Opinion ID: 2584798
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the evidentiary cutoff

Text: ¶ 9 The threshold question before the court is whether Judge Caner abused her discretion when she imposed the December 31, 2003 evidentiary cutoff in the remand hearing. The department argues that Judge Caner appropriately exercised her discretion to exclude irrelevant evidence. See RCW 34.05.452(1) (The presiding officer may exclude evidence that is irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious.). At oral argument, the department suggested that the decision to grant a certificate of need is made on a snapshot of facts around the time the application is filed. The UWMC responds that the Court of Appeals has recently held that the health law judge is the final administrative decision maker. DaVita, Inc. v. Dep't of Health, 137 Wash.App. 174, 181, 151 P.3d 1095 (2007). It argues that implicit in its right to a de novo hearing before the health law judge is the right to present existing evidence that supports its case, even if that evidence did not exist when the department's snapshot was taken. ¶ 10 Nothing in the rules or the statutes specifically addresses the appropriate record before the health law judge. Instead, the law leaves that question to the department by rule or to the health law judge by rulings guided by the Rules of Evidence. See RCW 34.05.452 (evidence at administrative review hearings); RCW 70.38.115 (procedures for certificate of need review hearings). Under the Rules of Evidence, [e]rror may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected. ER 103(a). We review a trial judge's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. State v. Myers, 133 Wash.2d 26, 34, 941 P.2d 1102 (1997). ¶ 11 Both the statutes and the administrative rules clearly contemplate that the decision will be made quickly; ideally, 90 days from the application's filing. RCW 70.38.115(8); WAC 246-310-160(1). Requiring the health law judge to admit evidence created long after this period of time would undermine the statutory objective of expeditious decision making and prevent meaningful public input on that evidence. A request for an adjudicative hearing does not begin the application process anew; the adjudicative proceeding is part of the entire certificate of need petition process established by chapter 70.38 RCW. ¶ 12 Further, de novo review is a type of review, not an evidentiary standard. See, e.g., Davis v. Baugh Indus. Contractors, Inc., 159 Wash.2d 413, 416, 150 P.3d 545 (2007). The law gives considerable discretion to administrative law judges to determine the scope of admissible evidence. E.g., Port of Seattle v. Pollution Control Hearings Bd., 151 Wash.2d 568, 597, 90 P.3d 659 (2004). It was within the sound discretion of the health law judge to admit, or not admit, evidence that came into existence after the close of the public comment period. We conclude that Judge Caner did not abuse her discretion in setting the evidentiary cutoff when she did.