Moore v. City of Los AngelesMoore v. City of Los Angeles
Opinion
Following a hearing before a board of rights, appellant Tyrone Moore was removed from his position as a police officer for the City of Los Angeles (City). Moore filed a petition for administrative mandate pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5, which challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to support his removal. The trial court rejected Moore’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, as well as an argument that the City violated Moore’s right to have the investigation into his conduct completed within the one-year statute of limitations found in the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (
BACKGROUND
Officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, including Moore, responded to a call of a possible burglary of a residence on May 5, 2004. Upon arrival at the scene, the officers discovered there was no burglary, but numerous juvenile truants were present in a residence. One of the juveniles was uncooperative with Moore during the identification process. A board of rights found that Moore (1) removed the uncooperative juvenile from the living room area to a bedroom, where he used unnecessary force upon the juvenile; (2) made misleading statements to investigators about moving the juvenile from the living room area; (3) moved the juvenile out of sight of the other officers without justification; and (4) should have called a supervisor to the scene when unnecessary force was used on the juvenile.
The investigation of Moore began on the day of the incident, after another officer reported her concerns to a supervisor. Following interviews with the relevant parties, Captain Pesqueira concluded five allegations against Moore were sustained and recommended a board of rights to resolve the complaint. Moore was given notice of Captain Pesqueira’s findings on March 23, 2005. On May 4, 2005, Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles Police Department signed an order charging Moore with four counts. A board of rights convened on July 15, 2005, and concluded on August 19, 2005, with a recommendation that Moore be removed as a peace officer. Chief William Bratton adopted the penalty and signed the order removing Moore on August 31, 2005.
Moore filed a verified petition for peremptory writ of mandate (
Moore’s Motion for Peremptory Writ of Mandate
In a motion for peremptory writ of mandate, Moore argued the disciplinary action against him was barred by the one-year statute of limitations set forth in section 3304, subdivision (d). Moore also contended the evidence produced at his board of rights did not support the guilty findings as to three of the four counts. Moore has now abandoned his challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. 2
On the statute of limitations issue, Moore argued the allegations of misconduct came to the department’s attention on May 5, 2004. The City had one year from that date to complete its investigation, but Moore was not advised of the discipline to be imposed until completion of the board of rights on August 19, 2005. Citing dicta in
Sanchez
v.
City of Los Angeles
(2006)
The Response to the Motion for Peremptory Writ of Mandate
The City and Chief Bratton argued there was no violation of section 3304, subdivision (d), because Moore received notice of Captain Pesqueira’s conclusions following the investigation within one year of discovery of the incident, citing
Sulier v. State Personnel Bd. (2004)
The City and Chief Bratton further argued that the superior court’s review pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure
Moore’s Reply to the Opposition to His Motion for Peremptory Writ of Mandate
Relying on the doctrine of futility, Moore argued he was excused from raising the statute of limitations in the administrative hearing, citing
Sanchez.
In addition, Moore contended that a violation of section 3304, subdivision (d), which is part of the Act, may be raised for the first time in superior court under section 3309.5, subdivision (c). Exhaustion of administrative remedies is excused for violations of the Act under the holding in
Mounger
v.
Gates
(1987)
Moore disputed the argument that the form provided by Captain Pesqueira advised him of the potential discipline. He was advised that there would be a board of rights, but the penalty proposed was not specified. The first time Moore received notice of the penalty was at the end of the board of rights proceedings.
Sulier stands only for the proposition that notice of the proposed discipline must be served within the one-year period required by section 3304, subdivision (d). But Sanchez recognizes timely notice that some punitive action will be taken does not authorize the untimely imposition of a harsher discipline. Instead, Sanchez requires timely notice of the specific disciplinary action contemplated.
The Trial Court’s Denial of the Peremptory Writ of Mandate
The trial court ruled it did not have jurisdiction to consider the statute of limitations defense because Moore did not exhaust his administrative remedies on that issue. Moore conceded he received notice of the charges by March 23, 2005, which was within one year of the reported misconduct, and he conceded that he did not raise the statute of limitations before the board of
rights. Moore’s reliance on
Sanchez
to demonstrate futility was without merit, because the issue in
Sanchez
was not the same issue raised by Moore. Moore was aware of the potential discipline he faced at the board of rights, including removal. Moore’s argument that he could raise the statute of limitations issue for the first time in his petition for writ of administrative mandate based upon section 3309.5, subdivision (c) was flawed. The grant of jurisdiction under section 3309.5 is not exclusive jurisdiction; a peace officer may bring an action under that statute before an administrative hearing to preclude discipline. Once an administrative hearing is held, the officer must raise the statute of limitations defense before the hearing board or it is waived under the holding in
Alameida
v.
State Personnel Bd.
(2004)
DISCUSSION
Moore argues his termination was time-barred by the statute of limitations in section 3304, subdivision (d). Specifically, he contends the statute prohibits a law enforcement agency from imposing any punitive action unless it completes its investigation and notifies the officer of its proposed disciplinary action within one
Standard of Review
Because this appeal presents only issues of law pertaining to application of the Act, our review is de novo.
(Alhambra Police Officers Assn. v. City of Alhambra Police Dept.
(2003)
Relevant Statutory Provisions of the Act
The Act,
One of the protections of the Act is the speedy adjudication of punitive actions against public safety officers.
(Sulier, supra,
As explained in
Sulier,
“under the plain language of section 3304[, subdivision] (d),” if an employer desires to discipline a public safety officer, “it must complete the investigation into the misconduct within one year of the discovery of the misconduct by a person authorized to start an investigation into the conduct.”
(Sulier, supra,
Also relevant to this appeal is section 3309.5, which makes it “unlawful for any public safety department to deny or refuse
A public safety officer is not required to raise a violation of the Act at the administrative hearing. He or she may use the alternative remedy of injunctive relief under section 3309.5 in order to enforce rights under the Act.
(Mounger, supra,
193 Cal.App.3d at pp. 1255-1257.) The officer may file a petition for writ of administrative mandate under Code of Civil Procedure
Failure to Raise the Statute of Limitations of Section 3304 at the Board of Rights
In opposition to the petition for writ of mandate, the City and Chief Bratton argued that Moore’s failure to raise the section 3304 statute of limitations before the board of rights constituted a waiver of the issue. The trial court agreed, ruling that Moore’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies precluded relief on the basis of a violation of section 3304, subdivision (d). The trial court rejected the argument that it would have been futile for Moore to assert the statute of limitations under Sanchez, finding the case distinguishable.
The trial court was correct in ruling that the statute of limitations defense was forfeited by failure to raise it before the board of rights. California law has long provided that a statute of limitations defense must be raised at an administrative hearing before relief may be sought on that ground under Code of Civil Procedure
“It
is
well established that the statute of limitations is a personal privilege which is waived unless asserted at the proper time and in the proper manner, whether it be a general statute of limitations or one relating to a special proceeding. [Citations.] This general rule applies to proceedings before an administrative tribunal. [Citations.]”
(Bohn v. Watson
(1954)
The reason for the rule is clear. “It is fundamental that the review of administrative proceedings provided by
Section 3309.5 of the Act
Moore argues the trial court misconstrued the holding in Alameida, which recognized the superior court’s initial jurisdiction to remedy violations of the Act under section 3309.5. Moore’s argument lacks merit for two reasons. First, the trial court properly relied on Alameida for the proposition that the superior court’s initial jurisdiction under section 3309.5 was not exclusive jurisdiction. Second, Moore ignores the fact that he never sought relief under section 3309.5 from the alleged violation of the Act’s statute of limitations, so the superior court’s initial jurisdiction was never invoked.
In
Alameida,
the California Department of Corrections (CDC) dismissed an employee named Lomeli from his position as a correctional officer, based upon allegations that Lomeli had committed sexual offenses in 1998, and had lied about the offenses in an interview with CDC in 2000. Lomeli received notice of an adverse employment action in 2000, more than two years after the alleged sexual offenses. An administrative law judge dismissed the charges on the ground the notice of adverse action was not served within the one-year limitations period of section 3304, subdivision (d), and rejected CDC’s argument that the misleading statements made within one year of service of the notice were sufficient to satisfy the statute of limitations. The State Personnel Board adopted
The
Alameida
court rejected CDC’s argument that the State Personnel Board lacked the authority to consider the statute of limitations issue. As a preliminary matter, the court recognized the “general proposition” that “a defense based on a statute of limitations or other statutory time limit may, and indeed must, be raised in administrative proceedings, because the failure to raise such a defense at the administrative hearing waives the issue on review of the administrative proceedings. [Citations.]”
(Alameida, supra,
Thus, the lesson of
Alameida
is that the statute of limitations must be raised either (1) at the administrative hearing, or (2) in a proceeding under section 3309.5, subdivision (c), which asserts a violation of one of the rights in the Act. Moore never sought to invoke the superior court’s injunctive power to enforce his rights under the Act pursuant to section 3309.5. All Moore alleged in his petition for administrative mandate under
Code of Civil Procedure
Moore had the power to invoke the original jurisdiction of the superior court to enforce his rights under section 3309.5, but he failed to do so. In
Mounger, supra,
Moore could have, but did not, follow the procedure suggested in
Gales, supra,
Moore did not follow the procedure approved in Mounger or suggested in Gales. By failing to institute a proceeding pursuant to section 3309.5 to enforce his rights, he never engaged the initial jurisdiction of the superior court.
Futility
Finally, Moore argues it would have been futile to raise the defense of statute of limitations at the board of rights, relying on the futility discussion in
Sanchez, supra,
Moore’s futility argument falters at the outset, as it overlooks the basic principle that review of an administrative proceeding under Code of Civil Procedure
The issue of compliance with the statute of limitations under section 3304, subdivision (d), is fact specific. There are exceptions to the statute of limitations as well as tolling provisions in section 3304, including the existence of ongoing criminal investigations or prosecutions, waiver of the time limit by the officer, and the existence of civil litigation. Due to the absence of an objection at the administrative hearing level, the City and Chief Bratton never had an opportunity to present evidence on these issues. To the extent Moore claims he did not have notice of the potential discipline within one year of the incident, there was no opportunity to question him on this subject or otherwise develop a factual record to refute Moore’s contention.
We also agree with the trial court that the futility holding in
Sanchez
has no relevance
The superior court then denied Sanchez’s petition for writ of mandate, which sought reinstatement to his former pay grade. The officer argued he was not advised the department intended to impose a downgrade in pay until more than one year after the charged incident, in violation of section 3304, subdivision (d). On appeal from denial of the petition, our colleagues in Division Three addressed the department’s argument that the officer had not exhausted his administrative remedies because he failed to argue that his downgrade was time-barred or that his due process rights were otherwise violated. The court held it would have been futile to object because the department consistently maintained it notified the officer in a timely fashion of the proposed disciplinary action. In view of the department’s “unyielding position on these legal issues,” an administrative challenge would have been futile.
(Sanchez, supra,
Unlike the situation in Sanchez, the City and Chief Bratton never misled Moore as to his potential punishment. He was served with the notice from Captain Pesqueira advising him the matter was being referred to a board of rights. Moore never complained at the board of rights regarding the timeliness of the notice or that he was not properly advised of the potential discipline. Indeed, Moore’s petition for writ of mandate made no mention whatever of an alleged violation of the statute of limitations. It was not until July 2006, when Moore filed his motion for peremptory writ of mandate, that the City and Chief Bratton were put on notice of Moore’s claim that the statute of limitations was violated. Unlike the facts in Sanchez, there is no suggestion here that Moore was misled, nor have the City and Chief Bratton been unyielding in their positions.
To the extent that Moore argues that the board of rights was little more than a rubber stamp for the City and Chief Bratton, making it futile to object before that tribunal, we reject the argument. Our review of the board of rights hearing reveals that the hearing was conducted thoughtfully and carefully by the members of the board. There is nothing in the record to suggest the board of rights would not have fairly considered the statute of limitations issue, had it been presented.
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed. The City of Los Angeles and Chief Bratton are awarded costs on appeal.
Turner, P. J., and Armstrong, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied October 24, 2007, and appellant’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied January 3, 2008, S158435. Werdegar, J., did not participate therein.
Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all statutory references are to the Government Code.
Because Moore has abandoned his challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, there is no need to set forth a detailed summary of the testimony and evidence. The hearing, spread over the course of several days, included testimony of juveniles detained at the scene including the complaining party, Los Angeles police officers at the scene, police supervisory personnel, an internal affairs officer, and Moore.