Opinion ID: 1957244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to Correct or Modify the Record to Include Evidence of Bias

Text: [¶ 12] The argument before us focuses on the Collaborative's general assertion that the Department's decision was affected by bias and prejudice. Among other things, the Collaborative contends that e-mail messages that the Department did not include in the record evidence bias against the Collaborative. Because the court determined that the Collaborative's motion regarding the e-mail correspondence was filed too late, it did not address the bias claim relating to that correspondence. [¶ 13] Before we can determine whether the court erred in failing to consider the proffered e-mails, we must determine the nature of those documents in this context. The Collaborative first argues that the e-mails were, or should have been, a part of the agency record on appeal. See M.R. Civ. P. 80(f). Alternatively they argue that the e-mails constituted ex parte communications and that they were entitled to a trial on the facts to allow them to present that evidence of bias to the court. See M.R. Civ. P 80C(e). We address each argument in turn.
[¶ 14] The first argument, that the e-mails should have been a part of the agency record, requires a review of the contested communications to determine whether they were in the nature of documents that should have been included in the record forwarded by the administrative body. See M.R. Civ. P. 80C(f); 22 M.R.S.A. § 307(5-A)(C) (1992). [5] The court did not undertake that review because it found that the Collaborative's motion was untimely. [¶ 15] The party contesting the adequacy of the record is required to provide notice of the claimed defect to the administrative agency within ten days. M.R. Civ. P. 80C(f). If the administrative agency and the party cannot agree on the record's contents, the party may move for the court to modify the record. Id. In these circumstances, the Superior Court will not conduct an evidentiary hearing to weigh the evidence, but must instead determine whether the proposed evidence is properly part of the agency record, and if so, the court will go on to review the record as completed. [¶ 16] Here, the Collaborative did notify the Department within ten days of the filing of the record that it believed that some electronic correspondence was erroneously omitted from the record. The Collaborative thereby complied with the only timing requirement present in Rule 80C(f). When the Department failed to modify the record, the Collaborative obtained the correspondence through a FOAA action and then promptly filed its motion to correct the record. [¶ 17] Because the court understood the Collaborative's motion to be a request to take additional evidence pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C(e), which requires a motion to the court within ten days of the filing of the record, it did not address the Collaborative's motion to modify the record pursuant to Rule 80C(f). There was, however, no timing defect in the Collaborative's Rule 80C(f) motion, and the Superior Court should have examined the procured correspondence to determine whether any of it should have been included in the record. [¶ 18] The CON Act required the Department to include in the record [a]ll ... correspondence ... submitted by applicants and interested or affected persons prior to the termination of the public comment period. 22 M.R.S.A. § 307(5-A)(C)(1). Electronic mail communications are correspondence more similar to a letter than a telephone conversation and would ordinarily be included in the record if such communications carried substantive information. [¶ 19] On remand, the court should first consider whether the record should be corrected to include the electronic correspondence. See M.R. Civ. P. 80C(f). In evaluating the pieces of correspondence, the court may conduct a hearing if necessary to determine, for instance, the identity of the persons writing and receiving the correspondence. If the court expands the record to include any of the disputed e-mail correspondence, the court must then determine whether the entire record as augmented establishes that the Department was biased or prejudiced in favor of MMC/SMMC or against the Collaborative.
[¶ 20] The Collaborative next argues that even if the e-mail did not fall within the scope of the administrative record, the Superior Court should have reviewed it as additional evidence of the Department's bias pursuant to Rule 80C(e). See Trimble v. Comm'r, Dep't of Human Servs., 635 A.2d 937, 938-39 (Me.1993). Rule 80C(e) applies when evidence that is not part of the record, and could not have been made a part of the record by the propounding party, is relevant to a determination before the court. It is not available to present evidence that the applicant should have presented to the agency, and is most appropriately asserted when there is evidence relevant to bias or prejudice, or, in some instances, an equitable defense or claim that could not have been addressed to the agency during the administrative proceedings. [¶ 21] Rule 80C(e) requires that the party offering additional evidence file a motion for the admission of that additional evidence with the court within ten days after the administrative body filed the record with the Superior Court. Here, the court concluded that the motion was untimely because the Collaborative did not file its motion within ten days after the record was filed with the court. M.R. Civ. P. 80C(e). Accordingly, the court concluded that the Collaborative had waived any right to the taking of additional evidence pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C(e). [¶ 22] The Superior Court has the discretion to determine whether to take additional evidence on appeal from an agency's decision. See Murphy v. Bd. of Envtl. Prot., 615 A.2d 255, 260 (Me.1992). Ordinarily, a court would not be said to have engaged in an unsustainable exercise of discretion in denying a motion pursuant to Rule 80C(e) when the moving party failed to adhere to the ten-day deadline. Indeed, in ordinary circumstances, the rule should be applied literally. [¶ 23] In the circumstances of the present case, however, the late filing was occasioned by the failure of the agency to provide the pertinent information. Because the Collaborative began its search for the e-mail evidence promptly following the filing of the agency record, we would recognize a narrow exception to the ten-day deadline, and we vacate the court's denial of the motion to take additional evidence to the extent that it is based on an untimely filing. [¶ 24] Accordingly, on remand, the court should first determine whether the correspondence should have been made a part of the record pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C(f), or was additional evidence outside the record that may demonstrate bias or prejudice, M.R. Civ. P. 80C(e). The court should then address the Collaborative's claim of bias in light of the entire record.