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Coleman v. Anne Arundle County Police Department2/1/2001
REPORTED
This appeal arises out of disciplinary action taken against appellant, Charles Coleman, by the Chief of Police of Anne Arundel County (the "Chief") pursuant to a recommendation from the Administrative Hearing Board (the "Board"). Appellant petitioned for judicial review, and the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County affirmed the Board's decision. Appellant raises five questions for our review:
1. Whether the Department erred, as a matter of law, and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, when it failed to comply with departmental rules mandating an interview with Cpl. Coleman, which would have caused neutral investigators to terminate the investigation with the charges "unsustained"?
2. Whether the Department denied due process of law, and violated the express requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), when the Board denied a continuance, despite undisputed psychiatric evidence of, and medical treatment for, a severe mental disability (an FMLA "serious health condition"), which caused the Department to order Cpl. Coleman to take leave under the FMLA?
3. Whether the Department denied due process of law, and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, when the Board Chair denied a motion to recuse himself, despite (1) Cpl. Coleman's entitlement to a peremptory challenge against the Chair through the collective bargaining agreement, and (2) the Chair's bias against Cpl. Coleman by making a complaint that he lacked integrity and then denying having made the complaint until confronted?
4. Whether the Department erred, as a matter of law, by seizing evidence from Cpl. Coleman's person, in violation of his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and then using that evidence to convict him of eight theft-related charges?
5. Whether the Department denied due process of law when it convicted Cpl. Coleman of eight theft-related counts, and terminated him just shy of retirement, based on a mere preponderance of the evidence -thus tolerating a 49% risk of error - when both the Supreme Court and Maryland mandate a burden of persuasion standard of clear and convincing evidence for administrative charges of theft and dishonesty?
STATEMENT OF FACTS
On December 4, 1997, the Internal Investigation Division (IID) of appellee, Anne Arundel County Police Department (the "Department"), conducted an investigation targeting appellant, a nineteen year veteran of the force. A number of items were assembled to be turned over to appellant to determine whether he would properly process them. The following articles were put into a green cloth fanny pack: three Tylenol tablets, a clear plastic baggy with white residue, two black film canisters with leafy vegetable residue, a Mickey Mouse key chain with a key and toy baseball bat attached, and a total of $76.25, consisting of three nickels, one dime, two $20 bills, three $10 bills, one $5 bill, and one $1 bill.
Two Howard County detectives, posing as ordinary citizens, turned the fanny pack over to appellant. They advised him that they had found the pack containing no identification outside a convenience store. Appellant asked them no questions and let them leave without taking down any information. Appellant radioed in for a case number for the recovered property and potential controlled dangerous substances (CDS) and then returned to the police station. Appellant then called the convenience store and spoke with the clerk, who indicated that no one had reported lost or stolen property.
Appellant prepared the suspected CDS for forwarding to the laboratory for testing. He placed the CDS into a sealed e
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