Texas Department of Public Safety v. Hindman

989 S.W.2d 28, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 8174, 1999 WL 194175
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 19, 1998
DocketNo. 2-98-018-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 989 S.W.2d 28 (Texas Department of Public Safety v. Hindman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Department of Public Safety v. Hindman, 989 S.W.2d 28, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 8174, 1999 WL 194175 (Tex. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

WILLIAM BRIGHAM, Justice.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, Appellant, appeals from a final order of the Denton County Probate Court reversing the decision of the administrative law judge (“ALJ”) after the ALJ authorized the driver’s license suspension of Appellee, Brett Stephenson Hindman. In one point, Appellant contends that the Probate Court erred as a matter of law by reversing an administrative decision that was supported by substantial evidence. We agree. We therefore reverse and render judgment affirming the decision of the ALJ and order that Appellant may suspend Appellee’s driver’s license for 90 days.

The Arrest and Administrative Hearing

On July 1, 1997, Officer David Allen of the Corinth Police Department stopped Appellee for driving with “a defective tail lamp, the lens on the right side [being] broken, allowing white light to the rear.” Allen noticed that Appellee’s eyes were bloodshot, his walk was unsteady, and he had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. After Appellee failed several field sobriety tests, Allen arrested him.

After giving the required warnings, Allen asked Appellee to take a breath test. Appel-lee initially agreed, gave one sample, but then refused to give the second sample required to complete the test. Appellee signed the statutory warning form indicating his refusal. Allen served Appellee with a notice of suspension of his driver’s license, and Ap-pellee requested a hearing to contest the suspension. Allen testified at the administrative hearing, held July 22, and three exhibits were admitted by the ALJ without objection, one of which was the peace officer’s report indicating the officer’s reasonable suspicion to stop. No evidence was offered to contradict the evidence that Appel-lee was driving with a defective and broken tail light which was emitting white light. On conclusion of the hearing, the ALJ made a finding of fact that “reasonable suspicion to stop the [Appellee] existed ... where the [Appellee] was operating his motor vehicle with a defective tail lamp in that the lens on the right tail light was broken allowing white light to emit from the rear of said tail light.” The ALJ entered an order authorizing Appellant to suspend Appellee’s license for 90 days. Appellee appealed his suspension to the probate court of Denton County.

Standard of Review

A person whose driver’s license is suspended following an administrative hearing is entitled to judicial review of the decision. See Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 524.041 (Vernon 1998). Judicial review is on the record certified by the office of administrative hearings, with no additional testimony. See id. § 524.043(a). A party may apply to the reviewing court to present additional evidence. See id. § 524.043(b). In this case, the only evidence before the probate court was the record from the administrative hearing.

The standard of review of a state agency’s decision is limited to whether the agency’s ruling is free of the taint of any illegality and is reasonably supported by substantial evidence. See Firemen’s & Policemen’s Civil Serv. Comm’n v. Brinkmeyer, 662 S.W.2d 953, 956 (Tex.1984). “Substantial evidence” means that, on the evidence as a whole, reasonable minds could have reached the same conclusion as that of the administrative agency. See Texas State Bd. of Dental Examiners v. Sizemore, 759 S.W.2d 114, 116 (Tex.1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1080, 109 S.Ct. 2100, 104 L.Ed.2d 662 (1989); McKinley Iron Works, Inc. v. Texas Employment Comm’n, 917 S.W.2d 468, 470 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1996, no writ).

At its core, the substantial evidence review is a reasonableness or rational basis test. See City of El Paso v. Public Util. Comm’n, 883 S.W.2d 179, 185 (Tex.1994). Principles that govern the court’s substantial evidence review are: (1) the court will hear and consider evidence to determine whether [31]*31reasonable support for the agency’s order exists, although the agency remains the primary fact finder, and the question for the trial court is strictly one of law; (2) the court may not substitute its own judgment for that of the agency on controverted fact issues; (3) if the agency heard substantial evidence that would support either an affirmative or negative finding, the court must allow the agency’s ruling to stand, even if the court would have reached a different conclusion; (4) the court may not set aside the agency’s ruling merely because of disputed or conflicting testimony; and (5) the court is concerned' only with the reasonableness of the agency’s order and not its correctness. See Firemen’s & Policemen’s Civil Serv. Comm’n, 662 S.W.2d at 956.

Under these principles, if there is substantial evidence to support the agency’s ruling, the court must yield to the discretion that was exercised by the agency empowered by law to make that ruling. See McKinley Iron Works, 917 S.W.2d at 470. Findings, inferences, conclusions, and decisions of an administrative agency are presumed to be supported by substantial evidence. See City of El Paso, 883 S.W.2d at 185.

A court may only reverse an administrative decision under this standard of review if the agency’s findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are not reasonably supported by substantial evidence considering the reliable and probative evidence in the record as a whole, or if the decision is arbitrary, capricious, or characterized by an abuse of discretion. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 2001.174(2)(E) & (F); Board of Law Examiners v. Stevens, 868 S.W.2d 773, 777-78, (Tex.), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1206, 114 S.Ct. 2676, 129 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994).

The appellate court, like the probate court, looks to the ALJ’s decision to see if it is supported by substantial evidence. See Railroad Comm’n of Texas v. Graford Oil Corp., 557 S.W.2d 946, 951-52 (Tex.1977). See also Texas Dep’t of Pub. Safety v. Lavender, 935 S.W.2d 925, 929 n. 13 (Tex.App.—Waco 1996, writ denied) (despite fact that appeals from trial court’s judgment generally proceed in same manner as other civil appeals, appellate courts habitually review administrative order, not trial court’s judgment).

Reasonable Suspicion

Appellant contends the probate court erred by reversing the agency finding that reasonable suspicion to stop Appellee existed where the Appellee operated his motor vehicle with a defective tail lamp. Appellee argues that there was no evidence that the tail lamp did not comply with the traffic law.

It is a misdemeanor offense for a person to operate a vehicle that is not equipped with tail lamps which emit red light plainly visible at a distance of 1,000 feet from the rear of the vehicle. See Tex. Transp. Code Ann.

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Bluebook (online)
989 S.W.2d 28, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 8174, 1999 WL 194175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-department-of-public-safety-v-hindman-texapp-1998.