Stinson v. Winn, 1D06-0053.
| Decision Date | 22 August 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 1D06-0053.,1D06-0053. |
| Citation | 938 So.2d 554 |
| Parties | Stacy STINSON, Appellant, v. John L. WINN as Commissioner of Education, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Mary F. Aspros of Meyer and Brooks, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Ron Weaver of the Law Office of Ron Weaver, Douglasville, GA, and Ronald G. Stowers, Florida Department of Education, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
Stacy Stinson, a teacher in the Brevard County School District, appeals from a final order of the Education Practices Commission suspending her teaching certificate for two weeks and placing her on probation for three years. We conclude that the Commission improperly rejected or modified a number of the pivotal factual findings and legal conclusions in the administrative law judge's recommended order. Accordingly, we reverse.
In early 2005, the Commission filed an administrative complaint alleging that Stinson had impermissibly provided answers and other inappropriate assistance to students during the March 2003 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test ("the FCAT"). Forty-two students' test scores were ultimately invalidated because of the alleged improper assistance. Following a formal administrative hearing, the administrative law judge rejected as not credible the testimony of all but one of the Commission's student witnesses, all of who had claimed that Stinson had helped them on the FCAT. The judge accepted as credible the testimony of Stinson's lone student witness, who contradicted the testimony of the Commission's witnesses. Based on this witness' testimony, the judge ruled that the Commission had not proven the allegations in the complaint by clear and convincing evidence. He recommended that the complaint be dismissed, that a final order be entered finding Stinson not guilty of the violations, and that no penalty be imposed against her teaching certificate.
Subsequently, the Commission held a hearing and entered a final order. In its final order, it rejected or modified a number of the judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Commission found that the testimony of its own student witnesses met the clear and convincing standard of proof and it rejected the judge's factual findings as not supported by competent substantial evidence. On this basis, it rejected the judge's recommendation.
We agree with Stinson that the Commission improperly modified or rejected the judge's primary findings of...
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Love v. Young
...substantial evidence supporting the following version of the facts, which we are not authorized to reweigh. See Stinson v. Winn , 938 So. 2d 554, 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) (holding that a single witness's testimony can be competent, substantial evidence of a fact, even in the face of competin......
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...of the witnesses is a matter that is within the province of the [ALJ], as is the weight to be given the evidence." Stinson v. Winn, 938 So.2d 554, 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006). "The [ALJ] is entitled to rely on the testimony of a single witness even if that testimony contradicts the testimony of......
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Cheeves v. State, 1D08-5593.
...14, the presence of other evidence that might have supported a contrary result is not relevant to our review. See Stinson v. Winn, 938 So.2d 554, 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006); Richardson v. Fla. Parole Comm'n, 924 So.2d 908, 911 (Fla. 1st DCA With regard to Cheeves' contention heM still had time......
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Castella v. Stewart
...can only decide whether competent substantial evidence was present to support the presiding officer's findings. Stinson v. Winn, 938 So. 2d 554, 555 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) ; Bay Cty. Sch. Bd. v. Bryan, 679 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).The ALJ rejected Ms. Castella's argument that she never ......
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Standards of review under the Florida Administrative Procedure Act.
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