Court Opinion

ID: 9681308
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:47:57.526153+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:33.197243
License: Public Domain

Darrell Hickman, Justice, concurring. I agree with the result reached in this case because of the peculiar facts involved. Leardis Smith was accused of dishonesty by his employer and the officer who actually heard the testimony found that the proof was insufficient to prove that dishonesty. Smith’s employer only submitted an affidavit. He did not appear. The Board of Review asked for more evidence and at this hearing another affidavit was submitted by the man who allegedly made the dishonest transaction with Smith. So we have a situation where a man is accused of being dishonest and never has the opportunity of confronting his accuser. Certainly I believe that any administrative agency should be able to consider hearsay, but in this case that rule breaks down and denies Smith a meaningful hearing granted by the due process clause of the United States Constitution. I would point out that one of the problems in review of administrative cases such as this is that the Board of Review is a fact finding agency but they rarely hear witnesses. They simply review the record. In this case it was their role to decide the credibility of the witnesses and they never heard any witnesses. On the basis of affidavits alone they decided Smith lied and was dishonest.