HEARING OFFICER’S FAILURE TO GATHER EVIDENCE REQUESTED BY THE PETITIONER DEPRIVED PETITIONER OF A FAIR HEARING, DETERMINATION ANNULLED.
The Second Department determined several failures to gather proof requested by the inmate (petitioner) deprived petitioner of a fair disciplinary hearing. The determination was annulled and the violation expunged. The hearing officer, inter alia: (1) failed to retrieve a document which could have supported the petitioner’s claim he was not served with the proper disciplinary papers; (2) failed to ascertain the identity of the confidential informant who claimed a weapon was in petitioner’s cell; and (3) failed to ask a witness (petitioner claimed the witness planted the weapon) relevant questions posed by the petitioner:
Considering all of these circumstances, the petitioner did not receive a fair hearing … . While a prison inmate facing a disciplinary hearing is not entitled to the same level of due process as a criminal defendant, there are minimum standards that must be met … . Here, since the petitioner did not receive a fair hearing, the minimum due process standard was not met … . Matter of Harvey v Prack, 2016 NY Slip Op 06497, 2nd Dept 10-5-16
DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS (INMATES) (HEARING OFFICER’S FAILURE TO GATHER EVIDENCE REQUESTED BY THE PETITIONER DEPRIVED PETITIONER OF A FAIR HEARING, DETERMINATION ANNULLED)/EVIDENCE (DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS, INMATES, (HEARING OFFICER’S FAILURE TO GATHER EVIDENCE REQUESTED BY THE PETITIONER DEPRIVED PETITIONER OF A FAIR HEARING, DETERMINATION ANNULLED)