Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board

Petitioner Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Department) suspended the liquor license of real parties in interest Aiyaz Masani and Shamin Vasani, doing business in Napa as Emil’s Liquor (licensees), for selling alcohol to a minor who used a fake identification card (ID). The Department rejected the licensees’ assertion of a defense under Business and Professions Code section 25660, which requires the licensee to reasonably rely on an identification issued by a government agency. The Department implicitly found the statute applied to fake ID’s which purport to be government issued, but found the licensees did not reasonably rely on the fake ID.

The licensees appealed to respondent Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board (Board), which reversed the Department’s suspension order. The Department petitioned this court for a writ of review. We issued the writ and heard oral argument.

We hold that (1) Business and Professions Code section 25660 applies to fake ID’s which purport to be issued by a government agency, but that (2) the licensees in this case failed to exercise reasonable diligence and did not reasonably rely on the fake ID. Accordingly, we vacate the…