Opinion ID: 1899037
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hutchinson's Request to Subpoena Fire Chief Alfred.

Text: Next, Hutchinson contends that the administrative judge should have granted his request to subpoena Fire Chief Alfred. Normally we review an administrative judge's decision to grant or deny a subpoena for abuse of discretion. See Jones v. District of Columbia Dep't of Employment Servs., 451 A.2d 295, 297 (D.C.1982) (per curiam). However, the record before us is insufficient to demonstrate this claimed error or otherwise permit meaningful review. The record includes Hutchinson's request to call Fire Chief Alfred and the hearing transcript, which does not include the Fire Chief's testimony. But there is nothing in the record to indicate whether the administrative judge granted, denied, or forgot about the request, nor is there any objection or other response by Hutchinson to any such action or inaction. Hutchinson's attorney tells us in his brief that the administrative judge denied his request over the telephone, but a recollection of a conversation does not provide an adequate basis for this court to rule. `Appellate review is limited to matters appearing in the record before us, and we cannot base our review of errors upon statements of counsel which are unsupported by that record.' Cobb v. Standard Drug Co., 453 A.2d 110, 112 (D.C.1982) (quoting D.C. Transit Sys., Inc. v. Milton, 250 A.2d 549, 550 (D.C.1969)); see also Cooper v. District of Columbia Dep't of Employment Servs., 588 A.2d 1172, 1174 (D.C.1991) (noting that in administrative appeals, the burden is on the appellant to show error). In this posture, appellant's claim with respect to a subpoena of Fire Chief Alfred must be rejected.