Mendoza v. Miller

• Decision Date: 19 December 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-1791,84-1791
• Citation: 779 F.2d 1287
• Parties: Charles MENDOZA, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Harold G. MILLER, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1287

779 F.2d 1287

Charles MENDOZA, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Harold G. MILLER, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 84-1791.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 20, 1985.

Decided Dec. 19, 1985.

Howard R. Eisenberg, Southern Ill. Univ. School of Law, Carbondale, Ill., for petitioner-appellant.

Joel B. Merkel, Asst. U.S. Atty., Frederick J. Hess, U.S. Atty., Benton, Ill., for respondent-appellee.

Before ESCHBACH and COFFEY, Circuit Judges, and SWYGERT, Senior Circuit Judge.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

The petitioner, Charles Mendoza, appeals the denial of his petition for habeas corpus. We affirm.

I.

The following facts were presented in the respondent's motion for summary judgment and are not in dispute. On March 14, 1984, Nathan Cowger, an inmate of the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, was stabbed to death in his cell. The unit officer on duty, an Officer Kaffenberger, responded to Cowger's screams and observed two inmates running from the victim's cell. Kaffenberger was able to positively identify one of the perpetrators as inmate Jose Ramon Vallez but was unable to observe directly, and thus unable to positively identify, the second inmate. Initially, Kaffenberger believed the second inmate to be one Eti Fiaalii. Approximately five seconds after his assailants fled, Cowger staggered from his cell and, with Kaffenberger's assistance, walked to the cell block exit. Cowger was taken to the prison infirmary by other guards and died of his stab wounds a short time later.

Kaffenberger, after assisting Cowger to the exit, returned to the cell block and closed the grill between the ranges, trapping inmates Charles Mendoza and Mackie Smothers on ranges that were "out-of-bounds" for them. The institution's staff conducted a "shake-down" of the unit and recovered an ice pick-type weapon and a homemade knife. The ice pick was found underneath a trash can and the knife was discovered on the ground below an open window; however, the record does not reveal their location in relation to the stabbing incident. The prison staff also began an investigation of the incident and learned from confidential sources that Cowger had few friends, had been the target of a "silence campaign," and had received a death threat from another inmate. Additionally, the confidential informants stated that Cowger also had an argument with Mendoza, reportedly a member of the Mexican Mafia, a prison gang, and had forced Mendoza to "back down" in front of other inmates. According to the confidential informants, the Mexican Mafia met shortly after Cowger's confrontation with Mendoza and "put out a contract" on Cowger. The confidential informants positively identified Vallez and Mendoza as Cowger's assailants and told the authorities that Fiaalii was playing cards at the time of the stabbing. Moreover, the investigating officer determined that Mendoza fits the description of the second inmate seen by Officer Kaffenberger.

On March 19, 1981, Mendoza was served with notice of an institutional discipline complaint charging him with violating prison regulations in murdering Cowger. ¹ A hearing date before the Institution Disciplinary Committee ("IDC") was set and Mendoza was informed of his rights in writing before the IDC including his right to representation by a staff member, the right to call witnesses and to present documentary evidence on his behalf, the right to attend the hearing, and the right to be advised of the Committee's decision and the facts supporting the decision. These rights were given to Mendoza in an "advisement of rights" form. Mendoza was also informed that the incident had been referred to the FBI for "investigation and possible prosecution."

The IDC hearing was held on April 3, 1981. Mendoza refused to appear before the IDC, did not request a staff representative, did not submit a statement or documentary evidence, and failed to request the Committee to call witnesses on his behalf. The IDC reviewed a 31-page investigation report prepared by Officer Christie, the prison investigator. The investigative report stated that, "information was obtained from confidential sources and must remain anonymous to assure the safety of those sources." Christie submitted a confidential report to the chairman of the IDC identifying the confidential informants and reciting that they had previously given reliable information. ² The IDC found Mendoza guilty and stated that it relied on the following evidence in reaching that determination:

"Extensive investigation was conducted by Mr. Christie, SIS and said investigation contained information from confidential and reliable sources which identified inmate Mendoza as one of two inmates that killed inmate Cowger. This ocurred [sic] at approximately 5:20 p.m. 3/14/81, inmate Mendoza and another inmate repeatly [sic] stabbed inmate Cowger in F-A-1 Cowger's cell. Confidential sources are known by this chairman to be reliable. This incident report was delayed because of FBI investigation."

The IDC ruled that Mendoza should lose 360 days of accumulated good time and be committed to disciplinary segregation for sixty days.

Mendoza and Vallez subsequently were indicted and tried for Cowger's murder before a jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Vallez was found guilty and Mendoza was acquitted. During discovery, Mendoza obtained memoranda from the government indicating that Kaffenberger initially believed that the second assailant was Fiaalii and FBI memoranda recording an eye witness denying seeing the stabbing in his first interview with the investigating agents but giving a detailed description of the assault at a later date.

On August 3, 1983, Mendoza filed a petition for habeas corpus in the federal court attacking the loss of his good time and his commitment to disciplinary segregation. The matter was referred to a magistrate and the respondent filed a motion for summary judgment. In support of his motion for summary judgment, the respondent submitted an affidavit from Officer Christie stating that the confidential sources who identified Mendoza as the second assailant, "were known to be reliable as they had provided reliable information in the past." Christie further affirmed that, "prior to petitioner's IDC hearing, affiant provided for the IDC chairman's review, handwritten notes taken from the interviews of several confidential informants. Finally, these notes presented the confidential informant information, informant names and established the informants' past [record] for reliability." According to the affidavit, Christie destroyed the notes after incorporating all the information contained therein in the formal confidential report to the committee chairman. After a hearing, the magistrate granted the respondent's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, Mendoza argues that he was denied due process because the disciplinary committee relied on the evidence given by confidential informants and, according to Mendoza, the record before the IDC and before the magistrate is insufficient to support the committee's determination that the confidential informants were reliable. Additionally, Mendoza alleges that the committee denied him due process by failing to disclose exculpatory evidence to him before the IDC hearing. Finally, the petitioner alleges that the magistrate denied him due process and effective representation of counsel in his habeas corpus proceeding in refusing to allow his counsel to review in camera material concerning the confidential informants.

II.

A. The Determination of Reliability

Mendoza contends that the IDC deprived him of due process because, "[he] was not informed in advance of his IDC hearing of the fact that confidential, and unnamed, informants' information would be relied upon ... [and] has never ... been informed of the identity of such informants or the nature of their assertions." Additionally Mendoza claims that the IDC's determination that the confidential informants were reliable was defective because there was no corroboration of the informants' testimony. Finally, Mendoza argues that "the discipline committee itself [must] make a determination of reliability and provide a written record of that determination." ³

Beginning with its decision in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), the Supreme Court has established the minimum requirements of procedural due process to be afforded to prisoners in disciplinary proceedings. Because "[p]rison disciplinary proceedings are not part of a criminal prosecution ... the full panoply of rights due a defendant in such proceedings does not apply." Id. at 556, 94 S.Ct. at 2974.

"[S]imply because prison inmates retain certain constitutional rights does not mean that these rights are not subject to restrictions and limitations. 'Lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitations of many privileges and rights, a retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system'.... The fact of confinement as well as the legitimate goals and policies of the penal institution limits these retained constitutional rights.... There must be a 'mutual accommodation between the institutional needs and objectives and the provisions of the Constitution that are of general application.' "

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" '[C]entral to all other corrections goals is the institutional consideration of internal security within the corrections facilities themselves.' ... Prison officials must be free to take appropriate action to ensure the safety of inmates and corrections personnel and to prevent escape or unauthorized entry. Accordingly, we have held that even when an institutional restriction infringes a specific constitutional guarantee, such as the First Amendment, the practice must be evaluated in the light of the central objective of prison administration, safeguarding institutional security."

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