Opinion ID: 1247192
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Admissibility of Evidence and Examination of Witnesses

Text: Again contrasting proceedings under subdivision (b) of section 6007 with those under subdivision (c), petitioner next objects that the rules governing the latter offer no standards for the admissibility of evidence, that unsubstantiated hearsay is allowed to be the basis of the referee's decision, and that confrontation and cross-examination of adverse witnesses is not allowed. Our prior observations on the distinct and different purposes of the two types of proceedings apply with equal force here to rebut petitioner's implicit contention that there is no rational basis for the different procedures. Nor do we see any denial of due process in the subdivision (c) procedures themselves. (5) There is no inherent problem with the use of hearsay in bar disciplinary matters. (See Younger v. State Bar (1974) 12 Cal.3d 274, 285 [113 Cal. Rptr. 829, 522 P.2d 5]; Werner v. State Bar (1944) 24 Cal.2d 611, 615 [150 P.2d 892].) The reliability of hearsay may vary widely, and even uncorroborated hearsay, without more, may suffice to support an agency decision, provided that such is permitted by statute. ( Walker v. San Gabriel (1942) 20 Cal.2d 879, 881 [129 P.2d 349, 142 A.L.R. 1383].) The command of section 6007, subdivision (c)(2), that the referee's decision be based on all the available evidence, including affidavits we take to be such statutory authorization. And here the referee determined that the hearsay admitted possessed sufficient indicia of reliability that a reasonable person would deem the statements trustworthy. The interest in a prompt decision served by the use of affidavits and hearsay evidence outweighs whatever increase in accuracy of decision might result from a ban on such evidence. Petitioner's separate contention that a charged attorney is entitled to confront and cross-examine the witnesses upon whose statements the State Bar relies in seeking the attorney's involuntary enrollment on inactive status also fails. (6) Although the right of confrontation may be an essential element of due process before a person can be permanently excluded from the practice of law (see, e.g., Willner v. Committee on Character (1963) 373 U.S. 96, 103-104 [10 L.Ed.2d 224, 229-230, 83 S.Ct. 1175, 2 A.L.R.3d 1254]), the hearing that precedes a temporary deprivation of the right to pursue a particular profession need not offer that same opportunity (see, e.g., Brock v. Roadway Express, Inc. (1987) 481 U.S. 252, 266 [95 L.Ed.2d 239, 253, 107 S.Ct. 1740, 1749-1750]; Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill (1985) 470 U.S. 532, 545-546 [84 L.Ed.2d 494, 506, 105 S.Ct. 1487]). The right of confrontation is not a necessary component of due process in the present context. Moreover, we would note that section 6085 provides, without any explicit exceptions, that [a]ny person complained against shall... have a reasonable opportunity and right: [¶] (a) To defend against the charge by the introduction of evidence. [¶] (b) To be represented by counsel. [¶] (c) To examine and cross-examine witnesses. We see no indication that this general provision, applicable on its face to all attorney disciplinary proceedings, was not meant to apply to proceedings under section 6007, subdivision (c) as well. Indeed, section 6086.5, as noted previously, expressly indicates that the referee presiding over an involuntary inactive enrollment proceeding has the power under section 6049 to [c]ompel, by subpoena, the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and documents pertaining to the proceeding. We need not here decide the consequences of a denial of the right to cross-examine witnesses, as we see no indication that petitioner attempted to exercise the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses or that it would have served the purposes of the hearing. We cannot find a due process violation in the failure to do what petitioner did not ask be done, particularly where no showing is made that a denial of the request, had one been made, would have been improper. [5]