HARVEY B. ROBERTS, APPELLANT,
v.
D. H. BRIERTON ET AL., APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1979-03-08
No. KK-313
MILLS, Acting C. J., and SMITH and ERVIN, JJ., concur.
368 So. 2d 117 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1979) Caution
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Roberts appealed a summary denial of his habeas corpus petition challenging his disciplinary hearing in prison. The court reversed, holding that Roberts was entitled to an order to show cause because he was denied the opportunity to present witnesses in his defense without any showing of institutional safety concerns.


Holding

The court held that Roberts was entitled to an order to show cause. While Wolff v. McDonnell does not guarantee an inmate the absolute right to call witnesses, it permits denial only when doing so would be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals. The state failed to develop a record or provide evidence or allegations of such hazard here, and the detailed factual allegations in the petition were sufficient to require a response.


Headnotes

[1] A habeas corpus petition alleging denial of due process in a disciplinary proceeding may be meritorious if the inmate was refused the opportunity to call witnesses in the…

[2] An inmate should be allowed to call witnesses in a disciplinary proceeding when doing so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals.

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Key Quotes

“an inmate should be allowed to call witnesses "when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals."”

Establishes the constitutional standard from Wolff v. McDonnell for when witness testimony can be restricted in prison disciplinary hearings.

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Facts & Procedural History

Roberts was charged with refusing to work in a prison disciplinary proceeding. He requested the opportunity to call witnesses, including medical perso…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Roberts appeals from a summary denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We reverse and remand with instructions that the trial court issue an order to show cause to appellees.

The petition alleged that Roberts was denied due process of law in a disciplinary proceeding. Though he lists several grounds, the one we find to be meritorious under the circumstances of this case is that he was refused the opportunity to call witnesses in his own defense.

While we recognize that Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), does not require that an inmate be allowed to call witnesses on his own behalf, it does state that an inmate should be allowed to call witnesses “when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals.” There being no record developed in this case, there is no evidence or allegation by the state that the calling of the witnesses requested would have created such a hazard.

Furthermore, Rule 33-3.08(13)(i), F.A.C., provides:

“(i) The inmate or the Disciplinary Team may request material witnesses. The chairman will call those witnesses (staff or inmates) who are available and who are determined to be necessary for an appreciation of the circumstances. Repetitive witnesses will not be called. Unavailable witnesses may submit written statements. Witnesses will not be called if doing so would create a risk or reprisal or would undermine authority. The inmate witness must be willing to testify. An inmate witness may elect to offer an oral or written statement to the investigating officer in lieu of a personal appearance before the Disciplinary Team. The chairman should note in the report the reasons for declining to call requested witnesses.”

We reject appellees’ contention that since the charge was the inmate’s refusal to work, the only fact to be established was that he did or did not work. Surely appel-lees would not contend that an inmate who is physically incapacitated could be disciplined for refusal to report to work, yet the procedure suggested by appellees would provide the inmate no opportunity to present witnesses, medical personnel, for example, to prove he was incapacitated. The need for an inmate in this situation to be able to call witnesses to explain the circumstances of the alleged disciplinary violation is apparent.

We are not ruling that the trial court must issue a show cause order or grant an evidentiary hearing everytime an inmate makes a conclusory allegation that he was denied the opportunity to call witnesses in his own behalf. The facts of this case are compelling. This petition makes detailed factual allegations: it states that Roberts filed a written request before the hearing and made a verbal request at the hearing; it alleges that two of the witnesses he had requested had been “interviewed” before the hearing by staff and were not called for the hearing; and it names the witnesses he wanted to call, two of whom were medical personnel. There being no record, we do not know if witnesses were determined to be unnecessary or unavailable, if inmate witnesses elected to give statements in lieu of personal appearances, or if the chairman noted in the report the reasons for declining to call requested witnesses.

Under the circumstances of this case, we believe that the allegations in the petition are sufficient to require a response by appellees. Accordingly, we reverse and re mand with instructions that the trial court issue an order to show cause to appellees.

MILLS, Acting C. J., and SMITH and ERVIN, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Holcomb v. Dep't OF Corr., 609 So. 2d 751 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)
    …747 (quoting Willis v. Ciccone, 506 F. 2d 1011, 1015 (8th Cir.1974). In reversing the summary denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus that had alleged denial of the right to call witnesses at a disciplinary hearing, in Roberts v. Brierton, 368 So. 2d 117, 118 (Fla. 1st DCA1979), we stated: We are not ruling that the trial court must issue a show cause order or grant an evidentiary hearing every time an inmate makes a conclusory allegation that he was denied the opportunity to call [*755] witnesses…
  • Piccirillo v. Louie L. Wainwright, 382 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
    …nsiderable potential for havoc inside the prison walls . . .” Following the foregoing holding of the United States Supreme Court is the Department’s Rule 33-3.08(13)(i), which allows an inmate to request material witnesses.1 In Roberts v. Brierton, 368 So. 2d 117,118 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), this court reversed the summary denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus which had alleged denial of right to call witnesses at a disciplinary hearing. In so doing, however, this court ruled (368 So. 2d at 118): “We a…
  • Jerry v. Louie L. Wainwright, 383 So. 2d 1110 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)
    …t, 366 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). When, as here, similar allegations remain unrefuted, I see no justification for excusing the department’s unexplained deviation from the clear requirements of its rules. The rule stated in Roberts v. Brierton, 368 So. 2d 117 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) and Piccirillo v. Wainwright, 382 So. 2d 743 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), and relied upon by the majority, requiring detailed factual allegations as a precondition to habeas relief, has no application to the circumstances before us. Foll…
    1 / 2

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