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Gilbert v. Municipality of Anchorage11/23/2005
led up." Animal Control Officer Burns visited Gilbert at home on March 12, 2002.
According to Burns, Gilbert admitted the allegations and claimed the defense of disability. Burns issued two tickets to Gilbert: Notice of violation (NOV) # 25301 for the March 8, 2002 incident and NOV #26728 for the March 9, 2002 incident.
5. Gilbert timely filed a request for a hearing to review the two NOVs pursuant to AMC 17.05.100(A). The hearing was originally set for April 6, 2002 but Gilbert requested that the hearing be rescheduled several times. The hearing was eventually held on July 22, 2002 before Administrative Hearing Officer Timothy G. Middleton. At that hearing, Gilbert asserted that Animal Control's decision to enforce AMC 17.10.020 against her violated the ADA. Gilbert claimed that she was physically unable to control Ki with a leash and that the ADA required Animal Control to accommodate her disability by allowing her to control Ki using voice commands. Gilbert also requested an additional hearing to present medical evidence of her disability. The hearing officer accommodated her request and an additional hearing was held on the evening of September 25, 2002. A doctor testified on Gilbert's behalf. Animal Control did not present any contrary medical evidence.
6. The hearing officer submitted his recommendation, along with findings of fact and conclusions of law, on November 7, 2002. He concluded that Gilbert had unleashed Ki at Lions Park on both March 8 and 9, 2002. He also concluded that "the evidence shows appellant driving around with her car window rolled up meaning voice control is not possible." Although the hearing officer found that Gilbert's medical condition substantially limited her ability to walk, he did not agree that an injury to her right shoulder prevented her from controlling Ki with a leash. Additionally, he seems to have found that Ki was not a service animal and that the ADA does not require public entities to accommodate a disabled person's non-service animal. Based on these findings, the hearing officer recommended that the tickets be affirmed and that Gilbert should be required to pay $125.00 in fines. The hearing officer's findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommended decision were adopted on November 18, 2002. The final order was distributed on December 11, 2002.
7. Gilbert attempted to file an appeal with the superior court on January 9, 2003, but her filing was rejected because it did not comply with the appellate rules. Over two months later, Gilbert attempted to file a corrected appeal. She attached a motion to accept late appeal to this filing, explaining that health problems and the strains of other litigation had prevented her from filing a timely appeal. This attempt was also rejected because it did not comply with appellate rules.
8. Over five months later, Gilbert again attempted to appeal this decision by filing a motion with the superior court to accept her late appeal. She explained that, after she had tried to file her appeal in March 2003, the packet containing her appeal was returned to her and "dropped behind some furniture with some other mail and was only recently discovered" after Gilbert received housekeeping assistance. She asserted that her disability prevented her from cleaning her house on her own - implying that her disability prevented her from discovering the packet. Judge Hensley rejected this motion in a December 23, 2003 order.
9. After Judge Hensley denied two motions for reconsideration, Gilbert filed this appeal. We review for abuse of discretion a superior court's decision whether to relax Appellate Rule 602(a)(2) and accept a late-filed appeal of a final administrative orde
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