State of north carolina in the office of administrative hearings

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE OFFICE OF

ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

COUNTY OF WARREN 02 DOJ 0104

CLARENCE RAYMOND ADCOCK )

Petitioner )

)

v. ) PROPOSAL FOR DECISION

)

NORTH CAROLINA CRIMINAL JUSTICE )

EDUCATION AND TRAINING )

STANDARDS COMMISSION )

Respondent )
The above entitled matter was heard before Administrative Law Judge Sammie Chess, Jr., on July 9, 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina. This case was heard pursuant to a request under N.C.G.S. §150B-40(e), for the 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: Clarence Raymond Adcock, pro se

Respondent: Lorrin Freeman, Assistant Attorney General

Ashby Ray, Legal Intern, Attorney General’s Office

ISSUE PRESENTED

Is the Respondent’s proposed suspension of Petitioner’s law enforcement officer certification supported by substantial evidence?

FINDINGS OF FACT

(Stipulated Facts)
1. Both parties are properly before this Administrative Law Judge, in that jurisdiction and venue are proper, that both parties received Notice of Hearing, and that Petitioner received the Proposed Suspension of Law Enforcement Officer Certification letter mailed by Respondent on November 20, 2001.
2. The North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission (hereafter referred to as the Commission) has the authority granted under Chapter 17C of the North Carolina General Statutes and Title 12 of the North Carolina Administrative Code, Chapter 9, to certify criminal justice officers and to deny, revoke or suspend such certification.
3. Petitioner wrote a Warrenton Police Department Incident/Investigation Report on or about June 27, 2000, reporting that between June 21, 2000 and June 27, 2000, an unknown person(s) entered his truck and removed a Browning Safari II rifle with a Boss system and Simmons scope valued at approximately $950.00.
4. On or about July 02, 2000, Petitioner filed an insurance claim with the National Rifle Association (NRA) for reimbursement of a Browning Safari II rifle with a Boss system and a Simmons scope.
5. Based on the insurance claim filed by Petitioner with the National Rifle Association, the NRA endorsed insurance program issued a check to the Petitioner in the amount of $850, the total amount of the claim less the Petitioner’s deductible.
6. The rifle that was allegedly stolen from Petitioner was in fact a Browning Safari I rifle and was not equipped with a Boss system nor a Simmons scope.
(Adjudicated Facts)
7. The Petitioner reported a larceny of three weapons from his personal vehicle to the Henderson Police Department on December 29, 1999. One of the weapons reported stolen by Petitioner on December 29, 1999 was a Browning .30-06 rifle with serial number 107NT07354. The Petitioner did not receive any insurance compensation for the alleged loss of these weapons.
8. In March or April of 2000, Petitioner learned about an insurance program from an acquaintance in his hunting club through the NRA that insured firearms and their accessories. Shortly thereafter, the Petitioner enrolled with the NRA insurance program.
9. The Petitioner originally alleged, in his insurance claim to the NRA, that a Browning Safari Mark II .30-06 rifle with BOSS System and a Simmons Pro 50 Scope and serial number 107NT07534 was taken from his vehicle sometime around June of 2000. Petitioner filed this claim on or about June 27, 2000.
10. The Petitioner did not notify the police, or file a lost or stolen report, when he allegedly discovered the Browning Safari Mark II .30-06 rifle with BOSS System and a Simmons Pro 50 Scope and serial number 107NT07534 missing in June of 2000, or at any time thereafter.
11. The Petitioner contacted the NRA to determine what was necessary to file an insurance claim on the weapon he alleges was stolen in June of 2000. He was told by a female employee of the NRA insurance program that he would need a police report documenting the loss.
12. As a result of this information from the NRA the Petitioner completed a Warrenton Police Report himself detailing the incident and the property stolen. Petitioner obtained the form for the report in his capacity as a Warrenton Police Officer. The police report written and signed by the Petitioner on June 27, 2000 indicated that the type of weapon allegedly stolen from his vehicle in June of 2000 was a Browning Safari Mark II .30-06 rifle with BOSS System and a Simmons Pro 50 Scope with serial number 107NT07534. The Petitioner sent the police report directly to the NRA and did not file a copy of the report with the Warrenton Police Department.
13. The Petitioner received a check from the NRA’s insurance program for $850.00 for the loss of a Browning Safari Mark II .30-06 rifle with BOSS System and a Simmons Pro 50 Scope and serial number 107NT07534.
14. In Respondent’s First Set of Interrogatories, Request for Admission and Request for Production of Documents, the Petitioner admitted that the weapon stolen from his vehicle in June of 2000 did not have a BOSS system on it and that he was not sure whether it had a Simmons Pro 50 scope on it or not.
15. Special Agent Neil Morin with the Firearms Division of the State Bureau of Investigation testified that a BOSS system is an upgrade to a rifle offered by the Browning firearm company which is added to the weapon at the time of manufacturing. The presence of a BOSS system on a weapon increases the value of a new or used weapon by $50.00 to $60.00. He further testified that a Simmons Pro 50 scope is an addition to a rifle that increases the value of the rifle by the price of the scope. A Simmons Pro 50 scope ranges in value from $110.00 to $150.00.
16. North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent M. K. O’Brien testified that she became involved in the case at the request of the Chief of Police of Warrenton who had received a copy of the police report and notice of payment of claim from the NRA. During an interview with the Petitioner on August 22, 2000 at the Warrenton Town Hall, the Petitioner told Agent O’Brien that he did not call the police when he allegedly discovered the rifle missing from his vehicle in June of 2000; that he wrote a police report himself detailing the incident and type of weapon taken from his vehicle; that he sent this report to the NRA, with whom he had an insurance policy on his firearms; and, that he did not retain a copy of the report or file it.
17. Special Agent O’Brien further testified that the Petitioner admitted during the interview that he “fibbed a little bit” on the report that he filed with the NRA because the serial number he listed was not accurate. The Petitioner told Agent O’Brien that he wrote down a serial number similar to the one that belonged to a weapon that he had reported stolen in a separate incident on December 29, 1999 because he did not know the serial number of the weapon that was allegedly stolen in June 2000. The Petitioner told Agent O’Brien that he wasn’t sure whether or not there was a scope on the rifle that he reported stolen to the NRA even though the report and statement of loss filed with the NRA stated that there was a Simmons Pro 50 scope on the rifle. When Special Agent O’Brien showed Petitioner a copy of the Warrenton Police Report that he had filled out in furtherance of the NRA claim, Petitioner admitted that the rifle allegedly stolen in June 2000 was a Safari I, not a Safari II as indicated on the report, and that, in contradiction to the police report, the rifle did not have a BOSS system.
18. The statement of loss submitted to the NRA by the Petitioner, a copy of which was obtained by Agent O’Brien, indicated that the Petitioner reported the theft of a Browning Safari Mark II .30-06 rifle with BOSS system and a Simmons Pro 50 Scope.
19. The police report filled out by the Petitioner on June 27, 2000, alleged that a Browning Safari Mark II, .30-06 rifle with BOSS system and a Simmons Pro 50 Scope and serial number 107NT07534 with a value of $950.00 was taken from his vehicle sometime during the month of June, 2000.
20. Special Agent O’Brien testified that when she asked the Petitioner whether he had in fact had a weapon stolen from him in June 2000, Petitioner made the statements that “I think I might need an attorney”, “You can’t make any little mistakes in this job”, and “Seventeen years down the drain.”
21. Investigator Richard Squires spoke with the Petitioner on September 26, 2001as part of his investigation for the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission into the Petitioner’s actions regarding his alleged stolen rifle. The Petitioner told Investigator Squires that all the information listed on the police report that the Petitioner completed for the NRA claim was accurate except for the serial number of the stolen weapon. This interview was subsequent to Petitioner’s interview with Special Agent O’Brien at which time he admitted that, contrary to the report, the weapon allegedly stolen did not have a BOSS system and possibly did not have a Simmons Pro 50 Scope.
22. Investigator Squires testified that the petitioner changed his story and admitted at the end of the interview that the stolen weapon might not have had a BOSS system on it at the time of theft.
23. The Petitioner told Investigator Squires that he did not file the police report that he had written and submitted to the NRA with the Warrenton Police Department as required by that department’s standard operating procedures.
24 Scott Perry testified that the Standards Committee of the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission had found probable cause exists to believe that Petitioner’s certification as a law enforcement officer must be permanently revoked based on a finding that Petitioner committed the felony offense of obtaining property by false pretenses and the Class B misdemeanor offense of Filing a False Police Report, and further, that Petitioner lacks good moral character as required for employment as a law enforcement officer. Mr. Perry testified that 12 NCAC 9A .0204(a)(1) provides that “the Commission shall revoke the certification of a criminal justice officer when the Commission finds that the officer has committed or been convicted of a felony offense,” and that such revocation is permanent pursuant to 12 NCAC 9A .0205(a)(1). Mr. Perry also testified as to 12 NCAC 9A 0204(b)(3)(A) pertaining to suspension of certification for the commission of a Class B misdemeanor, such period of suspension being for not less than five years, and as to N.C.G.S. 17C-10, 12 NCAC 9A .0204(b)(2), and 12 NCAC 9B .0101(3), the minimum requirements for certification as a law enforcement officer, specifically the standard that every law enforcement officer should be of good moral character, such period of suspension being indefinite.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. The parties are properly before the undersigned Administrative Law Judge and jurisdiction and venue are proper.

2. 12 NCAC 9A .0204(a)(1) provides that “the Commission shall revoke the certification of a criminal justice officer when the Commission finds that the officer has committed or been convicted of a felony offense”.
3 12 NCAC 9A. 0205(a)(1) provides that the period of sanction shall be permanent when the Commission revokes a criminal justice officer’s certification on the basis of the commission or conviction of a felony offense.
4. On or about June 27, 2000, Petitioner committed the felonious offense of “Obtaining Property by False Pretenses” when the Petitioner filed a police report with the NRA for insurance purposes which contained what Petitioner knew to be false information in order to receive a greater insurance payment. Petitioner’s actions were in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14-120.
5. 12 NCAC 9A. 0204(b)(3) provides that the “Commission may suspend, revoke or deny the certification of a criminal justice officer when the Commission finds that...the certified officer has committed or been convicted of a criminal offense or unlawful act defined in 12 NCAC 9A .0103 as a Class B misdemeanor.”
6. The offense of filing a false police report is a Class B misdemeanor pursuant to 12 NCAC 9A .0103.
7. On or about June 27, 2000, Petitioner committed the misdemeanor offense of filing a false police report when the Petitioner filled out a Warrenton police report with admittedly false information and sent it to the NRA. The NRA, in turn, notified the Warrenton Police Department of payment of the claim so that if the perpetrator was apprehended, restitution could be collected. The filing of this report resulted in an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation. The Petitioner’s actions were in violation of N.C.G.S. § 14-225.
8. Pursuant to N.C.G.S. §17-10, 12 NCAC 9A .0204(b)(2) and 12 NCAC 9B .0101(3), every law enforcement officer shall be of good moral character.
9. On or about June 27, 2000, Petitioner abused his position as a law enforcement officer and demonstrated a lack of good moral character, when he, for personal profit, using forms supplied to him in his capacity as a Warrenton police officer, filled out a Warrenton police report with what he admitted to being false information and sent that report to the NRA in order to receive an insurance payment for an amount exceeding that to which he would have otherwise been entitled. Petitioner further demonstrated a lack of good moral character by initially providing information that he knew to be false to Special Agent O’Brien and Investigator Richard Squires during interviews with them.
10. Based on the totality of the evidence presented, substantial evidence exists to believe that the Petitioner lacks the good moral character required of every law enforcement officer. Petitioner’s certification as a law enforcement officer is subject to be suspended in accordance with 12 NCAC 9A .0204(b)(2).
11. Respondent’s proposed revocation of Petitioner’s certification as a law enforcement officer is supported by substantial evidence.

PROPOSAL FOR DECISION

Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the undersigned recommends Respondent revoke Petitioner’s law enforcement officer certification permanently as specified in Rule 12 NCAC 9A .0205(a)(1).

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the agency serve a copy of the final decision of the Officer of Administrative Hearings, Post Office Drawer 27447, Raleigh, North Carolina 27611-7447, in accordance with North Carolina General Statute 150B-36(b).

NOTICE

Before the agency makes the FINAL DECISION, it is required by N.C.G.S. §150B-40(e) to give each party an opportunity to file exceptions to this Proposal for Decision, and to present oral and written arguments to those in the agency who will make the final decision.

This agency is required by N.C.G.S. §150B-36(b) to serve a copy of the Final Decision to all parties and to furnish a copy to the Parties’ attorney of record.
This the 9 day of September 2002.

________________________

Sammie Chess, Jr.

Administrative Law Judge