Opinion ID: 1184244
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Interrogatories

Text: (15) The trial court overruled the Commission's objections to the interrogatories propounded by Veta and ordered the Commission to answer. The Commission claims that discovery cannot lead to the production of admissible evidence and that, therefore, the trial court's ruling was erroneous. At the outset, it should be observed that only those interrogatories are proper which relate to the first cause of action for review of the Commission's decision under section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Although we have held that the fourth and fifth counts, in which Veta challenges the constitutionality of the Act on its face, also state causes of action, the interrogatories directed to these causes are not proper. The objections to these interrogatories should have been sustained because they seek to determine opinions of the Commission regarding the constitutionality of the Act, and such opinions have no relevance whatever to the purely legal problem of determining the validity of the Act on its face. [13] Limiting our inquiry to those interrogatories which are relevant to a review under section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, we note that the Commission asserts if the independent judgment test is applicable to review the Commission's determination, then under section 1094.5, subdivision (d), [14] discovery would be limited to relevant evidence which, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, Veta could not have produced, or which was improperly excluded at the hearing. The Commission asserts that Veta did not make the showing required by this provision and that, therefore, even if the independent judgment test were to be applied in reviewing its determination no discovery would be proper. Moreover, it is asserted, if the substantial evidence test is applied no discovery whatever is appropriate. (16) We agree that in reviewing the Commission's determination the trial court is confined to the record before the Commission unless Veta can show that it possesses evidence not presented to the Commission which it could not have produced in the exercise of reasonable diligence or unless relevant evidence was improperly excluded at the administrative hearing. However, in our view, this rule applies whether the independent judgment test or the substantial evidence test is employed to review the Commission's determination. Subdivision (d) of section 1094.5 impliedly recognizes as much, and the sole authority cited by the Commission for a contrary view does not, in our opinion, support the Commission's position that even if Veta met the standards set forth in subdivision (d) of section 1094.5, discovery would not lie if the substantial evidence test were employed. [15] Thus, to the extent that Veta can justify the interrogatories under that provision, the Commission must file answers to them. Veta asserts that subdivision (d) of section 1094.5 does not limit its right to discovery because of the nature of its attack on the Commission's decision. It is claimed that, while that provision is applicable to the issue whether the evidence is sufficient to support the findings of an administrative agency, Veta is attempting to establish that the Commission denied it a fair hearing by receiving secret testimony from its staff prior to the hearing and prejudging the application on the basis of such improperly received evidence, and that the Commission failed to consider and examine certain documents presented by Veta. Where such allegations are made, claims Veta, discovery must be allowed to enable a litigant to determine the basis of the Commission's action. In United States v. Morgan (1941) 313 U.S. 409, 422 [85 L.Ed. 1429, 1435, 61 S.Ct. 999], it was held improper to examine the Secretary of Agriculture with regard to whether and to what extent he had read and considered certain evidence and exhibits prior to making a rate order. The opinion states, The proceeding before the Secretary `has a quality resembling that of a judicial proceeding.' ... Such an examination of a judge would be destructive of judicial responsibility. We have explicitly held ... that `it was not the function of the court to probe the mental processes of the Secretary.' ... Just as a judge cannot be subjected to such a scrutiny, ... so the integrity of the administrative process must be equally respected.... The rule of Morgan is generally followed by the states (see 2 Davis, Administrative Law (1958) § 11.05, p. 62), and was recently applied in State of California v. Superior Court (1971) 16 Cal. App.3d 87, 94-95 [93 Cal. Rptr. 663], in which it was strongly doubted that interrogatories dealing with the mental processes of the director of health care services in arriving at his decision were proper. (17) To the extent, therefore, that the interrogatories seek to determine what material the Commission read and relied upon in reaching its determination and to the extent that they seek to probe the mental processes of the Commission, the trial court erred in overruling the Commission's objections thereto. That some of the interrogatories fall within the prohibited range is clear. The parties make specific reference only to interrogatories 70 to 75, which seek to determine whether the Commission was aware of certain facts at the time of the hearing. Since Morgan prohibits an examination into the question of what evidence an administrator considered in reaching a decision, these questions were improper. We do not consider the remaining interrogatories, which number almost 300 separate questions and subquestions, but vacate the trial court's order granting Veta's motion to compel answers and direct the court to reconsider the Commission's objections to the interrogatories under the principles set forth above.