Sprankle v. Ohio Dept. of Ins., Unpublished Decision (12-7-2001)
Sprankle v. Ohio Dept. of Ins., Unpublished Decision (12-7-2001)
Opinion of the Court
The purpose of a motion for reconsideration under App.R. 26(A) is to raise an obvious error in the court's original decision or to raise an issue that the court inadvertently failed to consider at all or failed to completely consider. Audia v. Rossi Bros. Funeral Home, Inc. (Feb. 12, 2001), Mahoning App. No. 98CA181, unreported, journal entry denying a motion to reconsider. A motion for reconsideration is not designed for use in instances when a party merely disagrees with the conclusions reached and the logic used by the appellate court. Id.
Contrary to appellee's strong complaints about our decision, this court does not agree that it committed an obvious error. Rather, we continue to believe that we followed Supreme Court precedent. In Henry'sCafé, the agency revoked the licensee's liquor permit for acts of gambling and disorderly conduct. The trial court agreed that gambling and disorderly conduct occurred but found extenuating circumstances existed and held that a forty-five day license suspension would be more appropriate. The Supreme Court held that the trial court had no jurisdiction to modify a penalty where the order finding the violations was supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence. Henry'sCafé,
"Unquestionably, the Court of Common Pleas may reverse, vacate, or modify an order of an agency unless it finds that the order is supported by reliable, probative and substantial evidence, but, where it makes such a finding, it can only affirm and cannot reverse, vacate or modify. * * * [T]here are no grays in such areas, but only blacks and whites. There are no violations under extenuating circumstances, but only facts which do or do not constitute violations. The Court of Common Pleas found that there were violations * * * Patently desiring to modify the admittedly harsh order of the board, the Court of Common Pleas could find no such absence of evidence and, as an alternative route to the same end, found that `the board abused its discretion' and modified its order on that ground." Id. at 236 (reversing the modification).
This decision and our interpretation of it have been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court subsequent to the Henry's Café decision. Dept. ofLiquor Control v. Santucci (1969),
Moreover, this court and other appellate districts have applied Henry'sCafé to reverse trial court cases that modify administrative penalties where those penalties exist as options in the law. See, e.g., HiRise, Inc. v. Ohio Liquor Control Comm. (1995),
Rather than criticize this court's application of a well-established rule of law, appellee should take his argument to the Supreme Court. In accordance, we reaffirm our decision holding that if the trial court finds reliable, probative, and substantial evidence to support an agency's decision regarding a violation, the trial court has no authority to modify the penalty imposed by the agency.
Appellee's motion for reconsideration also contends that we committed an obvious error of law by stating that a trial court should not substitute its judgment for that of the agency on issues of credibility and where we stated that the court should not have modified the penalty even if it had jurisdiction to do so. Firstly, this court disapproves of appellee's repeated characterization of its decision as a death sentence. Secondly, part of our analysis on this topic was merely an alternative argument that need not be addressed due to our resolution of the issue regarding the court's lack of authority to modify a penalty in these circumstances. Thirdly, appellee admitted most violations on the stand before the agency; hence, the trial court could not find that these violations were not committed. Fourthly, we held that one of the violations, having a license revoked in another state, was erroneously disregarded by the trial court as a matter of law.
Finally, multiple cases hold that a trial court should defer to an agency's factual findings which are presumed correct. See, e.g., VFW Post8586 v. Ohio Liquor Control Comm. (1998),
For the foregoing reasons, appellee's motion for reconsideration is hereby denied.
VUKOVICH, P.J., concurs.
WAITE, J., concurs.
DeGENARO, J., concurs.
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