CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 2326, 1989 Fla. App. LEXIS 5425, 1989 WL 113240
...issed. I. The four-count administrative complaint alleges that Evans Packing Company is a citrus fruit dealer holding a license issued by the Department of Agriculture and that the Department "seeks to impose the disciplinary sanctions authorized by s.601.67, Fla....
...Therefore, Evans, the Respondent, engaged in prohibited acts within the meaning of section 601.9909, Florida Statutes, by including additives and mislabeling the four can codes of frozen concentrated orange juice. These prohibited acts warrant the imposition of the penalties provided for in section 601.67, Florida Statutes....
...He imposed the recommended *116 two-year suspension and $200,000 administrative fine. II. Evans raises several points on this appeal from that order. We discuss only the standard of proof applicable to this proceeding, the type of conduct required under section 601.67(1) to establish guilt, and the sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding of guilt and imposition of penalties....
...We hold that irrespective of whether the license is held by an individual or a corporate entity, it was incumbent upon the Department to prove the charged violation of section 601.9909 by clear and convincing evidence before imposing the penalties under section 601.67....
...missioner under the more stringent clear and convincing standard of proof. See Bryan, supra. B. We next address the type of conduct that must be shown to establish a violation of section 601.9909 for purposes of imposing disciplinary penalties under section 601.67(1)....
...ble cost; and protecting loss through unscrupulous practices and haphazard methods in connection with the processing and marketing of citrus fruit and the canned or concentrated products *117 thereof. See ss.
601.02(1), (2), (4), and (5), Fla. Stat. Section
601.67(1) authorizes the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to revoke or suspend the license of any citrus fruit dealer and impose a fine not exceeding $50,000 per violation upon a sufficient showing that such dealer has done one or more of the prohibited acts described in subparagraphs (a) through (g) of that section. [7] The charge in this case, based on section
601.67(1)(b), alleged that Evans had "violated or aided or abetted in the violation of any law of this state governing or applicable to citrus fruit dealers or any lawful rules of the Department of Citrus......
...ponsible as a matter of law for adulteration of a product not caused by it in the absence of some available means to test for or otherwise prevent such adulteration. This construction of the statutory scheme is consistent with the manifest intent of section 601.67(1) to impose disciplinary penalties when the licensed dealer is found to have acted in violation of law by committing a prohibited act or failing to do a required act....
...We agree with the Department that it is not necessary to show that Evans intentionally or knowingly violated the statute, i.e., that Evans knew the pulpwash was present, as mens rea is not an element of the statutory violation. However, subparagraphs (a), (c)(g) of section 601.67(1) (see note 7, supra) explicitly or by clear implication require, as a prerequisite to the imposition of disciplinary sanctions, that the accused dealer act or fail to act with knowledge that such conduct violates the law....
...t hesitancy, as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established. Slomowitz v. Walker,
429 So.2d 797, 800 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983). [6] The Act may be referred to as "The Florida Citrus Code of 1949." See §
601.01 et seq., Fla. Stat. (1979). [7] Section
601.67(1) provides: (1) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services may impose a fine not exceeding $50,000 per violation against any licensed citrus fruit dealer for violation of any provision of this chapter, and, in lieu of, or in...
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida
ALLEN, Judge. The Circuit Court of Pasco County quashed a writ of certiorari which had been issued to review an order entered by the Commissioner of Agriculture against a citrus fruit dealer. Section 601.67, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., authorized the Commissioner of Agriculture, after notice and hearing, to revoke or suspend the license of any citrus fruit dealer if he determines that such dealer has violated any of the provisions of the Florida Citrus Code....
