Opinion ID: 2714911
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jackson's Procedural Challenges Fail

Text: Jackson argues that the hearing officer erred in denying his motion to continue the hearing and in failing to recuse herself due to bias. Both of these claims are wholly unsupported by facts or law. A. Hearing Officer Properly Exercised Discretion in Denying Jackson's Motion for Continuance Jackson contends that the hearing officer erred in denying his motion to continue the hearing. Under ELC 10.12(f), a hearing officer has discretion to grant either party's motion for a continuance of the hearing date. Generally, a reviewing court will not disturb a discretionary act absent a showing of manifest abuse of discretion. See In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against Whitney, 155 Wn.2d 451, 465, 120 P.3d 550 (2005). 'An abuse of discretion occurs only when no reasonable person would take the view adopted.' !d. (quoting In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against Bonet, 144 Wn.2d 502, 510, 29 P.3d 1242 (2001 )). Here, Jackson's motion contended that necessary witnesses, including his wife (Patti Jackson) and Clay Terry, were not available during the hearing. The hearing officer denied Jackson's motion. The hearing officer found that Terry was available to testify by telephone; Patti Jackson was present and testified. 17 No. 201,017-2 On appeal, Jackson argues that denial of his motion prevented him from presenting the testimony of a key witness who was in Iraq at the time of the hearing. From the record, it appears this witness was Clay Terry. Jackson argues that contrary to the hearing officer's findings, Terry was not available for a phone call because he was in an extremely hostile location in the front lines of Iraq. But the record shows that Jackson was given multiple opportunities to obtain Terry's declaration but simply decided not to. Although Jackson discussed the difficulty of obtaining Terry's declaration due to the time difference, he never mentioned a hostile environment as a barrier to communication. And Jackson's counsel ultimately agreed that the time difference was not an insurmountable challenge. The record does not reveal, and Jackson has not submitted, any evidence that Terry was unavailable for a phone call due to a hostile environment in Iraq. Jackson also unconvincingly argues that denying his motion was prejudicial. Jackson vaguely contends that Terry had considerable knowledge regarding Mr. Dainard as he had worked with him for years and had personal knowledge of the [115] Webster property. But Jackson fails to specify what Terry's testimony would have revealed. Thus, Jackson has not shown that he was prejudiced by the hearing officer's decision. The hearing officer correctly found that Jackson had failed to establish either good cause for continuance or prejudice in the event the hearing commenced as scheduled. B. No Evidence of Hearing Officer's Bias Due process of law, the appearance of fairness doctrine, and ELC 2.6(d)(4) require a hearing officer to disqualify herself only if she is biased or if her impartiality 18 No. 201,017-2 may reasonably be questioned. See Wo/fki/1 Feed & Fertilizer Corp. v. Martin, 103 Wn. App. 836, 841, 14 P.3d 877 (2000); State v. Dominguez, 81 Wn. App. 325, 328, 914 P.2d 141 (1996); see also Hill v. Dep't of Labor & Indus., 90 Wn.2d 276, 279, 580 P.2d 636 (1978) (common law rules governing disqualification for conflict of interest apply to administrative tribunals). A hearing officer is presumed to be impartial, and a party who alleges bias must affirmatively establish his or her claim based on facts in the record, not bald accusations, speculation, or innuendo. In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against King, 168 Wn.2d 888, 904-06, 232 P.3d 1095 (201 0). Jackson fails to rebut the presumption of impartiality. Jackson unconvincingly argues that the hearing officer was biased. First, he argues that the hearing officer showed bias by denying Jackson's motion for continuance and commenting that the absent witness was available via phone. Jackson claims this was biased because it was an absurd request and would have been life threatening for the witness to speak on the phone. But, as explained, Clay Terry was available to speak on the phone and the hearing officer gave Jackson many opportunities to secure Terry's testimony. In any event, this is not evidence of bias. Jackson also argues that the hearing officer was biased because she found that Jackson was slow or deficient in providing financial records when requested but ignored testimony and exhibits to the contrary. But the portions of the transcript Jackson cites to do not evidence any bias on the part of the hearing officer. In fact, the transcript indicates that Jackson was indeed slow in providing financial documents when requested. 19 No. 201,017-2 Last, Jackson argues that the hearing officer's comments that she did not find him or his wife to be credible confirm her bias. We give great weight to the hearing officer's evaluation of the credibility and veracity of the witnesses she observes firsthand. In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against Marshall, 167 Wn.2d 51, 67, 217 P.3d 291 (2009). Here, there is no evidence that would require us to overturn the hearing officer's determination that Jackson and his wife were not credible witnesses. The hearing officer examined hundreds of exhibits, and compared the contents and dates from those exhibits to Jackson's and his wife's testimony. On numerous occasions, documents directly contradicted Jackson's and his wife's sworn statements. On appeal, in support of his and his wife's credibility, Jackson offers e-mails and letters that allegedly corroborate his wife's testimony. But, it is unclear how the two e-mails and two letters corroborate his wife's testimony because Jackson does not additionally cite to the transcript. Moreover, even assuming his wife's testimony is identical to these four documents, that, in and of itself, does not render her and her husband credible witnesses in light of the numerous contradictions noted by the hearing officer. Jackson's complaints are unfounded. Jackson fails to make a persuasive argument that any of the hearing officer's adverse rulings were the result of bias or prejudice. Moreover, Jackson never moved to disqualify the hearing officer. We hold that there is no cause to dismiss or remand for a new hearing.