EARIC SMILEY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2007-02-16
No. 5D06-1658
GRIFFIN and ORFINGER, JJ., concur.
948 So. 2d 964 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2007) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Earic Smiley, an incarcerated prisoner, challenged the Department of Corrections' disciplinary action that resulted in loss of gain time after a homemade weapon was found under his mattress. The court affirmed that the DOC's action was supported by sufficient evidence and that the correct legal standard—requiring only 'some evidence' rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt—was properly applied.


Holding

The court held that revocation of gain time credits requires only 'some evidence' rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the fact-finder need not overcome the prisoner's hypothesis of innocence. The evidence of the weapon's discovery under Smiley's mattress provided a reasonable inference sufficient to meet the 'some evidence' standard, and the trial court correctly applied the law in upholding the DOC's disciplinary action.


Headnotes

[1] Revocation of good time credits in a prison disciplinary context requires only 'some evidence' to support the decision, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

[2] The discovery of contraband in a prisoner's personal living space, such as under a mattress in bedding, can constitute 'some evidence' sufficient to support a disciplinar…

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Key Quotes

“Revocation of good time credits is not comparable to a criminal conviction, and neither the amount of evidence necessary to support such conviction, nor any other standard greater than some evidence applies in this context.”

Establishes that disciplinary revocation of gain time uses a lower evidentiary standard than criminal proceedings

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Facts & Procedural History

On November 19, 2005, correctional officers conducting a random search found a homemade weapon approximately ten inches long beneath Smiley's mattress…

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Opinion of the Court
LAWSON, J.

LAWSON, J.

Earic Smiley appeals the denial of a petition for writ of mandamus in which he challenged the loss of gain time pursuant to a disciplinary action by the Department of Corrections, (“DOC”). We treat Smiley’s notice of appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari.1 Finding that Smiley was afforded due process and that the trial court applied the correct law, we deny the writ.

Earic Smiley is a prisoner currently incarcerated at the Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell, Florida. On November 19, 2005, while conducting a random locker and area search, a correctional officer found a “homemade weapon, approximately ten inches long,” beneath the mattress of Smiley’s bed, wrapped in his sheets. The institution followed its disciplinary procedure, which ultimately resulted in a finding that Smiley violated prison rules by possessing the weapon. As a result, Smiley suffered sixty days loss of gain time, and disciplinary confinement for sixty days. Smiley unsuccessfully exhausted his administrative remedies, then timely filed a petition for writ of manda mus with the circuit court in Sumter County.2

Smiley’s only argument is that it was inappropriate to discipline him based solely upon evidence that the weapon was found in his bedding, since someone else could have placed it there to “set him up.” Citing primarily to cases regarding the quantum of proof necessary to establish possession beyond a reasonable doubt for a criminal conviction, Smiley argues that the trial court failed to apply the correct law in denying his petition for writ of mandamus. We disagree.

Although the loss of “basic” or “incentive” gain time credit (also referred to as “good time credit”) implicates due process, “[r]evocation of good time credits is not comparable to a criminal conviction, and neither the amount of evidence necessary to support such conviction, nor any other standard greater than some evidence applies in this context.” Dugger v. Grant, 610 So. 2d 428, 432 n. 3 (Fla.1993) (emphasis in original) (quoting Superintendent, Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 456, 105 S.Ct. 2768, 86 L.Ed.2d 356 (1985)). As explained in Hill, requiring only “a modicum of evidence to support a decision to revoke good time credits will help to prevent arbitrary deprivations without threatening institutional interests or imposing undue administrative burdens.” 472 U.S. at 455, 105 S.Ct. 2768.

The fact that a correctional officer found the weapon under Smiley’s mattress certainly provides a reasonable inference from which DOC officials could conclude that the weapon belonged to Smiley. As such, DOC’s disciplinary action was supported by “some evidence.” The evidence presented to DOC officials did not need to overcome Smiley’s hypothesis of innocence — that the weapon was a “plant”— beyond a reasonable doubt. Hill, 472 U.S. at 455-456, 105 S.Ct. 2768. The evidence did not need to be “clear and convincing.” Id. Nor did it even need to meet the lesser standard of proving possession by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. Because the evidence presented was clearly sufficient to meet the “some evidence” standard, we find that the trial court applied the correct law in reviewing DOC’s decision. Accordingly, we deny certiorari.

CERTIORARI DENIED.

GRIFFIN and ORFINGER, JJ., concur. . See Sheley v. Florida Parole Comm’n, 703 So. 2d 1202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997), approved, 720 So. 2d 216 (Fla.1998) (finding that district court review of a prisoner disciplinary matter is properly by certiorari where the circuit court has already afforded the petitioner a review of the agency's administrative decision on the merits). “On the second level of review in the district court the issue is limited to a determination whether the circuit court afforded due process and whether the court observed the essential requirements of law.” Id. at 1206.

. Mandamus is the accepted remedy for circuit court review of DOC disciplinary actions. Bush v. State, 945 So. 2d 1207 (Fla.2006). However, “the circuit court in Leon County is the proper venue for such cases if the prisoner has exhausted administrative remedies and is not alleging entitlement to immediate release.” Id. at 1213. Although the case should have been transferred to the circuit court in Leon County, venue was waived below.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Robert E. Banks v. Jones, 197 So. 3d 1152 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016)
    …nother. As this is not a criminal proceeding, it was not necessary for the Department to find Petitioner guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, so cases discussing the State’s burden of persuasion in criminal prosecutions are inapposite. Smiley v. State, 948 So. 2d 964, 964 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) (holding that “ ‘[Revocation of good time credits [in prison disciplinary context] is not comparable to a criminal conviction, arid neither the amount of evidence necessary to support such ■ conviction, nor any other standar…
  • O'Neill v. McNEIL, 979 So. 2d 1209 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
    …mpensation for performing legal services for another inmate. We recognize that to be sufficient, the evidence of guilt in a prison disciplinary proceeding need not overcome the ■ charged inmate’s hypothesis of innocence. See Smiley v. [*1211] State, 948 So. 2d 964 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007). We conclude, however, that in the absence of direct evidence, an inference of guilt must nonetheless be reasonable and must have some factual support in the record. If indeed there is an investigative report that “ties all of th…
  • Drew C. Hartley v. McNEIL, 36 So. 3d 696 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
    …e case or give him an opportunity to be heard. He appeals the order.1 Initially, we note that a DOC disciplinary order taking away gain time has been reviewed by petition for mandamus in the circuit where the prison is located. See Smiley v. State, 948 So. 2d 964 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) (mandamus is the accepted remedy for circuit court review of Department of Corrections disciplinary actions). In Smith v. McDonough, 955 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007), involving the same kind of proceeding, we reversed the iden…

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