Jenkins v. Curry
| Decision Date | 20 June 1944 |
| Parties | JENKINS v. CURRY, City Manager, et al. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Dade County; Paul D. Barns Judge.
Bart A Riley, A. C. Dressler, and Riley & Dressler, all of Miami, for appellant.
J. W Watson, Jr., of Miami, for appellee.
The appellant secured from the circuit court an alternative writ of mandamus requiring the City of Miami, its manager, and its Director of Public Safety to reinstate him to his former position on the police force or to show cause why a peremptory writ should not issue. A motion to quash was presented, and the order granting it is challenged in this appeal.
The history of the procedure which culminated in the dismissal of appellant from the police force by the Director of Public Safety is revealed in the mandamus petition and its exhibits. The Chief of Police formally notified appellant that he was suspended for being so under the influence of intoxicating liquor while on duty as to render him unfit for service.
Here we pause to quote so much of Section 25 of the City Charter as outlines the disciplinary process where policemen of the city are involved. It provides that:
In strict conformance to this procedure, the chief certified to the Director of Public Safety the suspension of appellant whereupon a hearing was conducted to determine whether the facts substantiated the charge. At this hearing the Chief of Police, the Chief of Detectives, the Captain or Detectives, and a captain of police all testified appellant was intoxicated when actually on duty. As a matter of fact, he was called to headquarters from his cruise in a patrol car and observed by them upon his arrival. His companion, a detective, was not so positive that appellant had reached the stage of drunkenness, but admitted that he appeared to have been drinking, although he had not seen him partake of alcoholic liquor during the nearly six hours they had been together. Sole refutation of the testimony against him was the appellant's story that he had taken whiskey and Empirin tablets the preceding night to relieve the pain from a sinus infection and had not imbibed the following morning.
There can be no doubt that the testimony abundantly established the charge that the appellant was in a drunken condition while acting as a police officer of the City of Miami. It could certainly not be said that there was not any substantial testimony upon which the ultimate order of dismissal could have been based. Hammond v. Curry, Fla., 14 So.2d 390.
The main attack here is directed at the admission of evidence of three other suspensions occurring as early as 1923 and as late as 1938 for neglect of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer, and drunkenness. Appellant insists that this evidence was incompetent and served no purpose save to prejudice the Director of Public Safety, who presided at the hearing. Even assuming that it was inadmissible, such evidence could not be considered harmful in view of the overwhelming testimony that the appellant was drunk at his post. He was not in condition properly to perform his duties, and he richly deserved the punishment meted out to him. No policeman whose faculties are impaired by strong drink is fit to...
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City of Meridian v. Davidson, 37905
... ... In the cases of Rosenfelder v. Huttoe, 156 Fla. 682, 24 So.2d 108; Barron v. Baillies, 157 Fla. 492, 26 So.2d 449; Hammond v. Curry, City Manager, 153 Fla. 245, 14 So.2d 390; Carroll v. City Commission of Grand Rapids, 265 Mich. 51, 251 N.W. 381; People ex rel. Sweeny v. Allman, ... Hammond v. Curry, 153 Fla. 245, 14 So.2d 390; Jenkins v. Curry, Fla. , 18 So.2d 521; Callahan v. Curry, 153 Fla. 744, 15 So.2d 668; Marshall v. Pletz, 317 U.S. 383, 63 S.Ct. 284, 87 L.Ed. 348; Virginia ... ...
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Adam Smith Enterprises, Inc. v. State Dept. of Environmental Regulation
...proceedings the formalities in the introduction of testimony common to the courts of justice are not strictly employed. Jenkins v. Curry, 154 Fla. 617, 18 So.2d 521. We are of the view, however, that the evidence relied upon to sustain the ultimate finding should be sufficiently relevant an......
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Tamiami Trail Tours v. Carter
...disturbed on appeal if such findings are sustained by substantial evidence. Hammond v. Curry, 153 Fla. 245, 14 So.2d 390; Jenkins v. Curry, (154 Fla. 617) 18 So.2d 521; Callahan v. Curry, 153 Fla. 744, 15 So.2d 668; Marshall v. Pletz, 317 U.S. 383, 63 S.Ct. 284, 87 L.Ed. 348; Virginia Elect......
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SOUTH FLA. CARGO CARRIERS v. State
...the formalities in the introduction of testimony common to the courts of justice are not strictly employed. Jenkins v. Curry, 154 Fla. 617, 18 So.2d 521[ (1944)]. We are of the view, however, that the evidence relied upon to sustain the ultimate finding should be sufficiently relevant and m......