Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. American & Croation Singing Society

336 A.2d 699, 18 Pa. Commw. 614, 1975 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 954
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 1, 1975
DocketAppeal, No. 541 C.D. 1973
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 336 A.2d 699 (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. American & Croation Singing Society) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. American & Croation Singing Society, 336 A.2d 699, 18 Pa. Commw. 614, 1975 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 954 (Pa. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinions

Opinion by

Judge Wilkinson,

On Saturday, January 15, 1971, two agents of appellant, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, entered the premises of appellee, American and Croation Singing Society, for the purpose of conducting an inspection and inventory of the club and an examination of club records. The agents entered the club at approximately 10:00 p.m. that evening and departed at approximately 12:30 a.m., on January 16, 1971. As a result of the investigation, which included the above mentioned inspection, on March 8, 1971, the Liquor Control Board issued Citation No. 301, 1971, charging appellee with six specific violations of the Liquor Code, Act of April 12, 1951, P. L. 90, as amended, 47 P. S. §1-101 et seq. After a hearing, the Board issued an adjudication on December 13, 1971, in which it found appellee to be in violation of four of the six specified charges. The Board’s findings read as follows:

“1. The licensed organization, by its servants agents or employes interfered with authorized Board employes in the performance of their duties on January 15 and 16, 1971.
[617]*617“2. The licensed organization, by its servants, agents or employes refused authorized Board employes access to all records on January 15 and 16, 1971.
“3. The charter of the licensed organization was not in possession of the original incorporators or their direct or legitimate successors.
“4. The licensed organization falsified its application for Club Liquor License for the license years [sic] which expired October 31, 1971.”

Based on these findings, the Board revoked appellee’s liquor license and further ordered that appellee’s bond, in the amount of $2,000.00, be forfeited in accordance with Section 471 of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. §4-471.

Appellee then filed an appeal with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. By stipulation of the parties, the court considered the case based on the evidence taken before the Board’s hearing examiner. The court made new findings of fact in which it modified Board finding No. 1 and essentially dismissed Board findings Nos. 2, 3, and 4. The findings of the lower court, which correspond numerically with the Board’s findings, read as follows:

“1. Fact I as found by the Liquor Control Board is modified in that the employees did act disorderly and did attempt to interfere with Board Employees, however, the Board’s Employees acted unreasonably and failed to allow Petitioner due process of law.
“2. Pact II is not established. John W. Hollawell, the President of the Club, did indicate that some of the records were missing and some were in the hands of attorneys. It can hardly be expected that certain records should be completely accessible at Midnight on a Saturday night. There was no due process granted to Petitioner to secure records at a reasonable time.
“3. The Court finds that Fact No. Ill was not in any way substantiated.
“4. The Court further finds in Fact No. IV that there is no substantial falsification of its application on a [618]*618review of the records, see Flomer Bar Case, 201 Pa. Sup. 25 (1963), Opinion 30 D & C 2d, 93.”

The court changed the Board’s order revoking appellee’s license and forfeiting its $2,000.00 bond, and instead ordered that appellee be fined $200.00.

The law is clear in Pennsylvania that the lower court cannot modify a penalty imposed by the Board unless the facts found by the court are materially different from those found by the Board. Noonday Club of Delaware County, Inc. Liquor License Case, 433 Pa. 458, 252 A. 2d 568 (1969); Barone’s Inc. v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, 10 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 563, 312 A. 2d 74 (1973). The Liquor Control Board, appellant here, argues (1) that the facts found by the court in findings Nos. 1, 2, and 4 are not materially different from those found by the Board; and (2) that the court capriciously disregarded uncontradicted evidence when it found that Board finding No. 3 was not in any way substantiated. The Board asks us to reverse the lower court and to reinstate the revocation order of the Board.

Appeals from a Board order revoking a liquor license are governed by Section 471 of the Liquor Code, 47 P. S. §4-471. Discussing this section, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has said:

“Pursuant to this section the lower court on appeal is required to hold hearings de novo, make its own findings of fact and conclusions of law and then in the exercise of its own discretion either sustain, reverse, or modify the action taken by the Board. The court is in no way limited either by statute or by case authority to a review of the Board’s discretion, but rather makes a completely independent determination of all facets of the case in rendering its own decision. The only limitation placed upon the court is in the area of imposing penalties when no material changes are made in the findings of the Board.” (Emphasis in original.) Noonday Club, supra, 433 Pa. at 467, 252 A. 2d at 573.

[619]*619In order to determine whether the court below properly modified the Board’s order, we must first determine whether the court’s findings were materially different from those of the Board. We find that the court’s findings Nos. 1, 2, and 4 are not materially different from the same numbered findings of the Board.

The lower court, in its first finding, agreed with the Board that employees of the club did act disorderly and did interfere with the Liquor Control Board agents. Based on the evidence as we read it, this is a very mild conclusion if only admitted and uncontested evidence is considered. The court, however, seems to find extenuating or mitigating circumstances in that “the Board’s Employees acted unreasonably and failed to allow Petitioner [appellee herein] due process of law.” The court, in its written opinion filed in support of its order, reasoned that the action of the agents in attempting an inspection late on a Saturday evening when the club was at its busiest period was unreasonable. Section 493(21) of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. §4-493(21), provides:

“It shall be unlawful—
“ (21) For any licensee, or his servants, agents or employes, to refuse the board or any of its authorized employes the right to inspect completely the entire licensed premises at any time during which the premises are open for the transaction of business, or when patrons, guests or members are in that portion of the licensed premises wherein either liquor or malt or brewed beverages are sold.”

Since the licensed premises were obviously open for the transaction of business on that particular Saturday evening, the agents were acting in accordance with law. Appellee was not denied due process of law. To the extent that the behavior of the agents, during the time they were attempting to carry out this inspection, may have [620]*620been somewhat less than one might expect of Board employees in the performance of their official duties, and this is far from clear, such behavior cannot constitute a defense to a violation which was clearly established by uncontradicted testimony. See Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. The Italian Mutual Society of Gallitzin, Pa., 11 Pa.

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Bluebook (online)
336 A.2d 699, 18 Pa. Commw. 614, 1975 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 954, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennsylvania-liquor-control-board-v-american-croation-singing-society-pacommwct-1975.