County of Los Angeles v. Civil Service Commission

Statement of the Case

This appeal arises out of a disciplinary action taken against a deputy sheriff, Craig Calzada. After Calzada pled nolo contendere to the misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property—a charge based upon his purchase of three items of electronic equipment from a friend of his brother-in-law—the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fired Calzada. Pursuant to Calzada’s request, an administrative hearing was conducted. The hearing officer excluded evidence of Calzada’s nolo contendere plea. After the parties presented evidence on their respective theories as to Calzada’s culpability in buying the equipment, the hearing officer found that Calzada did not know the items were stolen. Nonetheless, the hearing officer recommended a 30-day suspension of Calzada based upon his finding that Calzada should have known, based upon the particular circumstances, that the legality of the transaction was doubtful. The civil service commission adopted this recommendation. Dissatisfied with this result, the county initiated an administrative mandamus action in the superior court, essentially seeking to have its initial decision to fire Calzada upheld. The trial…