Dodge City Saloon v. State Liquor Control

271 P.3d 363, 166 Wash. App. 828
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 28, 2012
Docket41454-6-II
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 271 P.3d 363 (Dodge City Saloon v. State Liquor Control) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dodge City Saloon v. State Liquor Control, 271 P.3d 363, 166 Wash. App. 828 (Wash. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

271 P.3d 363 (2012)
166 Wn. App. 828

DODGE CITY SALOON, INC., Petitioner,
v.
WASHINGTON STATE LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD, Respondent.

No. 41454-6-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

February 28, 2012.

*365 Ben Shafton, Attorney at Law, Vancouver, WA, for Petitioner.

Gordon P. Karg, Washington State Attorney General's Office, Olympia, WA, for Respondent.

QUINN-BRINTNALL, J.

¶ 1 Dodge City Saloon, Inc. appeals a Washington State Liquor Control Board's (Liquor Board) final order finding that it allowed an underage person into an area off limits to persons under the age of 21. Dodge City asserts that because the Liquor Board's compliance checks are administrative inspections subject to U.S. Const. amend. IV and Wash. Const. art. I, § 7 warrant requirements, the administrative law judge (ALJ) should have suppressed all evidence discovered as a result of the Liquor Board's warrantless inspection of Dodge City. Dodge City further argues that the ALJ should have dismissed the Liquor Board's complaint under the doctrines of entrapment and outrageous conduct and that the ALJ erred when it denied its motion for continuance. Last, Dodge City asserts it is entitled to attorney fees. We hold that because the Liquor Board's compliance check in this case was not a search, Dodge City cannot challenge it under either U.S. Const. amend. IV or Wash. Const. art. I, § 7. We also hold that Dodge City may not assert an entrapment or outrageous conduct defense in a civil administrative proceeding and that the ALJ did not err when it denied Dodge City's motion for continuance. We deny Dodge City's request for attorney fees and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 On October 10, 2008, the Liquor Board filed a complaint alleging that Dodge City, a nightclub in Vancouver, Washington, "allowed a person under the age of twenty-one to remain in a licensed premise off-limits to persons under the age of twenty-one, contrary *366 to [former] RCW 66.44.310(1)(a) [(2007)] and WAC 314-11-020(2)."[1] Administrative Record (AR) at 551. Generally, the Liquor Board issues licenses to businesses throughout Washington in accord with ch. 66.24 RCW. The Liquor Board monitors its licensees through a program of compliance checks wherein investigatory aides under the age of 21 attempt to enter a licensed establishment and make a controlled liquor purchase from the bar. A commissioned liquor enforcement officer supervises the compliance checks.

¶ 3 The basis of the Liquor Board's complaint at issue arose during a series of compliance checks of several establishments that began on May 16. On that evening, C.M., an investigative aide then 17 years old, carried his Washington State identification card and his vertical driver's license.[2] Both cards showed his date of birth as in October 1990. Liquor enforcement officer Marc Edmonds searched C.M. before the compliance check, mistakenly saw only the identification card, and allowed C.M. to proceed. Under the supervision of several liquor enforcement officers, including liquor enforcement officer Diana Peters, who was waiting inside the bar to observe in an undercover capacity, C.M. presented his identification card to Dodge City's bouncer, Jeffrey Hilker. Hilker inspected the card with a black light, told C.M. to pay a five dollar cover fee, and stamped C.M.'s hand. C.M. entered Dodge City and remained inside for three minutes.

¶ 4 After C.M. left Dodge City, liquor enforcement officer Almir Karic went inside to serve an administrative violation notice (AVN) on the bartender, Erick Gill. The AVN charged Hilker with violating former RCW 66.44.310(1)(a), which prohibits allowing a person under 21 years old into an area considered off limits. Karic noted in the AVN summary that Hilker stated he thought C.M.'s identification card was a horizontal license and had a different birthday.

¶ 5 Dodge City made pretrial motions to suppress all evidence and testimony by the Liquor Board, to dismiss the Board's entire case, and to continue. The ALJ denied the motions. During the Liquor Board's formal hearing, Dodge City argued that C.M. looked "deceptively mature" and that "the [Liquor] Board was essentially attempting to entrap the Licensee." AR at 503. The ALJ rejected Dodge City's entrapment argument, reasoning that

[C.M.'s] firsthand testimony was that Mr. Hilker not only looked at his valid identification card, but also placed it under the black light of a machine especially designed to read such identification. The fulcrum point upon which the [Liquor] Board's key argument rests is that card itself stated clearly when [C.M.] would turn 18, which also clearly meant that at the time he was not 21 either. Irrespective of how [C.M.] looked, his valid identification card indicated that he was too young to be granted admittance.

AR at 505. The ALJ then entered an initial order in favor of the Liquor Board, concluding that the Liquor Board had met its burden to "establish by a preponderance of the evidence that: a) the Licensee or an employee, b) allowed, c) a person under the age of twenty-one, d) to remain, e) in an off-limits section of the premises." AR at 504. The ALJ affirmed the AVN, sustained the complaint, and suspended Dodge City's license for seven days.

¶ 6 Dodge City timely appealed, but the Liquor Board Enforcement Division did not timely respond. Thus, in making its determination, the Liquor Board's appellate division relied on the Liquor Board's briefing submitted before entry of the initial order. On December 29, 2009, the Liquor Board's appellate division issued a final order affirming and adopting the ALJ's initial order, except to correct apparent scrivener's errors. *367 The Liquor Board suspended Dodge City's liquor license privileges for seven days, from February 16, 2010 until February 23, 2010.

¶ 7 Dodge City appealed the Liquor Board's final order in Clark County Superior Court, which affirmed on October 14, 2010. Dodge City timely appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶ 8 Dodge City argues that because the Liquor Board's May 16, 2008 compliance check violated the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 7, the ALJ erred in denying its motion to suppress all evidence and testimony from state actors. Dodge City further argues that the ALJ erred in denying its motions to dismiss the Liquor Board's complaint under the doctrines of entrapment and outrageous conduct, and its motion for continuance. Last, Dodge City asserts that the trial court erred in denying its request for attorney fees under RCW 4.84.350. We affirm.

¶ 9 Under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), ch. 34.05 RCW, Dodge City bears the burden of demonstrating the final order's invalidity. RCW 34.05.570(1)(a). We sit in the same position as the superior court when reviewing an agency action. Valley Fruit v. Dep't of Revenue, 92 Wash.App. 413, 417, 963 P.2d 886 (1998) (citing Tapper v. State Emp't Sec. Dep't,

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Related

Dodge City Saloon, Inc. v. Washington State Liquor Control Board
166 Wash. App. 828 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2012)

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271 P.3d 363, 166 Wash. App. 828, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dodge-city-saloon-v-state-liquor-control-washctapp-2012.