Josey v. Goord

• Decision Date: 20 December 2007
• Docket Number: 176.
• Citation: 849 N.Y.S.2d 497,9 N.Y.3d 386,880 N.E.2d 18
• Parties: In the Matter of Derek JOSEY, Appellant v. Glenn S. GOORD, as Commissioner of Correctional Services, Respondent.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

880 N.E.2d 18

9 N.Y.3d 386

849 N.Y.S.2d 497

In the Matter of Derek JOSEY, Appellant v. Glenn S. GOORD, as Commissioner of Correctional Services, Respondent.

176.

Court of Appeals of New York.

December 20, 2007.

Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, Albany (Dianna Goodwin, Susan Johnson and Karen Murtagh-Monks of counsel), for appellant.

Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, Albany (Martin A. Hotvet, Barbara D. Underwood and Andrew D. Bing of counsel), for respondent.

[849 N.Y.S.2d 388]

OPINION OF THE COURT

GRAFFEO, J.

Petitioner, an inmate in the custody of the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS), brings this CPLR article 78 proceeding claiming that the doctrine of res judicata precludes the imposition of a prison disciplinary penally based on his second-degree manslaughter conviction because he was previously disciplined in connection with the incident underlying his criminal conviction. Like the courts below, we conclude that res judicata does not apply under these circumstances.

On July 17, 2003, petitioner Derek Josey and another inmate, Richard Rodriguez, engaged in a physical altercation witnessed by over 300 other prisoners. During the fight, petitioner stabbed Rodriguez in the chest. He died later that day. Three days later, DOCS charged petitioner in a misbehavior report with breaching inmate rules prohibiting assault, fighting, possession of a weapon and refusal to obey a direct order.¹ The report stated that three correction officers observed "two combatants lunging back and forth at each other, with what appeared to be weapons in hand." Following the completion of a tier III disciplinary hearing on July 30, 2003, a hearing officer found petitioner guilty of the assault, fighting and weapon charges, and imposed a penalty of 24 months in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) with a corresponding loss of packages, commissary and telephone privileges. For reasons that are unexplained in the record, neither the misbehavior report nor the hearing officer's written determination indicated Rodriguez's death.

A second DOCS misbehavior report premised on the same incident was served on petitioner in September 2003, charging him with violating the disciplinary rules proscribing assault, possession of a weapon, refusal to obey a direct order and violent conduct. This report added that Rodriguez had died and that confidential informants stated that petitioner had stabbed Rodriguez with a metal shank, which was hidden with the help of other inmates. According to the report, State Police retrieved the weapon. After this tier III hearing, petitioner was found guilty of assault, possession of a weapon and violent conduct, and assessed a penalty of 120 months in the SHU with a loss of

[849 N.Y.S.2d 389]

privileges. On administrative review, the penalty was reduced to 60 months in the SHU. Petitioner brought an article 78 proceeding in Supreme Court to annul the determination, arguing that it was barred by res judicata. While that court proceeding was pending, DOCS reversed its determination, reasoning that the incident had already been considered at the July 2003 hearing. As a result, petitioner withdrew his article 78 petition.

In August 2004, petitioner appeared in Dutchess County Court and pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter (Penal Law § 125.15[1]) in connection with the July 17, 2003 incident, and was sentenced as a second felony offender to a consecutive term of 6½ to 13 years.² DOCS later issued a third misbehavior report, charging petitioner with violating disciplinary rule 1.00 (7 NYCRR 270.2[A]), which authorizes DOCS to discipline an inmate convicted of violating the Penal Law. Following a third tier III hearing, the hearing officer found petitioner guilty and imposed an additional 72 months in the SHU, together with a loss of privileges and 156 months loss of good time. The determination was affirmed on administrative appeal.

Petitioner commenced this article 78 proceeding, asserting that the doctrine of res judicata prohibited DOCS from holding the third tier III hearing. Supreme Court denied the petition and dismissed the proceeding, finding res judicata inapplicable. The Appellate Division affirmed and we granted petitioner leave to appeal.

Petitioner argues that the third tier III determination must be annulled on res judicata grounds because the Penal Law conviction, upon which the determination was based, arose out of the same July 17, 2003 incident for which he was already assessed a penalty following the first tier III determination. DOCS counters that application of res judicata under the circumstances of this case would be inconsistent with the purpose of prison disciplinary proceedings and unduly hamper its ability to regulate the security and safety of the prison environment.

The doctrine of res judicata precludes a party from litigating "a claim where a judgment on the merits exists from a prior action between the same parties involving the same subject matter" (Matter of Hunter, 4 N.Y.3d 260, 269, 794 N.Y.S.2d 286, 827 N.E.2d 269 [2005]). Under New York's transactional approach to the rule, "once a claim is brought to a final conclusion, all other claims arising out of the

[849 N.Y.S.2d 390]

same transaction or series of transactions are barred, even if based upon different theories or if seeking a different remedy" (O'Brien v. City of Syracuse, 54 N.Y.2d 353, 357, 445 N.Y.S.2d 687, 429 N.E.2d 1158 [1981]). Additionally, res judicata is generally applicable to quasi-judicial administrative determinations that are "rendered pursuant to the adjudicatory authority of an agency to decide cases brought before its tribunals employing procedures substantially similar to those used in a court of law" (Ryan v. New York Tel. Co., 62 N.Y.2d 494, 499, 478 N.Y.S.2d 823, 467 N.E.2d 487 [1984]).

Before we will apply res judicata to an administrative decision, however, "it is necessary to determine whether to do so would be consistent with the function of the administrative agency involved, the peculiar necessities of the particular case, and the nature of the precise power being exercised" (Matter of Venes v. Community School Bd. of Dist. 26, 43 N.Y.2d 520, 524, 402 N.Y.S.2d 807, 373 N.E.2d 987 [1978] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]). Consequently, the rule should give conclusive effect to agency determinations "only if such application is consistent with the nature of the particular administrative adjudication" (id.; see also Borchers and Markell, New York State Administrative Procedure and Practice § 3.23, at 76 [2d ed.] [observing that "preclusion must make sense within the overall context of the agency's procedures" (internal quotation marks and footnote omitted)...