| Matter of Ponder v Fischer |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 09324 [56 AD3d 1094] |
| November 26, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| In the Matter of Joseph Ponder, Petitioner, v Brian Fischer, asCommissioner of Correctional Services, Respondent. |
—[*1] Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, Albany (Martin A. Hotvet of counsel), forrespondent.
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the SupremeCourt, entered in Albany County) to review a determination of the Superintendent of LakeviewCorrectional Facility which found petitioner guilty of violating a prison disciplinary rule.
Petitioner, a prison inmate, was charged in a misbehavior report with violating facilitycorrespondence rules. It was alleged that petitioner sent letters to an outside address, where theletters were then repackaged and forwarded to inmates at a different correctional facility.Following a tier II disciplinary hearing, petitioner was found guilty as charged. Thatdetermination was affirmed upon administrative appeal and this CPLR article 78 proceedingseeking annulment ensued.
We confirm. The hearing testimony, offending letters and exemplars of petitioner'shandwriting, along with the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, provide substantialevidence to support the determination of guilt (see Matter of Hannah v Burge, 43 AD3d 1234, 1234 [2007]).Contrary to petitioner's assertion, the Hearing Officer was qualified to make a comparison of thehandwriting samples without the need for expert testimony on the subject (see Matter ofSurdis v Walsh, 295 AD2d 735, 736 [2002]). Petitioner's remaining contentions have [*2]been examined and found to be unavailing.
Mercure, J.P., Peters, Rose, Malone Jr. and Kavanagh, JJ., concur. Adjudged that thedetermination is confirmed, without costs, and petition dismissed.