Court Opinion

ID: 9645487
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:26:27.199103+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:28.763392
License: Public Domain

*650Concurring Opinion by
Judge Colins:
I concur in the result reached by the majority of this Court in the instant matter, but would find the notes of testimony of the prior Civil Service Commission (Commission) inadmissible on other grounds.
Assuming arguendo, that the conditions precedent for the admission of notes of former testimony required by Section 5934 of the Judicial Code (Code), 42 Pa. C. S. §5934, had been satisfied, the notes of testimony proffered by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (Board), as the majority indicates, consisted of a mere photostatic copy of the transcript unverified in any manner other than by the verbal representations of counsel. This photostatic copy was devoid of any certification by the Commission, the individual stenographer, or any stenographic service. An alleged verification by the stenographer appended to the transcript was also a photostatic copy. The only statements concerning the accuracy of the transcript were made by counsel for the Board, who was incompetent to testify in this matter and who was never sworn as a witness.
Since administrative proceedings are not governed by technical rules of evidence, 2 Pa. C. S. §505, it is arguable that Section 5934 of the Code does not apply in the instant matter. However, absent proper authentication, the notes of testimony could not be admissible under any statutory or common law exception to the hearsay rule.
This Court has previously held that the hearsay rule is “not a technical rule of evidence but a basic, vital and fundamental rule of law which ought to be followed by administrative agencies at those points in their hearings when facts crucial to the issue are sought to be placed upon the record.” Bleilevens v. Pa. State Civil Service Commission, 11 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 1, 5, 312 A.2d 109, 111 (1973). Therefore, I would reverse for a different reason than that of the majority.