Opinion ID: 2601693
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Were the Hearing Examiner's Credibility Determinations Sustainable under the Substantial Evidence Test

Text: [¶ 14] The hearing examiner made several determinations concerning credibility. The only witness to testify in person was Alphin. To the extent the hearing examiner made credibility determinations with respect to him, those determinations are clearly sustainable under the substantial evidence test. This is so because Alphin contradicted his own testimony several times. He denied a back injury in 2001, although he appears to have at least suggested such an injury to Dr. Kroner. He did not report a back injury to the physicians he saw on December 13, 2005. Alphin's self-report of injury was generally inconsistent and we conclude that, considered in its totality, his testimony might well have been deemed not credible, in significant part, by the hearing examiner. [¶ 15] The hearing examiner also made credibility determinations as to documents used as exhibits. In particular, he found Dr. Rangitsch to be more credible than Dr. Schulze, because Dr. Schulze's answers were incomplete, excessively terse, and he did not explain, although some questions called for at least some explanation. The hearing examiner also scored Dr. Schulze for at least one significant inaccuracy in his summary of Alphin's medical history (the timing of his treatment with Dr. Kroner and the December 12, 2005 injury). Both the district court and this Court have had the same materials available for examination as did the hearing examiner. The hearing examiner couched his assessment of these matters as going to credibility, although they might more accurately be described as going only to the weight to be given the testimony in question. To the extent the hearing examiner did discount the exhibits described above, we conclude that there is substantial evidence in the record to sustain the hearing examiner's findings in those regards.