ORDERS:
ORDER
STATEMENT OF CASE
This matter comes before me upon request for a Hearing by the Respondent after being cited
for an administrative violation against his retail liquor license. The South Carolina Department of
Revenue and Taxation (DOR) seeks a sanctions against the Respondent's retail liquor license for
violating S.C. Code Ann. §61-3-990 (Supp. 1994).
A Hearing was held before the Administrative Law Judge Division in Columbia, South
Carolina, on June 20, 1995. I find the DOR failed to show sufficient evidence that the Respondent
violated § 61-3-990.
FINDINGS OF FACT
Having observed the witnesses and exhibits presented at the hearing and closely passed upon
their credibility, taking into consideration the burden of persuasion by the Parties or Protestants, I
make the following Findings of Fact by a preponderance of evidence:
1. The court has subject matter jurisdiction of this case.
2. The Respondent holds a retail liquor license for Tony's Party Shop at
6165 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, South Carolina.
3. Notice of the time, date, place and subject matter of the Hearing was
given to the Petitioner and the Respondent.
4. Michelle McCarty, a person under the age of twenty-one, was
involved in an automobile accident as a passenger on September 13,
1994. Earlier that afternoon she had left her job and began drinking
alcoholic beverages. Ms. McCarty was then given money by Mr.
Bobby Watson to purchase an alcoholic beverage. She testified that
to the best of her knowledge she went to Tony's Party Shop with that
money and purchased a bottle of 151 Bacardi. However, she cannot
be sure that it was Tony's Party Shop because she went to two
different liquor stores during the afternoon of September 13, 1994.
Since she had been drinking heavily that day she could not recall with
certainty where or from whom she purchased the alcohol.
5. Ms. McCarty testified that wherever she bought the alcohol the
individual who sold her the alcohol neither asked her age or asked that
she produce an identification.
6. The owner of Tony's Party Shop, Anthony Kokolis, testified that
neither he nor anyone working for him sold alcohol to Ms. McCarty
on September 13,1994. Mr. Kokolis works almost every Friday and
Saturday at Tony's Party Shop. He specifically testified that he was
working there on September 13, 1994.
7. Neither Anthony Kokolis nor anyone working for him has ever been
convicted of a violation of the Alcohol Beverage Control Act.
8. Ms. McCarty, by her own admission, is friends with individuals who
were either employed or still employed with the Respondent. Ms.
McCarty's relationship with those individuals certainly brings her
credibility into question. However, with no other evidence, other than
the testimony of Ms. McCarty, I find that the Respondent failed to
present sufficient evicence to meet their burden of proof.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Based upon the above Findings of Fact, I conclude as a matter of law, the following:
1. S.C. Code Ann. § 61-1-55 (Supp. 1994) grants the Administrative
Law Judge Division the powers, duties and responsibilities as Hearing
Officer in contested matters governing alcohol beverages, beer and
wine.
2. Permits and licenses issued by this state for the sale of liquor, beer and
wine are not property rights. They are, rather, privileges granted in
the exercise of the state's police power to be used and enjoyed only so
long as the holder complies with the restrictions and conditions
governing them. The Administrative Law Judge Division, being the
tribunal authorized to grant the issuance of a license, is likewise
authorized for cause to revoke or suspend the license. See Feldman
v. S.C. Tax Commission, 203 S. C. 49, 26 S. E. 2d, 22 (1943)
3. S.C. Code Ann. § 61-3-990(3)(C) provides that it is unlawful for any
retail liquor dealer to sell or permit the sale of alcoholic liquors to any
person under of twenty one years of age.
ORDER
Based upon the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is hereby ordered:
ORDERED, this case against Anthony A. Kokolis, d/b/a Tony's Party Shop, alleging the
delivery of liquor to a person under the age of twenty-one on September 13, 1994, be dismissed.
_________________________________
Ralph King Anderson, III
Administrative Law Judge
Columbia, South Carolina
July 6, 1995 |
