Fox

Dismissed by the Department of Corrections (Department) in March 1992 for offensive, unprofessional conduct, James Fox appealed to the Board, which upheld the adverse action. He then sought a writ of administrative mandamus in the trial court (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5), which denied his petition in April 1995. Undeterred by the trial court’s findings that there was substantial evidence of his “egregious and reprehensible” conduct and that his testimony to the contrary was “deliberate[] lie[s],” Fox nonetheless seeks a third level of review. Claiming a denial of due process (while turning his back on the substantial body of evidence amassed against him), he claims the Board should not have required him to submit witness fees as a condition of enforcing his subpoenas, the Department “coerced” the subsequently released witnesses into declining to testify, and dismissal is an excessive penalty.

In the published portion of this decision, we determine the Department imposed an unwarranted restriction on Fox’s procedural rights by improperly seeking witness fees for subpoenaed Department peace officers pursuant to Government Code section 68097.2 (undesignated section…