Thompson v. Town of East Greenwich, 85-108-M

• Citation: 512 A.2d 837
• Decision Date: 11 July 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-108-M,85-108-M
• Parties: Brian L. THOMPSON d/b/a The Speakeasy Lounge v. TOWN OF EAST GREENWICH et al. P.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 837

512 A.2d 837

Brian L. THOMPSON d/b/a The Speakeasy Lounge v. TOWN OF EAST GREENWICH et al.

No. 85-108-M.P.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

July 11, 1986.

James Marusak, Providence, for petitioner/defendant.

Brian Thompson, pro se.

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

The town of East Greenwich (town) and the Board of Licensing Commissioners of the Town of East Greenwich (board), defendants, have petitioned this court pursuant to a common-law writ of certiorari to review a Superior Court decision that reversed a ruling of the liquor control administrator and entered a judgment in favor of Brian L. Thompson (Thompson), plaintiff. ¹ The issues before us are predicated on the following facts.

According to the record, in 1979 the town's liquor-licensing commissioners issued to Thompson a class-B retail liquor license for the premises located at 2725 South County Trail in East Greenwich. At this particular location Thompson operates an establishment known as the Speakeasy Lounge (lounge). On December 1, 1980, Thompson secured a renewal of his license from the town. As a prerequisite to obtaining his renewed license, Thompson agreed in writing to abide by a set of conditions that the town had formally adopted on November 12, 1980. With respect to instant action before us, the following conditions are in issue:

"5. All patrons shall leave the licensed premises within 30 minutes after the legal closing hour.

"6. Management and bona fide employees may remain on the premises for a period of no longer than one hour after the legal closing hour or, specifically, management and bona fide employees of Class B and D establishments must be out of the establishment by 2:00 A.M.; Class C by 1:00 A.M. Management and bona fide employees may not consume alcoholic beverages after patrons have left the premises."

On February 22, 1981, at approximately 2:40 a.m. the Rhode Island State Police, while on routine patrol, observed three cars parked outside the lounge. After disembarking from their vehicle, the police noticed that the lights were on inside the building and that loud music was emanating from its interior. Both officers approached the entrance, and one of them knocked on the door. Immediately thereafter, the music stopped and the lights were turned off. A few minutes later Lawrence J. Tibbets (Tibbets), the assistant manager of the bar, opened the door and informed the police that he was the only one inside. Notwithstanding Tibbets' representations, the police entered the lounge and conducted a search. During the course of their investigation they observed on one of the tables two coats, two woman's purses, and a set of keys. In addition a pair of woman's shoes were situated underneath that same table. When the police inquired who owned these personal effects, Tibbets explained that the items had been left behind by some patrons who had called to inform him that they would pick up their belongings later. Despite Tibbets' assertion the officers remained suspicious of the situation. Subsequently the police checked all the rooms in the lounge, except the rear office, the door of which upon their initial investigation appeared to be locked. The police requested Tibbets to open the door, but he claimed that he did not have a key. One of the officers then proceeded to the door and pushed on it with his arm. Initially the door opened a foot or so, but it then began to close as if someone, according to the officer's testimony, was pushing back from the other side. At this juncture the officer ordered whoever was in the office to come out, whereupon Thompson and two female patrons emerged from the darkened room. Thompson immediately identified himself as the owner of the lounge, while the two women went to the purses at the aforementioned table in order to obtain the necessary identification requested by the police. Thereafter the police ordered Thompson to close the lounge immediately and instructed everyone else to leave the premises. Thompson was also advised by the police that a report of this incident would be forwarded to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission of the State of Rhode Island and the East Greenwich Town Council.

The record before us indicates that the above incident at the lounge on February 22, 1981, was not an isolated event. On at least three previous occasions, both state and local police had discovered patrons and employees in the bar at times beyond the limits imposed by the town. In at least two instances drinks were observed by police in and around the bar area. As a result of these persistent violations, Thompson had been personally warned by the town's chief of police, John A. Murray (Murray), either to abide by the closing conditions or to suffer the consequences. Apparently, the incident of February 22, 1981, convinced Murray that his warnings had been disregarded by Thompson. Consequently, on March 2, 1981, Murray sent a letter to the East Greenwich Town Council recommending that some action be taken against Thompson.

Accordingly, on March 17, 1981, Thompson was summoned to appear before the board and to show cause why his license should not be revoked or suspended. ² Subsequently a hearing was held regarding the matter on April 14, 1981. After considering all the evidence before it, including the testimony of seven witnesses, the board rendered a decision on April 30, 1981, in which it determined that Thompson had violated condition Nos. 5 and 6 of his license renewal as set forth above. ³ In accordance with its authority under G.L.1956 (1976 Reenactment) § 3-5-21, therefore, the board suspended Thompson's license for a period of seven days.

Several hours after the imposition of the suspension on May 1, 1981, at approximately 2:28 a.m., Thompson and two employees were again found at the lounge, this time by the East Greenwich police. As a result the board held a second hearing involving Thompson and his license on May 28, 1981. At the conclusion of the proceeding, the board found that Thompson had violated condition No. 6 of the town's guidelines. Pursuant to this determination the board suspended Thompson's license for an additional seven days. Afterward, Thompson appealed both suspensions to the liquor control administrator (administrator).

On June 8, 1981, a hearing was held before the administrator, who reaffirmed both suspensions. ⁴ Unsatisfied with this adjudication, Thompson sought relief in the Superior Court.

The trial judge, after reviewing the evidence before him, determined that there was "ample evidence" to support a finding that Thompson clearly violated the conditions attached to the license renewal by the town. He also found in examining the language of § 3-5-21 "that there is a clear implication in [the] statute that a municipality may attach some conditions to the issuance of a liquor license." Despite these determinations, the trial judge concluded that there were no legal grounds for the suspensions in this case because the conditions promulgated by the town were invalid. Citing to the specific conditions in issue, the trial judge claimed that "[n]owhere in the law is there an express delegation of power [by the General Assembly] to local authorities to enact and promulgate conditions of this kind [upon] the issuance of a liquor license." Although the trial judge agreed with defendants' argument that municipalities have an implicit power under § 3-5-21 to impose conditions on a liquor license, he concluded that the General Assembly's delegation of that power can only be valid if it is subject to some accompanying standards or guidelines. Since, however, the trial judge found that "there is no statement in the law anywhere [by the Legislature] as to what kind of conditions the local community may attach," he clearly regarded the town's implicit legislatively conferred power under § 3-5-21 to be unconditional and void. As a result the trial judge determined that the town's specific conditions adopted pursuant to that implicit power are invalid and nonbinding. Hence, basing his finding upon the above reasoning, the trial judge reversed the suspensions and entered judgment for plaintiff. In response to this adjudication, the town and the board petitioned this court pursuant to a writ of certiorari to review the trial judge's decision. On May 31, 1985, we granted defendants' petition and assigned the case to the oral-argument calendar.

Focusing upon the merits of this case, we are mindful that this court's review by certiorari of the judgment rendered by the trial judge is limited. G. H. Waterman & Co. v. Norberg, 122 R.I. 825, 828, 412 A.2d 1132, 1134 (1980). Our task in deciding whether the trial judge misconstrued the statute is to examine the record to determine whether any competent evidence exists to support the decision and whether the decision is affected by any errors of law. Randall v. Norberg, 121 R.I. 714, 717, 403 A.2d 240, 242 (1979). In conjunction with the aforementioned precept, since we are confronted in this matter with a question of statutory interpretation, this court's duty in construing a statute is to ascertain the intent behind its enactment and to effectuate that intent whenever it is possible and within the competence of the Legislature. Dunne Leases Cars & Trucks, Inc. v. Kenworth Truck Co., 466 A.2d 1153, 1156 (R.I.1983). In order to determine the legislative intent, we examine the language, nature, and object of the statute. Howard Union of Teachers v. State of Rhode Island, 478 A.2d 563, 565 (R.I.1984).

The focal point of controversy in this action is § 3-5-21, which is set forth in full as follows:

"Revocation or suspension of licenses.--Every license shall be subject to revocation or suspension by the board, body or official issuing the same, or by said department of its own motion, for breach by the holder thereof of the conditions on which it was issued or for violation by the holder thereof of any rule or regulation applicable thereto or...