Court Opinion

ID: 9698663
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:56:42.92045+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:42.583014
License: Public Domain

*619FLAHERTY, Justice,
concurring.
Fundamental due process requires that no adjudication be based solely upon hearsay evidence. This tenet of our law is not a “technicality”, but rather lies at the root of the truth determining process. Our common law and statutory law recognize certain exceptions to the hearsay rule, and these exceptions could well be the subject of a degree of relaxation in an administrative type of adjudication. In this regard the hearing officer should be in a position to determine whether hearsay evidence which would constitute an exception to the hearsay rule should be admissible notwithstanding the absence of proper qualification. It might well be wise to permit the hearing officer to determine whether this type of hearsay evidence is “reliable”. In addition, reports, opinions, and statements of charge submitted by licensed professionals could be an exception. The majority opinion, however, in my view, goes too far and could lead to a determination of rights based upon rank hearsay. This result is repugnant to centuries of tradition. I must, therefore, concur only in the result.