COUNTY OF BURKE
JERRY ADRIAN CRAWLEY,
Petitioner,
v.
NORTH CAROLINA SHERIFFS’
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
STANDARDS COMMISSION,
Respondent.
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ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
04 DOJ 0828
PROPOSAL FOR DECISION
On September 7, 2004, Administrative Law Judge Beecher R. Gray heard this case in Morganton, North Carolina. This case was heard after Respondent requested, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 150B-40(e), designation of an Administrative Law Judge to preside at the hearing of a contested case under Article 3A, Chapter 150B of the North Carolina General Statutes.
APPEARANCES
Petitioner, Jerry Adrian Crawley, Pro Se
Respondent, John J. Aldridge, III, Special Deputy Attorney General
ISSUES
Did Petitioner knowingly make a material misrepresentation of any information required for certification as a justice officer by the North Carolina Sheriff’s Education and Training Standards Commission and did Petitioner knowingly make a misrepresentation of the information required for certification as a criminal justice officer by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission?
FINDINGS OF FACT
1.Both parties properly are before this Administrative Law Judge, in that jurisdiction and venue are proper, that both parties received Notice of Hearing, and that Petitioner received by certified mail the Proposed Denial of Justice Officer Certification letter mailed by Respondent Sheriffs’ Commission on April 6, 2004.
2.The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission (hereafter referred to as the Sheriffs’ Commission) has the authority granted under Chapter 17E of the North Carolina General Statutes and Title 12 of the North Carolina Administrative Code, Chapter 10B, to certify justice officers and to deny, revoke or suspend such certification.
3.12 NCAC 10B .0204(c)(1) and (2) states that the Sheriffs’ Commission may deny certification as a justice officer when the Commission finds that the applicant has
(1)Knowingly made a material misrepresentation of any information required for certification or accreditation from the Commission or the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission; or
(2)Has knowingly and designedly by any means of false pretense, deception, defraud, misrepresentation, cheating whatsoever, obtained or attempted to obtain credit, training or certification from the Commission or the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission.
4.Petitioner sought certification as a justice officer on or about September 4, 2003 through the Sheriffs’ Commission.
5.Petitioner completed a Personal History Statement, on or about September 4, 2003, as part of his employment application with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office in order to obtain certification as a justice officer from the Sheriffs’ Commission. (Respondent’s Exhibit 2)
6.Question 47 of the Sheriffs’ Commission Form F-3 asks the applicant to divulge his/her criminal offense record. Specifically the question indicates:
Include all offenses other than minor traffic offenses. The following are not minor traffic offenses and must be listed below: DWI, DUI (alcohol or drugs), failure to stop in the event of an accident (hit and run) and driving while license are permanently revoked or permanently surrendered (DWLR).
If any doubt exists in your mind as to whether or not you were arrested or charged with a criminal offense at some point in your life or whether an offense remains on your record, you should answer “yes”. You should answer “no”, only if you have never been arrested or charged, or your record has been expunged by a judge’s court order.
7.In response to Question 47 of the Personal History Statement completed by Petitioner, he listed a prior charge of driving under the influence in August 1988; disorderly conduct in August of 1988 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; no operator’s license in August 2000; and an expired inspection sticker from January 2001.
8.Accompanying the Personal History Statement for Petitioner was a criminal records check from the Clerk of Court’s Office in Burke County; a criminal records check from Rutherford County; and a summary of background investigation form compiled by Shelley Owens of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. The computerized criminal record check from Burke County reflected an expired inspection sticker charge against Petitioner; a no operator’s license charge; a driving while impaired charge; and a reckless driving charge. The summary of background investigation form reflected a charge of second degree burglary against Petitioner which was dismissed and expunged in 1990. (Respondent’s Exhibits 3, 4, and 5)
9.Shelley Owens testified that she is responsible for processing the application paperwork for employees at the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office. She personally processed the application paperwork for Petitioner to become employed and certified as a detention officer. As a part of her duties, she specifically instructed Petitioner that he was to list any and all charges against him in response to Question 47 of the Personal History Statement. These instructions to Petitioner were to the effect that he was to list all charges against him, whether or not he was found guilty.
10.Diane Pearce testified that she is a field representative for the Sheriffs’ Commission. She processed the application for certification paperwork on Petitioner. After receiving the submissions from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office in approximately October 2003, she realized that the application process was deficient in that it did not contain a statewide Administrative Office of the Court’s criminal records check. Subsequently, a statewide criminal history records check was conducted of Petitioner which revealed that Petitioner had a charge of simple assault against him from August 13, 1988, which charge subsequently was dismissed. (Respondent’s Exhibit 7, 8)
11.Upon realizing that Petitioner had not listed the 1988 charge of simple assault in his Personal History Statement, Ms. Pearce requested documentation from Ms. Owens as to whether or not Petitioner had discussed this charge with her. Ms. Owens responded in a letter dated December 10, 2003, that Petitioner had never discussed the simple assault charge with her. In a signed statement from Petitioner, Petitioner indicated that he did not list the 1988 simple assault charge from Catawba County because he did not know that it existed on his record. (Respondent’s Exhibit 13)
12.By letter dated January 15, 2004, Ms. Owens forwarded to Ms. Pearce a copy of the internal records card from Catawba County reflecting that on August 13, 1988 Petitioner was arrested pursuant to a warrant by the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. This arrest card reflects personal data about Petitioner and further reflects that he was released on $200.00 unsecured bond on August 13, 1988. (Respondent’s Exhibit 14)
13.Subsequently, another statewide Administrative Office of the Court’s criminal history records check was conducted on Petitioner by Ms. Owens. This criminal history record, dated February 2, 2004, reflects yet another criminal charge against Petitioner from 1988 for the offense of injury to personal property from Burke County. (Respondent’s Exhibit 15) In following up on this discovery, Ms. Pearce requested documentation from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office concerning the 1988 charge of injury to personal property against Petitioner. Documentation received from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office reflects that Petitioner was served with a criminal summons for the offense of injury to personal property, to wit, a 1983 Ford truck, which was served on him on November 28, 1988 by the Burke County Sheriff’s Office. (Respondent’s Exhibit 16)
14.Additional documentation confirms that Petitioner’s charge of injury to personal property brought against him in November, 1988 was dismissed on December 14, 1988. (Respondent’s Exhibit 17) Petitioner did not divulge or disclose this criminal charge to Ms. Owens or on his certification paperwork with the Sheriffs’ Commission.
15.In response to Ms. Pearce’s request for information from Petitioner as to why he had omitted the charge of injury to personal property, Petitioner responded in a sworn statement that he did not list this charge because it did not appear on his complete criminal history record at the Burke County Clerk of Court’s Office. Additionally, Petitioner indicated that he did not list the offense since the verdict in the case was not guilty. He stated that he was under the impression that this charge did not exist on his record. (Respondent’s Exhibit 20)
16.In furtherance of the process to become a certified Department of Corrections employee in 1995, Petitioner completed a Report of Appointment Form on August 1, 1996 for the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. Additionally, Petitioner completed a Personal History Statement on August 5, 1995, in furtherance of his certification process through the Criminal Justice Commission. In response to questions on the Report of Appointment Form and Personal History Statement asking Petitioner to disclose his criminal history record, Petitioner only listed the offenses of reckless driving in 1988; a seatbelt violation in 1988; and a charge of breaking and entering in 1990. Petitioner did not disclose to any individual at the Department of Corrections or on his certification forms that he had previously been charged with the criminal offenses of simple assault and injury to personal property in 1988. (Respondent’s Exhibit 21, 24)
17.Petitioner testified at the administrative hearing that on August 13, 1988, while returning from an area amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina, he had pulled into a roadside service station where, for no reason, an individual in a tractor trailer truck pulled into the parking lot and beat him with a bat. Petitioner testified that after being beaten with the bat he proceeded to the Magistrate’s Office and drew out a warrant against the truck driver. Afterwards, Petitioner went to the hospital to receive stitches in his head stemming from the assault. Petitioner testified that, while at the Magistrate’s Office, he was informed by the magistrate that the truck driver also had taken out a charge of simple assault against him. Petitioner acknowledged that he appeared before the magistrate on this criminal charge of simple assault and was released on an unsecured bond. Petitioner testified that a couple of weeks after this charge, he received a telephone call from an individual, who he believes to be an attorney, stating that if Petitioner would drop his charge of simple assault against the truck driver, then the truck driver would drop the charge of simple assault against Petitioner. Petitioner testified at the hearing that he agreed to this arrangement and subsequently the charges were dropped.
18.Petitioner testified that the truck driver beat him with a bat for no reason and that Petitioner had to draw out charges against the truck driver and then go to a hospital to receive stitches in his head. Nonetheless, Petitioner testified that he did not recall the simple assault charge brought against him arising from this same incident when he completed the certification paperwork.
19.Petitioner further testified that he recalled being served with a criminal summons on November 27, 1988 for the criminal offense of injury of personal property. Petitioner stated in response to Respondent’s Interrogatories, that he was not arrested but rather issued a criminal summons. Petitioner testified that he appeared in court on this charge and pled not guilty. He testified in criminal court about the circumstances surrounding the incident in question and subsequently was found not guilty. Petitioner stated that he did not recall this offense at the time he completed the certification paperwork.
20.At the time Petitioner completed the Personal History Statement for certification through the Sheriffs’ Commission, he had completed Basic Law Enforcement Training. Petitioner’s testimony that he did not recall the prior criminal offenses of simple assault and injury to personal property is not credible. It is unlikely that an individual who had been assaulted with a bat for no apparent reason and forced to seek medical treatment as a result, would forget about such an event. Further, it is unlikely an individual would forget being served with a criminal summons for the offense of injury to personal property when the person had to go to court and testify on his own behalf. It is more plausible that Petitioner intentionally chose not to list these two charges on his Personal History Statements as they had not appeared on the local computerized criminal history record checks conducted on him at the time of his completion of the certification documents.
21.As not all criminal charges will appear on a computerized record check, it is critical for an applicant for certification to list all criminal charges in his background so that Respondent can have an opportunity to evaluate the conduct of the applicant. The Sheriffs’ Commission has found that honesty and integrity are essential attributes of being a justice officer.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1.The parties properly are before the undersigned Administrative Law Judge and jurisdiction and venue are proper.
2.12 NCAC 10B .0204(c)(1) and (2) state that the Sheriffs’ Commission may deny certification as a justice officer when the Commission finds that the applicant has
(1)Knowingly made a material misrepresentation of any information required for certification or accreditation from the Commission or the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission; or
(2)Has knowingly and designedly by any means of false pretense, deception, defraud, misrepresentation, cheating whatsoever, obtained or attempted to obtain credit, training or certification from the Commission or the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission.
(3)Petitioner knowingly made a material misrepresentation of information required for certification by failing to disclose his prior criminal offenses from 1988 of simple assault and injury to personal property on his Personal History Statement that he completed on or about August 5, 1995 for the Criminal Justice Commission and on or about September 4, 2003 for the Sheriffs’ Commission.
DECISION
Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the undersigned recommends Respondent deny Petitioner’s Justice Officer Certification for a period of 5 years.
NOTICE
The Agency making the Final Decision in this contested case are required to give ach party an opportunity to file Exceptions to this Proposal for Decision, to submit Proposed Findings of Fact and to present oral and written arguments to the Agency. N.C.G.S. §150B-40(e).
The Agency that will make the final decision in this contested case is the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission.
This the 14th day of September, 2004.
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Beecher R. Gray
Administrative Law Judge
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