Opinion ID: 1611751
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: accuracy of report

Text: Benitez does not contest her placement in the Registry or the court-substantiated status determination. Nonetheless, she argues that the Department's denial of her request for expunction was not supported by competent evidence. This was, Benitez argues, because Schied testified at the hearing that she did not personally investigate the circumstances concerning the incident of abuse and that she relied solely upon Benitez' conviction of negligent child abuse to deny expunction of the Registry report. The Legislature has not specified what the legal standard is for the Department's burden of proof in a hearing to expunge, amend, or remove a report under § 28-723. Other jurisdictions have concluded that state agencies must show that a report is substantiated by a preponderance of the evidence. See, e.g., Lee TT. v. Dowling, 87 N.Y.2d 699, 664 N.E.2d 1243, 642 N.Y.S.2d 181 (1996); Cavarretta v. DCFS, 277 Ill.App.3d 16, 660 N.E.2d 250, 214 Ill.Dec. 59 (1996). Moreover, § 28-723 specifies that [a] juvenile court finding of child abuse or child neglect shall be presumptive evidence that the report was not unfounded. The State's burden of proof in a juvenile hearing to establish child abuse or child neglect is a preponderance of the evidence. See Neb.Rev.Stat. § 43-279.01(3) (Reissue 1998). We conclude that the Department must prove the accuracy and consistency of a Registry report of child abuse or neglect by a preponderance of the evidence in a hearing to expunge, amend, or remove a report under § 28-723. Benitez was convicted of negligent child abuse by a jury. In a criminal case, due process requires the prosecution to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, every factual element necessary to constitute the crime charged. See, e.g., State v. Parks, 253 Neb. 939, 573 N.W.2d 453 (1998). If a juvenile court's finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that child maltreatment has occurred is presumptive evidence that a report is not unfounded, then certainly a criminal conviction of maltreatment is conclusive evidence that a Registry report is substantiated. See, e.g., State ex rel. NSBA v. Brown, 251 Neb. 815, 560 N.W.2d 123 (1997). The Department has met its burden of demonstrating that a Registry report of substantiated child abuse or neglect is accurate when there is evidence of a conviction stemming from the same actions which are the subject of the report.