STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE OFFICE OF
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
COUNTY OF WAKE 01 DOJ 0353
______
LINDA MORTON KIZIAH, )
Petitioner, )
)
v. ) DECISION
)
NORTH CAROLINA PRIVATE )
PROTECTIVE SERVICES BOARD, )
Respondent. )
______
This contested case was heard before Administrative Law Judge Beryl E. Wade on April 24, 2001 at 2:00 p.m. in Raleigh, North Carolina.
APPEARANCES
Petitioner: Appeared pro se.
Respondent: Elizabeth C. Trahos, Attorney
WITNESSES
Petitioner: Testified on her own behalf.
Respondent: Investigator Lou Rogers testified for the Board.
ISSUE
Whether grounds exist for Respondent to deny Petitioner’s application for an unarmed security guard registration permit for lack of good moral character and temperate habits.
BURDEN OF PROOF
Respondent has the burden of proving that Petitioner’s application for an unarmed security guard registration permit should be denied. Petitioner may rebut the Respondent’s showing.
STATUTES AND RULES APPLICABLE
TO THE CONTESTED CASE
Official notice is taken of the following statutes and rules applicable to this case:
G.S. 74C-2;
74C-3;
74C-5;
74C-8(d)(2);
74C-9;
74C-11;
74C-12(a);
12 NCAC 7D.0800.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Respondent Board is established pursuant to N.C.G.S. 74C-1 et seq. and is charged with the duty of licensing and registering individuals engaged in the private protective services profession, which includes unarmed security guards.
2. Petitioner applied for renewal of her unarmed security guard registration permit September 1, 2000.
3. Petitioner certified that she had not been convicted of a crime, either a felony or misdemeanor.
4. The Board’s investigator, Lou Rogers (hereinafter “Investigator Rogers”),conducted a standard background check on Petitioner. On November 26, 1999, Petitioner received a prayer for judgment continued on a misdemeanor charge of simple assault. Petitioner paid restitution in the amount of $395.00 to cover the victim’s medical bills.
5. At the administrative hearing, Petitioner admitted to receiving a prayer for judgment continued in 1999 for simple assault. She informed the Court that she assumed a prayer for judgment continued was not a criminal conviction and therefore she was not required to report it to the Board.
6. Petitioner asserted that the simple assault conviction arose out of an altercation between the Petitioner and a neighborhood woman who had been harassing Petitioner. Petitioner requested that this particular woman stay off of her property. One morning Petitioner left her house and found the neighborhood woman in her driveway. Petitioner testified that she walked up to the lady’s car and asked her what she was doing on her property. The lady threw an entire drink on Petitioner. Petitioner punched the lady who was seated in her car at the time. The lady got out of her car and a fight ensued.
7. Petitioner testified that she chose to take a prayer for judgment continued to avoid a lengthy court battle and time missed from work as a result.
8. This is her only criminal conviction.
9. Petitioner is 51 years of age, and no longer has contact with the woman. It is unlikely this behavior will reoccur.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 74C-8(d)(2), an applicant for a private protective services permit must establish to the Board his good moral character and temperate habits. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 74C-12(a)(25), the Board may deny an application for an unarmed security guard registration permit when the applicant has intemperate habits or lacks good moral character. N.C.G.S. 74C-8(d)(2) provides that conviction of a crime involving an act of violence is prima facie evidence of lack of good moral character. “Conviction” is defined to include an entry of a plea of guilty or no contest or a verdict rendered in open court by a Judge or Jury.
Petitioner’s conviction for misdemeanor simple assault evidences a lack of good moral character.
Based on the foregoing, the undersigned makes the following:
PROPOSAL FOR DECISION
The North Carolina Private Protective Services Board will make the final decision in this contested case. It is proposed that the Board approve Linda Morton Kiziah’s application for renewal of an unarmed security guard registration permit, but institute a 30-day suspension.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the agency serve a copy of the final decision on the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-6714, in accordance with N.C.G.S. 150B-36(b).
NOTICE
The agency making the final decision in this contested case is required to give each 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 pursuant to N.C.G.S. 150B-40(e).
The agency that will make the final decision in this contested case is the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board.
This the 1st day of June 2001.
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Beryl E.Wade
Administrative Law Judge
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