Holt v. Caspari, 90-1358

• Decision Date: 17 April 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-1358,90-1358
• Citation: 961 F.2d 1370
• Parties: Dale HOLT, Appellant, v. Paul CASPARI; Major J.P. Smith, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1370

961 F.2d 1370

Dale HOLT, Appellant, v. Paul CASPARI; Major J.P. Smith, Appellees.

No. 90-1358.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 12, 1991.

Decided April 17, 1992.

Howard Kent Munson, St. Louis, Mo., argued, for appellant.

Sara L. Trower, Bruce Farmer, on brief, Jefferson City, Mo., argued, for appellees.

Before JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and FAGG, Circuit Judge.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Dale Holt, a Missouri inmate, appeals from the district court's ¹ dismissal, prior to service of process, of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988) action alleging prison officials violated his due process rights in disciplinary proceedings. We issued an opinion on January 9, 1991, finding that Holt's complaint stated a claim and reversed dismissal. 923 F.2d 103 (8th Cir.1991). We granted a motion for rehearing and the panel heard argument. We now affirm the dismissal.

The Conduct Violation Report, attached to Holt's complaint, indicates that corrections officers found Holt holding several pieces of broken tablets marked "Valium." The Report charged Holt with violation of "Rule # 24--Contraband; making, transferring, or having possession of any unauthorized article or substance." The Report, given to Holt as his notice of violation, stated the pills had been submitted for analysis and that after analysis, the pills, along with all pertinent documentation, would be available to the adjustment board that served as the disciplinary hearing committee.

The Adjustment Board's "Findings and Evidence Relied On," also attached to the complaint, states:

5-18-89 in presence of counsel substitute John Czajka, who requested the result of the lab test. Mr. Czajka was advised that the lab results were still pending.... Board finds that the contraband pills were clearly marked Valium, which is a controlled substance and would lead a reasonable person to believe they were Valium. The pills could pose a threat to the security of the institution, as they could be consumed or trafficked throughout the institution. The board recommends that the CV be elevated to Rule # 3 dangerous contraband.

The Findings also state that Holt was found guilty "by virtue of the report that [subject] was in possession of what is considered dangerous contraband (Valium pills)." Rule 24 is a minor violation, and Rule 3 is a major violation. The sanctions for a major violation are substantially more severe and include extension of the conditional release date, transfer, and referral for criminal prosecution, which are not available for violation of Rule 24. Holt stated in his complaint that he was recommended for all of these sanctions.

Holt brought his section 1983 action against Paul Caspari, superintendent of the prison, and J.P. Smith, chairman of the Adjustment Board, in their official and individual capacities. Holt claimed a deprivation of due process because at the hearing Smith refused to advise him of the "documentary evidence, or the substance thereof, which the adjustment board would use as evidence against him." Holt also claimed he asked for the result of the laboratory analysis of the pills, but Smith informed him the results had not yet been furnished to the prison. He claimed the refusal to provide him with the substance of the reports to be used against him deprived him of a fair and impartial hearing and the opportunity to controvert the allegations against him, and that the board did not have any laboratory results to confirm the pills were in fact Valium. He also claimed the upgrading of the violation from Rule 24 to Rule 3 effectively denied him his right to notice of the charge in order to prepare his defense.

Holt further claimed that Caspari's failure to train and supervise subordinates resulted in Smith's actions and that Caspari failed to take proper remedial action upon learning of Holt's allegedly improper disciplinary hearing. He also claimed Caspari and Smith acted "intentionally, wantonly, in bad faith, with punitive purposes in mind, and in total disregard for plaintiffs' [sic] rights." He sought declaratory and injunctive relief, expunction of the conduct violation, compensatory damages of $100,000, and punitive damages.

The magistrate judge ² concluded that Holt had received the process due under Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), requiring advance notice of the violation, an opportunity to be heard, and a written statement of the evidence relied on and the reasons for the disciplinary action. The magistrate judge found that the statements by the Adjustment Board in the Findings and Evidence were sufficient, that the finding of guilt was supported by some evidence, and that Holt's claim of not receiving documentary evidence was frivolous. The magistrate judge also found the claim regarding the change in the rule violated was frivolous, since Holt received notice that he would have to defend against a possession of contraband charge. The district court accepted the magistrate's findings and dismissed the action under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) (1988). Order of Jan. 25, 1990.

On appeal, Holt renews his claims that the refusal to provide him with documentary evidence the board would use, the refusal to disclose the substance of any existing documentary evidence, the lack of a laboratory report, and the failure to give him adequate notice of the charge by upgrading the violation during the deliberation violated his due process rights.

Under section 1915(d), a complaint may be dismissed as frivolous if it lacks an arguable basis either in law or fact. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 324-27, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 1831-33, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989). Pro se complaints must be liberally construed and can be dismissed only if the face of the complaint shows an insuperable bar to relief. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 595-96, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972) (per curiam); Munz v. Parr, 758 F.2d 1254, 1258 (8th Cir.1985).

Holt attached to his pro se pleading copies of the various disciplinary reports and notations made by the Adjustment Board concerning the reports. The minutes of the Adjustment Board action are excerpted above in this opinion. It is evident from the face of Holt's complaint and the attachments that the board found that the contraband pills were clearly marked Valium, which is contraband and a threat to the security of the institution because of the danger of consumption and trafficking. The Adjustment Board found Holt guilty by virtue of the report that he possessed dangerous contraband, and the report recited that Valium was not issued to residents in the institution under any circumstances. While Holt complains that he was not furnished the laboratory report, the board's minutes showed that the board did not have any such report, either. The board did not need any such report because, as it stated, "[t]he contraband pills were clearly marked Valium, which ... would lead a reasonable person to believe they were Valium." The failure to produce a laboratory report is thus irrelevant, since there was no such report in existence, such report had no bearing on the correctional authorities' decision, and the mere appearance of the pills revealed them to be contraband. Cf. Locher v. Plageman, 765 F.Supp. 1260, 1262 (W.D.Va.1991) (Prison authorities not required to produce contraband sugar at hearing; "[n]o laboratory analysis was required to determine if the substance was sugar.") The Adjustment Board's decision was supported by "some evidence." Superintendent v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 455, 105 S.Ct. 2768, 2774, 86 L.Ed.2d 356 (1985).

Before issuing our opinion in this case, we called for a written response from the State, and it provided us with documents indicating that Holt pleaded guilty to criminal charges of possession of a controlled substance in a correctional institution, as a result of the same incident that led to the prison disciplinary proceedings at issue here. This guilty plea moots the issues asserted with respect to the propriety of the disciplinary action.

Holt's other argument is that he was denied due process by the committee's action in elevating the charge from possession of contraband under Rule 24 to dangerous contraband under Rule 3. This court has held in Jensen v. Satran, 651 F.2d 605, 607 (8th Cir.1981) (per curiam), that Wolff v. McDonnell does not require the infraction notice to specify whether the offense charged was serious or minor. Here, the charge was possession of the Valium, and while the change from a Rule 24 charge to a Rule 3 charge raised the potential penalties, the factual basis for both was possession of the same Valium at the same time. It is evident that the conduct violation report gave Holt all of the information he needed to make his defense.

That the Adjustment Board considered the contraband to be sufficiently dangerous to warrant an increased penalty may have been to Holt's detriment, but did not change the factual charge that had been made against him, namely possession of Valium. Any defense he would assert...