Leslie v. Board of Medical Quality Assurance

In Leslie v. Board of Medical Quality Assurance (1991) 234 Cal. App. 3d 117, a physician challenged a disciplinary decision that was based on his convictions for prescription violations. Under the Business and Professions Code, the convictions have conclusive effect as evidence of unprofessional conduct. The court found that the physician's appeal from a judgment denying a writ of mandate was frivolous. The only issue raised was the validity of the convictions, and the physician had been informed numerous times by the administrative law judge, and by the trial court, that he could not challenge the underlying convictions. The court noted that the appeal was "totally without merit" as it was a collateral attack on the convictions. (Id. at p. 122.) The court observed that appellant ignored a clear line of authority by continuing to challenge his convictions on appeal, and that he was simply "harassing respondent and forcing respondent to expend resources in responding. His actions result in needless delay. Appellant must accept responsibility for his actions and stop abusing respondent and the system. He must, at some point, move on with his life. . . ." (Id. at p. 121.) The court further observed that "Even though appellant is in propria persona, he is held to the same 'restrictive procedural rules as an attorney.' " (Ibid.) The court ordered appellant to pay $ 10,000 in sanctions to respondent in order to discourage frivolous appeals and to provide some compensation for respondent's efforts in having to defend the appeal. The Court awarded sanctions against a pro per plaintiff where the facts indicated that the meritless appeal was based on improper motives: Because the trial judge had clearly explained the conclusive effect of the judgments of conviction to the appellant, he could not argue that he believed that his position had merit. Nevertheless, the "Appellant continued to challenge his convictions in inappropriate forums harassing respondent and forcing respondent to expend resources in responding." ( Id. at p. 121.)