| Matter of Hannah v Burge |
| 2007 NY Slip Op 06775 [43 AD3d 1234] |
| September 20, 2007 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| In the Matter of Reginald Hannah, Petitioner, v John W. Burge, asSuperintendent of Elmira Correctional Facility, Respondent. |
—[*1] Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, Albany (Kathleen M. Arnold of counsel), forrespondent.
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the SupremeCourt, entered in Chemung County) to review a determination of respondent which foundpetitioner guilty of violating certain prison disciplinary rules.
Petitioner, an inmate, was charged in a misbehavior report with smuggling and violatingcorrespondence regulations after it was discovered that envelopes in outgoing mail listingpetitioner's name and identification number in the return address contained letters written byanother inmate. Following a tier II disciplinary hearing, petitioner was found guilty of bothcharges. That determination was affirmed upon administrative appeal, prompting petitioner tocommence this CPLR article 78 proceeding.
We confirm. The misbehavior report, hearing testimony and sample of petitioner'shandwriting, together with reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, constitute substantialevidence to support the determination of guilt (see Matter of Santana v Selsky, 23 AD3d 722, 723 [2005]).Petitioner's exculpatory statements regarding his role in the matter presented credibility issues forresolution by the Hearing Officer (seeMatter of Lashley v Goord, 39 AD3d 1105, 1106 [2007]). As for petitioner's assertionthat he was denied the right to call certain witnesses, the Hearing Officer properly refused thosewitnesses who had no personal knowledge of the incident and whose testimony would not havebeen material (see Matter of Williams v[*2]Goord, 27 AD3d 808, 809-810 [2006]). To theextent preserved, petitioner's remaining claims have been examined and found to be unavailing.
Cardona, P.J., Peters, Spain, Mugglin and Rose, JJ., concur. Adjudged that the determinationis confirmed, without costs, and petition dismissed.