California Court of Appeal
Dept. of Alcoholic Bev. Control v. Alcoholic Bev. Control App. Bd., 078574
In a petition for writ of review challenging the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's 15-day suspension of an off-sale general license held by a CVS Pharmacy Store after an administrative law judge found the store clerk sold alcohol to a minor decoy, the Alcohol Beverage Control Appeals Board's reversal of the suspension based on California Code of Regulations, title 4, section 141 (Rule 141) that allows a law enforcement agency to use an underage decoy only in a fashion that promotes fairness, is annulled where: 1) Rule 141 is not ambiguous in requiring minor decoys to answer truthfully only questions about their ages; 2) substantial evidence supports the administrative law judge's factual finding that the decoy was not questioned about his age; and 3) Rule 141 does not provide CVS with a defense to the accusation it sold an alcoholic beverage to an underage buyer.
Appellate Information
- Published 2017/01/17
Judges
- HOCH
Court
- California Court of Appeal