STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA



STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE OFFICE OF

COUNTY OF NORTHAMPTON ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

02 DOJ 1788

HELEN MARIE WILLIAMS )

Petitioner, )

)

v. ) PROPOSAL FOR DECISION

)

NORTH CAROLINA SHERIFF’S )

EDUCATION AND TRAINING )

STANDARDS COMMISSION, )

Respondent )

This case came on for hearing on February 21, 2003 before Administrative Law Judge Beecher Gray in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. This case was heard after Respondent requested, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(e), designation of an Administrative Law Judge to preside at the hearing of a contested case under Article 3A, Chapter 150B of the North Carolina General Statutes.

APPEARANCES

Petitioner: Helen Marie Williams

Petitioner

Post Office Box 62

Jackson, NC 27845

Respondent: Lorrin Freeman

Attorney for Respondent

Department of Justice

Law Enforcement Liaison Section

P.O. Box 629

Raleigh, N.C. 27602-0629

ISSUES

Is the Respondent’s proposed denial of the Petitioner’s application for certification as a justice officer supported by substantial evidence?

FINDINGS OF FACT

STIPULATED FACTS

1. Both parties are properly before this Administrative Law Judge in that jurisdiction and venue are proper, both parties received notice of hearing, and the petitioner received the Notification of Probable Cause to Revoke Certification letter mailed by the respondent on September 26, 2002 and the Modification of Probable Cause to Revoke Certification letter served on Petitioner on February 11, 2003.

2. The North Carolina Sheriff’s Education and Training Standards Commission has the authority granted under Chapter 17E of the North Carolina General Statutes and Title 12 of the North Carolina Administrative Code, Chapter 10, to certify justice officers and to revoke, suspend, or deny such certification.

3. On May 23, 2002, Petitioner entered a plea of guilty to the Class B Misdemeanor offense of Larceny, in violation of N.C.G.S. §14-72(a) in Northampton County District Court. Petitioner was given a thirty day suspended sentence in the Northampton County jail, placed on six months probation and required to pay a fine and certain fees. The guilty plea was part of an agreement with the Assistant District Attorney by which the charge was ultimately dismissed.

4. The provision found in the North Carolina Administrative Code at 12 NCAC 10B .0204(d)(1), Chapter 10B of Title 12 provides, in pertinent part, that:

A) The commission may revoke, suspend, or deny the certification of a justice officer when the Commission finds that the applicant for certification or the certified officer has committed or been convicted of:

1) a crime or unlawful act defined in 12 NCAC 10B .0103(10)(b) as a Class B misdemeanor and which occurred after the date of initial certification.

5. 12 NCAC 10B .0205 provides that “when the Commission suspends, revokes or denies the certification of a justice officer, the period of sanction shall be:

(2) not less than five years where the cause of sanction is:

(a) commission or conviction of offenses as specified in 12 NCAC 10B .0204(d)(1) and (4);”

6. That 12 NCAC 10B .0301(a) provides that “Every justice officer employed or certified in North Carolina shall (8) be of good moral character.”

7. That 12 NCAC 10B .0204(b)(2) provides

(b) The Commission shall revoke, deny, or suspend the certification of a justice officer when the Commission finds that the applicant for certification or the certified officer:

(2) fails to meet or maintain any of the minimum employment or certification standards required by 12 NCAC 10B .0300.

TESTIMONY OF CLARISSA KISIC AS STIPULATED

8. I am a clerk at the White Star Store. I have been employed at this location for approximately one year.

9. I was working the morning of May 3, 2002 when Ms. Helen Williams entered the White Star Store to do some shopping for the Northampton County Jail.

10. I noticed that she was carrying a bundle of mail in her arms as she entered the store. She then selected a shopping cart and proceeded to shop.

11. She came to the register to checkout and purchased some bleach, Pine-Sol, and other cleaning items for the jail. She placed the mail into the child seat basket of the cart. I could clearly see hidden under the mail one box of Argon Corn Starch. Ms. Williams did not have the corn starch when she entered the store.

12. Ms. Williams checked out her items and signed her purchase slip. She then asked me if she could take the cart with her. I agreed and she took the cart back to the jail with her.

13. I then waited for her to bring back the shopping cart hoping that the box of corn starch had just been an oversight and that she would bring it back or pay for it. Ms. Williams returned shortly thereafter with the cart and purchased a few more items for the jail.

14. After she left the second time with her items for the jail, I contacted the jail and asked if it would be possible for Ms. Williams to return the corn starch she had taken. A detective from the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office returned the box of corn starch. I was then asked to issue a warrant for her arrest, which I did.

ADJUDICATED FACTS

15. Ms. Diane Pearce, Investigator with the North Carolina Sheriff’s Education and Training Standards Division, testified that during the course of her official duties that she had received official court records indicating that Petitioner had in fact been charged with misdemeanor larceny, had entered a plea of guilty in Northampton County District Court and received a suspended sentence with supervised probation. Ms. Pearce testified that she had spoken to the Assistant District Attorney who prosecuted Petitioner’s case and that he indicated that the charge was to be dismissed upon successful completion of the court’s conditions.

16. Ms. Pearce testified that she interviewed Ms. Clarissa Kisic, that Ms. Kisic related to her the events of the incident in question, and that Ms. Kisic’s statement to her was substantially similar to the testimony presented by Ms. Kisic in the Stipulation of Testimony set out above.

17. Petitioner testified that on or about May 3, 2002 that, while on duty with the Northampton Sheriff’s Office and in uniform, she went to the White Star Store to purchase items for the county jail. Petitioner stated that she took a box of Argo Corn Starch from the store without paying for it. Petitioner claimed that this was an accident.

18. Petitioner’s assertion that she mistakenly took the box of corn starch is not credible as Petitioner did not inform the store clerk that she had the corn starch nor make any effort to pay for it despite the fact that she went back to the store a second time after unloading the cart at the detention facility. Petitioner testified that she left the store with a cart filled with containers of bleach and in which the corn starch was placed under a bundle of mail. She then took the cart to the detention facility where she unloaded the cart. She next returned with the cart to the store to buy more items for the jail. At no time did Petitioner attempt to purchase the corn starch nor have Ms. Kisic add it to Petitioner’s personal account that she maintained at the store.

Petitioner claims that she was intending to go and pay for the box of corn starch when she was called into her supervisor’s office.

19. Petitioner testified that Detective Wheeler of the Northampton Co. Sheriff’s Office located the corn starch on one of the desks in the detention facility.

20. Petitioner entered a plea of guilty to the charge of misdemeanor larceny in Northampton County District Court on or about May 23, 2002 and was sentenced to a period of supervised probation. Her entry of a plea of guilty was part of a deferred prosecution agreement between her and the assistant district attorney which resulted in the charge ultimately being dismissed.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. This matter properly is before the undersigned Administrative Law Judge and jurisdiction and venue are proper.

2. Pursuant to 12 NCAC 10B .0204(d)(1), the Commission may revoke the certification of a justice officer when the Commission finds that the certified officer has committed or been convicted of a Class B misdemeanor after the date of initial certification.

3. 12 NCAC 10B .0103(2)(A) defines conviction to include the entry of a guilty plea.

4. Petitioner committed the Class B misdemeanor of misdemeanor larceny on or about May 3, 2002 when she knowingly took a box of Argo corn starch from the White Star Store in Jackson, N.C. without paying for it and without the store’s permission, and with the intent to deprive the store of it.

5. Petitioner was convicted of the Class B misdemeanor of misdemeanor larceny when on or about May 23, 2002 she entered a plea of guilty to the charge of misdemeanor larceny in violation of N.C.G.S. §14-72(a) in the District Court of Northampton County.

6. Under NCAC 10B .0205(2)(a), when the Commission suspends or revokes an officer’s certification for commission or conviction of a Class B misdemeanor, the period of sanction is not less than five years.

7. Pursuant to 12 NCAC 10B .0204(b)(2) and .0301(a)(8), the commission shall revoke or deny certification when the applicant or officer fails to meet the minimum standards of a justice officer by lacking good moral character.

8. Substantial evidence exists to show that Petitioner does not possess the minimum standard of good moral character, which is required of all justice officers. Petitioner’s actions of committing the offense of misdemeanor larceny while on duty for the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office and while in uniform are prima facia evidence that Petitioner does not possess the minimum standard of good moral character which is required of all justice officers as set forth in Rule 12 NCAC 10B .0301(a)(8).

9. 12 NCAC 10B .0205(3)(b) provides that, “when the Commission suspends, revokes, or denies the certification of a justice officer, the period of sanction shall be for an indefinite period, but continuing so long as the stated deficiency, infraction, or impairment continues to exist, where the cause of sanction is failure to meet or maintain the minimum standards of employment or certification.”

ORDER

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is hereby recommended that Petitioner’s certification be revoked for a period of not less than five years for the commission and conviction of the Class B misdemeanor offense, Misdemeanor Larceny. It is further recommended that the Petitioner’s certification be revoked for 5 years for failing to meet or maintain the minimum standards of employment or certification, to wit lacking good moral character and that the Commission reconsider this revocation if Petitioner reapplies after the 5 year revocation.

NOTICE AND ORDER

It is hereby ordered that the agency serve a copy of the final decision on the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-6714, in accordance with G.S. 150B-36(b).

The agency making the final decision in this contested case is required to give each party an opportunity to file exceptions to this proposal for decision, to submit proposed findings of fact, and to present oral and written arguments to the agency pursuant to G.S. 150B-40(e).

The agency that will make the final decision in this contested case is the N.C. Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission.

This the ______ day of March, 2003.

_______________________________

Beecher Gray

Administrative Law Judge

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