Md. Code Regs. 10.37.10.25

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 22, November 1, 2024

Section 10.37.10.25 - Evidence, Testimony, and Official Notice

A. The presiding officer at a public hearing or general hearing shall make all rulings as to evidence, testimony, and official notice and he may call on the legal counsel of the Commission for guidance in his rulings.

B. All evidence and testimony shall be relevant and pertain solely to the issues being considered in a particular proceeding.

C. Redundant evidence or testimony may not be permitted at public or general hearings or in the records of proceedings.

D. Non-expert opinion testimony may be considered at a hearing and documentary opinion evidence may be entered in the record of a proceeding if the testimony or evidence is based on facts and matters admissible into evidence and the facts and matters are within the personal knowledge of the submitter of the document.

E. Qualification as an expert shall be within the discretion of the presiding officer of the public or general hearing at which the proposed expert may proffer testimony or evidence or, if evidence is proffered at a time other than at a public hearing, within the discretion of the chairman of the Commission considering the proceeding. The expert qualification need not be based upon academic degrees or learning; reasonably extensive practical experience with the subject may be sufficient for an expert qualification.

F. Subject to the provisions of these regulations, legal rules of evidence shall be followed as far as practicable at public and general hearings.

G. Reliable and probative documents previously filed with or compiled by the Commission or its staff or consultants that are relevant to issues being considered by the Commission may be incorporated by reference into the record of a proceeding by the Commission or, by leave of the presiding officer, by a party to the proceeding.

H. In the course of a proceeding, the Commission may take official notice of facts and matters in the same manner as the courts of the State take judicial notice of facts and matters and, additionally, may take notice, without meeting formal evidentiary rules, of general, technical, or scientific facts within the specialized knowledge of a member of the Commission. However, any party to the proceeding is entitled, on timely request, to an opportunity to show that the Commission should not take official notice of specific facts and matters or that the fact or matter to be officially noticed is inapplicable to the proceeding or is incorrect or misunderstood by the Commission.

I. In reviewing a hospital's rate structure, the Commission may consider or take official notice of any public document, including, but not limited to, any filing made with the Maryland Health Resources Planning Commission relative to a Certificate of Need application including all projections of volumes, revenues, rates, and feasibility studies, as well as any public document concerning the financing of a project approved pursuant to a Certificate of Need.

Md. Code Regs. 10.37.10.25

Regulation .25I adopted effective May 9, 1983 (10:9 Md. R. 791)