Opinion ID: 1784454
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Benefit of Doubt

Text: The appellant first argues that the Commission erred by not giving her the benefit of the doubt on all factual questions. She bases her argument on our case of Brower Mfg. Co. v. Willis, 252 Ark. 755, 480 S.W.2d 950 (1972). It is true that in Brower , this court held that the claimant was entitled to the benefit of the doubt in every factual determination. However, this is no longer the law. Act 10 of 1986, Second Extraordinary Session, codified as Ark.Code Ann. § 11-9-704(c)(4) (1987) changed the existing law to provide that in determining whether a party has met its burden of proof, Administrative Law Judges and the Commission shall weigh the evidence impartially and without giving the benefit of the doubt to any party. In Fowler v. McHenry, 22 Ark.App. 196, 737 S.W.2d 663 (1987), the Court of Appeals noted this change in the law and determined that it should be applied retroactively to any case heard by the Administrative Law Judges or the Commission after the effective date of the act in June of 1986, regardless of the date of the claimant's injury. See also Marrable v. Southern LP Gas, Inc., 25 Ark.App. 1, 751 S.W. 2d 15 (1988). Thus, even though appellant's injury occurred before the effective date of the act, the Commission correctly refused to give the appellant the benefit of the doubt in making factual determinations, since it reviewed the case well after the effective date of the act.