Moore v. MillerMoore v. Miller
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the Supreme Court, entered in Ulster County) to review a determination of the Commissioner of Correctional Services which found petitioner guilty of violating a prison disciplinary rule.
Petitioner was found guilty of violating the prison disciplinary rule prohibiting assaults on other inmates. The misbehavior report relates that an inmate was stabbed three times on the basketball court and that three eyewitnesses identified petitioner by physical description and through a photo array.
Petitioner asserts that the Hearing Officer did not assess the reliability of the confidential informants. Confidential information may be the basis of a disciplinary determination provided that the Hearing Officer makes an independent assessment of its reliability (see Matter of Almonte v Goord,
Even if preserved for our review, we would find without merit petitioner’s procedural challenges, including that he was denied the right to call witnesses, denied documentary evidence and denied the opportunity to challenge the photo array. Although petitioner did not receive any witness refusal form with respect to inmate Harrigan’s testimony, the employee assistance form indicates that Harrigan refused to testify because he did not witness the incident. In any event, the record indicates that inmates other than Harrigan were with petitioner at the time of the incident and testified at the hearing. Under these circumstances, we find no basis for a reversal on these grounds (see Matter of Culbreath v Selsky,
Cardona, P.J., Crew III, Carpinello, Mugglin and Kane, JJ., concur. Adjudged that the determination is confirmed, without costs, and petition dismissed.