Pannell v. McBride
| Decision Date | 30 September 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-3784.,01-3784. |
| Citation | 306 F.3d 499 |
| Parties | David PANNELL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Daniel R. MCBRIDE, Superintendent, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
David Pannell (submitted), Michigan City, for Petitioner-Appellant.
Frances Barrow, Office of Atty. General, Indianapolis, IN, for Respondent-Appellee.
Before COFFEY, EASTERBROOK, and MANION, Circuit Judges.
A Wabash Valley Correctional Facility conduct adjustment board found Indiana inmate David Pannell guilty of possessing a deadly weapon and sanctioned him with two years' disciplinary segregation and a demotion in credit-earning class. After exhausting his state remedies, Pannell sought a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court denied his petition and Pannell appeals. We vacate and remand.
On October 14, 1999, Sergeant Elofson, Sergeant Cassidy, and Correctional Officer Counterman searched Pannell's cell. During this search Elofson disassembled a television bearing Pannell's name and prisoner number and discovered three crude knives, marijuana, and tobacco. The next day prison officials charged Pannell with three infractions, including possession of a dangerous weapon. Pannell pleaded not guilty, claiming that another inmate had loaned him the television and that he was unaware of its contents. According to Pannell the television's exterior was sealed when he received it and remained that way until the October 14 search. The conduct board nevertheless found him guilty after an October 26 hearing.
Pannell filed a verified habeas corpus petition in February 2001, asserting that the conduct board was biased against him and that Indiana violated his due process rights by refusing his request for documents and his request to call witnesses. Pannell declared under penalty of perjury that he had submitted to the screening officer written requests for documents and witnesses a week before the hearing, but that his requests were denied. The district court then ordered Indiana to show cause why the court should not issue the writ. Indiana filed a response to the court's order, including a memorandum and supporting exhibits requesting that the petition be denied. After the court denied his request for discovery, Pannell submitted his own memorandum and supporting exhibits requesting that his petition be granted. A week later the court denied the petition, concluding that Pannell had failed to demonstrate bias and that there was no evidence in the record that he timely requested documents and witnesses.
On appeal Pannell iterates that the conduct board was biased and that prison authorities violated his due process rights by stymying his efforts to obtain documents and call witnesses. Before examining the merits of his petition, however, we must restate our standard of review. Both sides assert that we examine the propriety of the prison's disciplinary proceeding under the deferential lens prescribed by 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1). Under that provision federal courts may grant habeas corpus relief only if a state court's adjudication on the merits resulted in a decision that "was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1); Washington v. Smith, 219 F.3d 620, 627 (7th Cir.2000). But as this court has stated several times, a prison disciplinary board is not a "court," and Indiana does not provide for judicial review of conduct board determinations. Piggie v. McBride, 277 F.3d 922, 925-26 (7th Cir.2002); White v. Ind. Parole Bd., 266 F.3d 759, 765-66 (7th Cir.2001). As a result, § 2254(d)(1) does not apply in this case and our review is de novo. See id.1
Pannell first contends that the conduct board was biased. Although he had a right to a disciplinary hearing conducted by an impartial decision maker, see Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 571, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), his allegation of partiality was insufficient to support a disqualification. Pannell asserts that the conduct board was biased because the same members presided over his separate disciplinary proceedings arising from the discovery of marijuana and tobacco in the television. He complains that the conduct board had "prior knowledge of the factual events" of the October 14 search, but does not explain how this knowledge prejudiced his case. Moreover, the conduct board members had no involvement in the underlying factual events of the incident. See Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 551, 114 S.Ct. 1147, 127 L.Ed.2d 474 (1994); Gaither v. Anderson, 236 F.3d 817, 820 (7th Cir.2000). Pannell thus failed to demonstrate bias.
Pannell also claims that prison authorities denied him due process by not allowing him to present documentary evidence and call witnesses in his defense. The Due Process Clause gives inmates a right to call witnesses and present documentary evidence at a hearing that results in an extension of their incarceration time by demoting their credit-earning class. Montgomery v. Anderson, 262 F.3d 641 642 (7th Cir.2001). But the right to present evidence is qualified — prison officials may exclude evidence from an inmate's hearing to ensure institutional safety or correctional goals. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. 2963. Moreover, prisoners do not have the right to call witnesses whose testimony would be irrelevant, repetitive, or unnecessary. Id.; Forbes v. Trigg, 976 F.2d 308, 317-18 (7th Cir.1992).
The district court rejected Pannell's complaints because in its view there was nothing in the record demonstrating that Pannell requested the specified documents and witnesses. Pannell states that he asked for copies of his commissary history and a statement from his caseworker attesting that the prison had no record of another inmate transferring ownership of the television to him. But whether he requested these documents is of no matter because they concern a point that was not in dispute. Both parties agreed...
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