Schmitt

Plaintiff Martin Schmitt was discharged as a police officer of the City of Rialto. He sought a writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) to have his discharge set aside. The superior court granted the writ, and the city appeals. We reverse.

Background Facts

The administrative proceedings leading up to plaintiff’s discharge relate to two alleged incidents of misconduct.

The first charge against plaintiff was that he had knowledge of and was a principal in the crime of child endangerment (Pen. Code, § 273a). School officials called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to investigate a possible charge of child endangerment. Detective Daily of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. The alleged victim was plaintiff’s seven-year-old son. Detective Daily examined plaintiff’s son and discovered injuries, including belt bruises and welts on various parts of the boy’s body. The boy told Detective Daily that the bruises were inflicted by both his mother and his father.

Detective Daily interviewed plaintiff the following day. Plaintiff admitted giving his son four swats across the buttocks with a leather belt approximately one and…