Woodard v. Personnel Commission

In Woodard v. Personnel Commission (1979) 89 Cal.App.3d 552, the trial court in the first instance denied the petition for a free transcript of the administrative proceedings; the indigent then proposed to proceed upon a settled statement. At that point the agency refused to cooperate and advised the trial court that there was a need for the entire record, including the transcript itself, before proper judicial review could be undertaken. The trial court then denied relief to the petitioner (Woodard). The court in Woodard recognized a fundamental difference between the facts presented in Civil Service Commission v. Superior Court, 63 Cal.App.3d 627, and those it faced. It stated, "that even though the court did not have the power to initially order a transcript for Woodard (as it recognized in denying his request for such prior to trial), once the true posture of the case became apparent at trial, a continuance in order to allow the agency to have the transcript prepared and filed with the court was not only possible, but apparently necessary. At the very least, the tapes should have been placed in evidence and the contents reviewed by the judge." (89 Cal.App.3d at p. 561.)