Rotstein v. DEPT. OF PROFESSIONAL & OCCUPATIONAL

397 So. 2d 305
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 11, 1981
DocketOO-426
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 397 So. 2d 305 (Rotstein v. DEPT. OF PROFESSIONAL & OCCUPATIONAL) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rotstein v. DEPT. OF PROFESSIONAL & OCCUPATIONAL, 397 So. 2d 305 (Fla. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

397 So.2d 305 (1980)

Jerome ROTSTEIN, M.D., Appellant,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL REGULATION, State Board of Medical Examiners of Florida, Appellee.

No. OO-426.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

July 24, 1980.
On Rehearing March 11, 1981.

Gary M. Farmer of Abrams, Anton, Robbins, Resnick, Schneider & Mager, Hollywood, Sam Spector of Spector & Tunnicliff, Tallahassee, for appellant.

*306 Deborah J. Miller, Dept. of Professional Regulation, and Joseph W. Lawrence, II, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

ROBERT P. SMITH, Jr., Judge.

We affirm the order of the State Board of Medical Examiners revoking the license of appellant Rotstein to practice medicine in Florida. The ground on which discipline was sought and on which revocation was ordered is that Dr. Rotstein was convicted of willfully making a false statement to an agency of the United States, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C., Section 1001.[1] Under Section 458.1201(1)(c), Florida Statutes (1977), it was a ground for discipline of a licensed medical doctor that the licensee was

... convicted of a felony in the courts of this state or any other state, territory, or country. Conviction as used in this paragraph shall include a conviction of an offense which if committed in this state would be deemed a felony without regard to its designation elsewhere... .

The offense for which Dr. Rotstein was convicted, on his plea of guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, is a felony under federal law. As such, the conviction was grounds for discipline under the Florida statute because the offense was a felony under the laws of a "country," the United States, referred to in the statute. Section 458.1201(1)(c) contemplated that "any other state, territory, or country" included the United States. We reject the argument that an offense made a felony by the United States Code, but not by Florida Statutes, could not constitute grounds for discipline. The statute does not exclude from consideration felony convictions under out-of-state laws more far-reaching than Florida's; rather, the statute "includes" out-of-state misdemeanor convictions which under Florida law would constitute felony convictions. In Re Weathers, 159 Fla. 390, 31 So.2d 543 (Fla. 1947) is not to the contrary; that decision construed Section 458.12(2), Florida Statutes (1941), requiring that the out-of-state conviction, constituting the basis for discipline, be for a crime "which if committed within the state of Florida would constitute a felony under the laws thereof." Section 458.1201(1)(c) was not similarly restrictive.

Appellant urges that the disciplinary proceedings were flawed by the Board's failure to comply with Section 120.60(6), requiring, "prior to the institution of agency proceedings" for license discipline, that notice and an opportunity to show compliance be accorded the licensee. Appellant did not urge this before the Board at any time, and the point is waived. Sheppard v. Board of Dentistry, 385 So.2d 143 (Fla.1st DCA 1980). Appellant also urges that the Board lost jurisdiction by its failure to enter a final order within 90 days after service of the hearing officer's recommended order. Section 120.59(1)(b), Florida Statutes (1979). The Board, which reviewed the entire record after initially hearing the case, entered its order some two weeks beyond the 90-day schedule. No prejudice was shown before the Board at its final hearing, which was also held beyond the 90-day schedule, and no particular prejudice is suggested here. The delay in filing the final order does not, therefore, vitiate the proceedings. Jess *307 Parrish Mem. Hosp. v. Florida Pub. Empl. Relations Comm'n, 364 So.2d 777 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).

Appellant's final point is that the revocation of his license constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the State and Federal Constitutions. Appellant has not sustained this constitutional claim and, absent any contention concerning the regularity of the Board's review of the record to fix a penalty or otherwise concerning the Board's exercise of discretion according to Florida Real Estate Comm'n v. Webb, 367 So.2d 201 (Fla. 1978),[2] it is inappropriate for this court to inquire further into the manner in which the Board exercised and explained its discretion to revoke appellant's license. The revocation order is

AFFIRMED.

ERVIN, J., concurs.

WENTWORTH, J., dissents with opinion.

WENTWORTH, Judge, dissenting.

I respectfully disagree with the court's disposition of this appeal. After appellant pleaded guilty to the federal offense of willfully making a false statement to an agency of the United States, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, State Board of Medical Examiners of Florida, instituted disciplinary proceedings and appellant was granted a § 120.57, Florida Statutes, hearing. At this administrative hearing appellant presented evidence indicating that he was guilty of a technical violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, but that his conduct was of the character which, while malum prohibitum, was not malum in se. The hearing officer made numerous findings reflecting favorably upon appellant's professional competence and integrity and recommended that appellant be placed on probation. The Board thereafter accepted the hearing officer's findings but revoked appellant's professional license, noting that the offense of which the appellant was convicted was "of a very serious nature."

In Florida Real Estate Commission v. Webb, 367 So.2d 201 (Fla. 1978), the Florida Supreme Court determined that where an agency, within its discretion, imposes a penalty prescribed by law, a reviewing court may not overturn the penalty except where the agency's findings are also overturned. Webb also establishes that upon review of the entire record an agency may increase a recommended penalty without explaining its rationale for the increase. However, as was indicated in McDonald v. Department of Banking & Finance, 346 So.2d 569 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977), judicial review proceedings under § 120.68, Florida Statutes, seek crystallization of agency discretion, and to the extent that agency action depends on non-rule policy, the agency's duty of exposition increases. In quoting from the reporter's comments on the proposed administrative procedure act, the court in McDonald noted that:

Three due process checks to prevent arbitrary agency action are the requirements that reasons be stated for all action taken or omitted, that reasons be supported by `the record,' and that specific judicial review procedures allow the courts to remedy defects of substance.

*308 The McDonald court further noted that judicial review aims not at displacing agency discretion but at requiring, as a condition of its exercise, a reasoned explanation.

While Webb indicates that an agency may increase a recommended penalty without explanation, where an explanation is given I would apply McDonald and require that the explanation be supported by record evidence and sufficiently particularized so as to elucidate the agency's rationale. Such a requirement accords with due process of law as guaranteed by Art.

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Bluebook (online)
397 So. 2d 305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rotstein-v-dept-of-professional-occupational-fladistctapp-1981.