Kirby v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board

25 Cal. App. 3d 331, 101 Cal. Rptr. 815, 1972 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 4, 1972
DocketCiv. No. 39841
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 25 Cal. App. 3d 331 (Kirby v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kirby v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board, 25 Cal. App. 3d 331, 101 Cal. Rptr. 815, 1972 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034 (Cal. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

[334]*334Opinion

SCHWEITZER, J.

The Director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (department) filed an accusation against Normeth, Inc., doing business as The LaBrea Inn (licensee) alleging that the licensee permitted named male employees to solicit named females to engage in acts of prostitution with patrons of the licensee; that said conduct constituted violations of article XX, section 22, California Constitution and section 24200, subdivision (a), Business and Professions Code (conduct contrary to public welfare or morals), and also violations of section 25601, Business and Professions Code (maintaining a disorderly house) and section 647, subdivision (b), Penal Code (solicitation of prostitution); and that as a result thereof grounds for suspension or revocation of the licensee’s on-sale liquor Ecense exist under article XX, section 22, California. Constitution and section 24200, subdivision (a) and (b), Business and Professions Code.

The department adopted the hearing officer’s proposed decision, including findings that the alleged conduct was true and the conclusions that the licensee had violated section 25601, Business and Professions Code and section 647, subdivision (b), Penal Code, and ordered that the Ecense be revoked. It should be noted that the department made no specific finding with respect to the alleged violations of article XX, section 22, California Constitution or section 24200, subdivision (a), Business and Professions Code. The licensee- appealed the department’s decision to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board (board) which determined that the evidence is sufficient to support the findings, but that the conclusion that the licensee had violated both statutes is not supported by the findings; the board reversed the department’s decision ordering revocation of the Ecense.

The department has filed a petition for review. By answer the licensee contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the department’s findings. By answer the board contends that the evidence is sufficient to support the findings but that the department erred in charging and concluding that the licensee violated section 647, subdivision (b), Penal Code.

With respect to these contentions we are governed by principles set forth in Bor eta Enterprises, Inc. v. Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 2 Cal.3d 85, 94-95 [84 Cal.Rptr. 113, 465 P.2d 1]: “Insofar as the Department’s factual findings are concerned, the scope of review is strictly fimited. Since the Department is an- agency upon which the Constitution has conferred limited judicial powers (Cal. Const., art. XX, § 22), the reviewing court is not entitled to exercise its independent judgment on the effect or weight of the evidence, but is simply called upon to determine whether the findings are supported by substantial evidence in the light of [335]*335the whole record. [Citations.] . . . [1|] A different set of principles governs our review of administrative action to the extent that it consists of declarations or applications of legal rules or is the statement of the conclusions of law which are drawn from facts found in an adjudicatory proceeding. We delineated the scope of our review in this regard in Covert v. State Board of Equalization, ... 29 Cal.2d 125 in these terms: ‘[T]he decisions of the Board are final, subject to review for excess of jurisdiction, errors of law, abuse of discretion and insufficiency of the evidence, . . .’ (29 Cal.2d at p. 132.)” (Fns. omitted.)

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In examining the sufficiency of the evidence, all conflicts must be resolved in favor of the department, and all legitimate and reasonable inferences indulged in to uphold its findings if possible. When findings are attacked as being unsupported by the evidence, the power of the appellate court begins and ends with a determination as to whether there is any substantial evidence, contradicted or uncontradicted, which will support the findings. When two or more inferences can be reasonably deduced from the facts, the reviewing court is without power to substitute its deductions for those of the department. (See 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 245, pp. 4236-4238.) With these principles in mind we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the respondent.

The following events occurred on the licensed premises. Two prostitutes, Carolyn and Michelle, each acting as an undercover agent for the police, patronized the premises. On May 14, 1968 Joe, the bartender, gave Carolyn the name and telephone number of a man who needed a prostitute for his wealthy clients. On May 29 Joe introduced Carolyn to Nick, the manager of the licensee, who in turn introduced her to a patron who was a good “score” (a customer who pays well for prostitution). On June 3 Jerry, the piano player, introduced Michelle and a girl friend to two patrons of the licensee who desired acts of prostitution. On June 18 Jerry introduced Michelle to a customer who offered to help her in her prostitution business. On August 20 Jerry and Nick introduced Michelle to two men from Miami; during the conversation it was stated that the two visiting men were active in syndicated prostitution; Jerry suggested that Michelle and another girl, Joyce, work together as they “could make a lot of money.” On August 21 Nick, Joe and Jerry told Michelle that they could help her. On October 2 Nick told Michelle that he had a prostitution business in Mexico and offered her the opportunity to work there for him. On October 14 Nick asked Michelle to move into his apartment and told her that she could use it for prostitution purposes.

[336]*336Viewing this evidence in the light of the principles heretofore stated, we agree with the board in its conclusion that the evidence is sufficient to support the findings of the department. We turn to the contention that these facts do not support the department’s conclusions.

Section 25601, Business and Professions Code

Section 25601 provides: “Every licensee, or agent or employee of a licensee, who keeps, permits to be used, or suffers to be used, in conjunction with a licensed premises, any disorderly house or place in which people abide or to which people resort, to the disturbance of the neighborhood, or in which people abide or to which people resort for purposes which are injurious to the public morals., health, convenience, or safety, is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

As stated in Boreta, supra, 2 Cal.3d 85, 97: “It is apparent that three distinct courses of conduct are described by section 25601: first, the keeping of a disorderly house; second, the keeping of a house which disturbs the neighborhood; and third, the keeping of a house to' which people resort for purposes which injure, inter alia, public morals.” Boreta involved the employment by a licensee of “topless” waitresses; the court’s factual comment is applicable to the instant case: “It is clear from the record that the decision of the Department could not have properly been based on either of the latter two grounds since there was absolutely no evidence that the licensed premises disturbed the neighborhood or that people resorted to such premises for any of the purposes condemned by the statute. Thus, the determination that section 25601 was violated must, perforce, have been based on the conclusion that it constituted a ‘disorderly house.’ ” (2 Cal.3d at p. 97.)

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Bluebook (online)
25 Cal. App. 3d 331, 101 Cal. Rptr. 815, 1972 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirby-v-alcoholic-beverage-control-appeals-board-calctapp-1972.