the evidence was insufficient to justify the decision of the personnel commission. The second was that petitioner had additional 'relevant evidence which in the exercise of reasonable diligence could not have been produced at the hearing;' the additional evidence consisted of further testimony of Chief of Police Meester.

On January 3, 1968, the superior court held a hearing on Daggs' petition. At the hearing respondents objected to any further testimony by Chief Meester on the ground that it did not qualify as new evidence. Then, Daggs' counsel informed the court that if allowed to testify Meester would state that his recommendation to demote Daggs was based on reports prepared by his staff, that the contents of the reports were biased and prejudiced, that he would not have recommended the demotion had he been aware of the staff's hostility toward Daggs, and that he had never observed anything derogatory in Daggs' attitude and behavior. ¹ However, the court sustained respondents' objection, and ruled the testimony inadmissible and insufficient to warrant a new hearing. The court also ruled that the decision of the personnel commission was supported by substantial evidence, and denied Daggs' petition. This appeal followed.

Significantly, appellant, in this appeal at least, does not assert that the decision of the personnel commission upholding his reduction in rank was not supported by substantial evidence, nor does he challenge the trial court's ruling in this respect. On the contrary, appellant's sole contention for reversal is that the trial judge abused his discretion when he sustained respondents' objection to any further testimony by Chief Robert L. Meester, and then rejected the proffered evidence. He argues that the court should have at least remanded the question of appellant's demotion to the commission for reconsideration in light of the 'new evidence.'

Appellant's arguments are not convincing. First, appellant informed the trial judge that Chief Meester was prepared to testify that he based his recommendation to demote appellant solely on the reports...