Title: James Campbell v. New Jersey Racing Commission

State: new-jersey

Issuer: New Jersey Supreme Court

Document:

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized). VERNIERO, J., writing for a unanimous Court. This appeal implicates the standards governing appellate review of administrative actions. Specifically, it involves the method by which the New Jersey Racing Commission (Commission) measures the level of total carbon dioxide (tCO2) in race horses. An abnormally high level of tCO2 in a race horse is an indication that the horse has ingested or been injected with sodium bicarbonate or other substances to enhance the horse's performance during a race. This process is known in the racing industry as milkshaking. The Commission promulgated certain regulations setting forth standards and procedures by which it would test for impermissible levels of tCO2 and assess penalties against any trainer of a horse found in that condition. The regulations provide that the Commission may obtain blood samples of any horse after a race for the purpose of measuring tCO2 in the blood. They further provide that if the tCO2 level equals or exceeds thirty-seven (37) or more millimoles per liter (mmol/l), the trainer, as an absolute insurer of the horse, shall have his or license suspended for a 75-day period and pay a $1,000 fine. On October 25, 1997, Ramses Two (Ramses), a standard-bred horse trained by respondent, won a harness race at Freehold Raceway. After the race, in accordance with the Commission's regulations, a track veterinarian extracted a blood sample from the horse to test for impermissible levels of tCO2. The test and a confirmatory test both detected excess levels of tCO2 in Ramses' blood. Respondent was charged with a regulatory violation. Respondent disputed the charge. He invoked a procedure that permits the horse whose level of tCO2 exceeded the limit to be placed under quarantine and re-tested to determine whether the excessive level of tCO2 was physiologically normal for that horse. The results of the re-test confirmed that Ramses' previously-tested level of tCO2 was abnormal. The Commission sanctioned respondent, who requested a contested case hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). At the hearing, the parties presented sharply divided expert testimony regarding the method by which the Commission tests equine plasma for impermissible levels of tCO2. That method involves a machine, the Beckman EL-ISE instrument. Respondent does not challenge the use of the machine, but rather the method by which the Commission calibrates the instrument before testing to verify accurate measurements. The Commission's expert testified that the Commission had arrived at the level of 37.0 mmol/l by testing 231 randomly selected race horses in New Jersey. The mean tCO2 level for those horses was 30 mmol/l, and only one horse in the experiment had a reading higher than 34.0 mmol/l. The expert testified that the Commission arrived at the 37.0 mmol/l as the regulatory limit because it was more than three standard deviations above the mean that the Commission discovered. The expert also explained how the agency used the Beckman instrument. Before testing, the machine is calibrated using solutions prepared by the instrument's manufacturer, the Beckman Company. The calibration solutions contain tCO2 levels of 0, 10, and 30 mmol/l. The manufacturer claims that the machine's readings are accurate up to 40 mmol/l if its calibration is checked properly. The expert further testified that to demonstrate quality control in the calibration, solutions from a different company (Casco) must be used to run a linearity check. Casco solutions of 10, 20, 30, and 40 mmol/l of tCO2 are run through the machine. If the resulting numbers produce a straight line, the calibration established by use of the Beckman solutions is verified. The instructions that accompany the Casco solutions state that those solutions are intended for use only as checks on linearity to confirm calibration readings. The ALJ concluded that the Commission had established that Ramses had a tCO2 level above the concentration of 37 mmol/l, was in violation of the Commission's regulations, and the level of concentration did not reflect the horse's normal physiology. The Commission adopted the ALJ's decision as its final decision, but stayed imposition of penalties until the case could be appealed to the Appellate Division. In an unreported opinion, the Appellate Division reversed. The court concluded that the evidence does not show that there is general acceptance within the scientific community for use of the Beckman analyzer in accordance with the Commission laboratory's procedures to determine concentrations of tCO2 with the precision required by the Commission's regulations. The Supreme Court granted the Commission's petition for certification. HELD: There is ample evidence in the record before the New Jersey Racing Commission to support the Commission's determination that the testing of Ramses Two for tCO2 yielded a valid measurement in excess of the regulatory limit. The Commission must be accorded deference because the case involved technical matters that come within the special province of the agency's expertise. 1. An appellate court does not substitute its judgment of the facts for that of an administrative agency. If the court is satisfied that the evidence and the inferences to be drawn therefrom support the agency decision, then it must affirm even if the court feels that it would have reached a different result. The choice of accepting or rejecting testimony from witnesses resides with the agency, and so long as that choice is reasonably made, it is accorded deference on appeal. Finally, courts grant deference to agency expertise on technical matters where such expertise is a pertinent factor. (Pp. 12-13) 2. The Appellate Division erred in concluding that the Commission had not met its burden of demonstrating the reliability of the Beckman test generally and as applied in this instance. The Commission must be accorded deference because its laboratory procedures involve technical matters falling within the special province of the agency's expertise. In doing so, the agency considered evidence from at least two experts supporting the reasonableness of its choice of method for demonstrating the precision of the Beckman instrument. The Court holds that there is ample evidence in this record to support the Commission's determination. Under the standards of appellate review that apply in this setting, the Commission's determination must be upheld. (Pp. 13-14) The judgment of the Appellate Division is REVERSED. CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES COLEMAN, LONG, LaVECCHIA, and ZAZZALI join in JUSTICE VERNIERO's opinion. JUSTICE STEIN did not participate. JAMES CAMPBELL, Petitioner-Respondent, v. NEW JERSEY RACING COMMISSION, Respondent-Appellant. Argued September 10, 2001 -- Decided October 11, 2001 On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. Jeffrey C. Burstein, Senior Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for appellant (John J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney; Mr. Burstein and James B. McKinney, Jr., on the briefs). Mark D. Schorr argued the cause for respondent (Sterns & Weinroth, attorneys; Mr. Schorr and Nancy A. Natello, on the briefs). The opinion of the Court was delivered by VERNIERO, J. This appeal implicates the standards governing appellate review of administrative actions. Specifically, it involves the method by which the New Jersey Racing Commission (Commission) measures the level of total carbon dioxide (tCO2) in race horses. An abnormally high level of tCO2 is an indication that a horse has ingested or been injected with sodium bicarbonate or other substances to enhance the horse's performance during a race. That process of ingestion or injection is known in the racing industry as milkshaking. In this case, the Commission found that a horse contained impermissible levels of tCO2 in its blood following a race at Freehold Raceway. Accordingly, the Commission assessed penalties against the horse's trainer, James Campbell (respondent), consistent with the agency's regulations. The Appellate Division set aside the Commission's actions. We granted the Commission's petition for certification, 167 N.J. 90 (2001), and now reverse. An excess level of total carbon dioxide [tCO2] in the race horse is deemed adverse to the best interests of harness racing, and adverse to the best interests of the horse in that such condition alters its normal physiological state. Accordingly, . . . on the date of the race and following a minimum one-hour standing at rest period for the horse subsequent to the conclusion of the race within which it competed, a State Veterinarian representing the Commission may obtain blood samples from the horse for the purpose of the testing of said samples by the Racing Commission laboratory for [tCO2] level on a Clinical Auto Analyzer that applies an ion selective electrode method (ISE) for measuring [tCO2] in blood. Where the [tCO2] level, based upon such testing equals or exceeds the following levels, the judges shall order the relief authorized pursuant to (b) . . . : 1. Thirty-seven (37) or more millimoles per liter[.] As a penalty for a first violation, subsection (b) provides that the trainer, as the absolute insurer of the horse[,] shall have his or her license suspended for a 75-day period, be ordered to pay a $1000 fine, and be denied the privileges of all grounds subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission during the suspension period. N.J.A.C. 13:71-23.3A(b)1. NO. A-70 JAMES CAMPBELL, Petitioner-Respondent, v. NEW JERSEY RACING COMMISSION, Respondent-Appellant. DECIDED October 11, 2001 Chief Justice Poritz