Woods v. City and County of Denver
| Decision Date | 21 November 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 03CA1848.,03CA1848. |
| Citation | 122 P.3d 1050 |
| Parties | Alex WOODS, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER, a municipal corporation; and Civil Service Commission of the City and County of Denver, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Bruno, Bruno & Colin, P.C., Marc F. Colin, Michael T. Lowe, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Cole Finegan, City Attorney, Linda M. Davison, Assistant City Attorney, Denver, Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees.
In this action for mandamus and judicial review pursuant to C.R.C.P. 106(a)(2) and (4), plaintiff, Alex Woods, Jr., a former police officer with the Denver Police Department, appeals from the trial court order affirming the determination of the City and County of Denver (Denver) and the Civil Service Commission of Denver (Commission) that he is disqualified from serving as a police officer because the federal Gun Control Act of 1968(GCA), 18 U.S.C. § 921, et seq., as amended, prohibits him from possessing a firearm. We affirm.
The Lautenberg Amendment (Amendment) to the GCA, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), makes it unlawful for persons convicted of "misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence" to possess or receive firearms. It includes those who have been convicted of a violent misdemeanor when the perpetrator and the victim are similarly situated to spouses, parent and child, or guardian and protected person.
Plaintiff was convicted by a jury of third degree assault, a misdemeanor under Colorado law. It was undisputed that although plaintiff and the victim lived together for about a year, they were no longer living together at the time of the assault.
In response to an inquiry from the Denver Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) advised that plaintiff's conviction was for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as defined in the Amendment. In particular, the BATF expressed the opinion that plaintiff and the victim had been similarly situated to spouses prior to the assault.
As a result, Denver disqualified plaintiff from further employment as a police officer.
Plaintiff appealed his termination, and the hearing officer concluded that because plaintiff was not living with the victim at the time of the assault, the Amendment did not prohibit him from possessing a firearm. The hearing officer ordered plaintiff reinstated with back pay and benefits.
Denver appealed to the Commission. The Commission concluded that BATF's advisory interpretation of the Amendment should be given deference and that the Commission's hearing officer generally should not consider "any question concerning the accuracy of BATF's interpretation of the [f]ederal statute, or its opinion concerning the statute's applicability to [plaintiff's] circumstance." The Commission further concluded that Denver "established by preponderance of the evidence that the dismissal was justified," and, as a result, it reversed the hearing officer's decision.
Plaintiff then filed an action pursuant to C.R.C.P. 106(a)(2) and (4). The trial court affirmed the Commission's decision.
Plaintiff contends that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to review the hearing officer's interpretation of the Lautenberg Amendment because it did not involve policy considerations. We disagree.
Pursuant to Denver's Charter, the Commission may only review a hearing officer's decision when (a) new and material evidence is available that was not available when the appeal was heard by the hearing officer, (b) the decision of the hearing officer involves an erroneous interpretation of departmental or civil service rules, (c) the decision of the hearing officer involves policy considerations that may have effect beyond the case at hand, or (d) the discipline affirmed or imposed by the hearing officer is inconsistent with discipline received by other members of the department under similar circumstances. Denver Charter § 9.4.15(F); Vukovich v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 832 P.2d 1126 (Colo.App.1992).
Here, the hearing officer's decision presented policy considerations regarding whether to adopt a federal agency advisory interpretation of the federal statute it administers, whether to disqualify police officers when BATF has conducted an investigation and provided an advisory opinion that is specific to those police officers, whether Denver should apply a consistent interpretation of the Amendment in all cases, and what interpretation Denver believes is correct and should be applied in other cases.
We therefore conclude that the hearing officer's decision implicated policy considerations having effect beyond the case at hand and that, as a result, the Commission did not exceed its jurisdiction when it reviewed that decision.
Plaintiff contends that the Commission erroneously concluded that he and the victim were similarly situated to spouses. He argues that the Commission was bound by the hearing officer's finding to the contrary and that it abused its discretion when it required that the hearing officer defer to BATF's advisory interpretation of the Amendment. We conclude that the Commission applied the Amendment correctly.
In a C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) proceeding, the trial court's review is limited to determining whether the Commission exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion. See City of Colorado Springs v. Givan, 897 P.2d 753 (Colo.1995). When an action under C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) is appealed, we review the decision of the administrative body itself, not that of the trial court. See City of Colorado Springs v. Securcare Self Storage, Inc., 10 P.3d 1244 (Colo.2000).
We undertake the same review as the trial court; we must determine whether the Commission applied the correct legal standard and whether there is competent evidence to support the Commission's exercise of discretion. McCann v. Lettig, 928 P.2d 816 (Colo.App.1996). We review the Commission's interpretations of law de novo. United Airlines, Inc. v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 993 P.2d 1152 (Colo.2000). We uphold the Commission's exercise of discretion unless it is "so devoid of evidentiary support that it can only be explained as an arbitrary and capricious exercise of authority." Carney v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 30 P.3d 861, 863 (Colo.App.2001)(quoting Bd. of County Comm'rs v. O'Dell, 920 P.2d 48, 50 (Colo.1996)).
The Commission is bound by the hearing officer's findings of evidentiary fact. Commission Rule XII, § 5.E.6; Blaine v. Moffat County Sch. Dist. re No. 1, 748 P.2d 1280 (Colo.1988).
Evidentiary facts are the raw historical data underlying a controversy, whereas ultimate conclusions of fact are conclusions of law or mixed questions of law and fact that determine the rights and liabilities of the parties based on findings of fact. The distinction between an evidentiary fact and an ultimate conclusion of fact is not always clear, but an ultimate conclusion of fact is, as a general rule, phrased in the language of the controlling statute or legal standard. Federico v. Brannan Sand & Gravel Co., 788 P.2d 1268 (Colo.1990).
Here, the determination that plaintiff was "similarly situated to a spouse" within the meaning of the Amendment determines plaintiff's rights and liabilities and thus is an ultimate conclusion of fact.
As to this question, the Commission deferred to BATF's advisory interpretation of the phrase "similarly situated to a spouse," deferred to BATF's opinion about whether plaintiff and the victim were similarly situated to spouses, deferred to BATF's opinion concerning plaintiff's eligibility to possess a firearm, and concluded that Denver proved that plaintiff's disqualification was justified. Each of these rulings constituted a legal conclusion, not a finding of fact. Therefore, the Commission was not bound by the hearing officer's determination of whether plaintiff and the victim were similarly situated to spouses.
Thus, the essential question is whether the Commission's decision regarding plaintiff's disqualification is based on proper application of the correct legal standard. As discussed below, we conclude that it is.
As we consider the legal standard established by the Lautenberg Amendment, we are guided by well-established principles of statutory construction. We must interpret the Amendment in a manner that gives effect to congressional intent. To do this, we begin with the language of the statute, giving words their plain and ordinary meaning. Carlson v. Ferris, 85 P.3d 504 (Colo.2003). We construe the statute as a whole to give consistent, harmonious, and sensible effect to all its parts. Charnes v. Boom, 766 P.2d 665 (Colo.1988).
Under 18 U.S.C.A. § 922(g)(9), it is illegal for any person who has been convicted of "a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to "possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition."
The phrase "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33) as a misdemeanor under federal or state law that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon,
committed by a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.
(Emphasis added.)
Thus, the definition of "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" has three components: (1) it must be a misdemeanor crime; (2) it must involve violence by way of the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon; and (3) it must occur between parties to a domestic relationship.
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