Turner v. Caspari

• Decision Date: 30 November 1994
• Docket Number: No. 94-1077,94-1077
• Citation: 38 F.3d 388
• Parties: Shon TURNER, Appellee, v. Paul CASPARI, Appellant, Mary Brundage, Defendant, Ann Austermann; Major J. Smith; Janet Schneider, Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 388

38 F.3d 388

Shon TURNER, Appellee, v. Paul CASPARI, Appellant, Mary Brundage, Defendant, Ann Austermann; Major J. Smith; Janet Schneider, Appellants.

No. 94-1077.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 12, 1994.

Decided Oct. 27, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 30, 1994.

John Joseph Lynch, St. Louis, MO, argued, for appellant.

Jan Adams, St. Louis, MO, argued, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, MAGILL, and BEAM, Circuit Judges.

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

Defendants, all officials of Missouri Eastern Correctional Center (MECC), appeal the district court's judgment that they violated Shon Turner's due process rights by refusing to allow Turner to call live witnesses at his disciplinary hearing. MECC raises three issues on appeal: that Turner had no liberty interest in the disciplinary hearing; that using inmate witness statements instead of live testimony at Turner's disciplinary hearing did not violate his due process rights; and that use of a confidential informant's statement at Turner's disciplinary hearing did not violate his due process rights. We reverse.

I. BACKGROUND

In April 1991, Turner was an inmate at MECC. On April 11, 1991, in a prison fight, MECC inmate Anthony Harris's jaw was broken. Harris initially reported that he had been hit by a basketball. Two weeks later Harris reported that he had been hit by an inmate named Shon. MECC investigator McKay then showed him seven photographs of suspected inmates and Harris identified Shon Turner as his assailant.

On April 29, 1991, Turner was placed in the MECC administrative segregation unit pending investigation of the assault on Harris. Turner was issued a major conduct violation for the assault on Harris on May 1, 1991. Turner used a "Witness Request" form to request inmates Chris Bohlen, Tony Washington and Kevin Harrison as witnesses at his Adjustment Board (Board) hearing.

MECC caseworker Brundage interviewed Bohlen, Washington and Harrison and obtained witness statements from them prior to the disciplinary hearing. On May 6, 1991, the Board held a disciplinary hearing which was continued for additional investigation. At this hearing, Bohlen's, Washington's and Harrison's written statements were read into the record. The Board also received an investigative report from McKay detailing Harris's injuries and a written statement by Harris identifying Turner as his assailant. Additionally, the Board had the results of Harris's psychological stress test ¹ which indicated he answered truthfully when he stated Turner assaulted him.

At the renewed hearing on May 16, 1991, the members of this Board were Chairwoman Schneider, Barnhill and Smith. Additional evidence introduced at this hearing was Turner's denial of any knowledge of the assault on Harris and a confidential informant's statement, saying that the informant saw Turner threaten Harris and that Harris identified Turner to the informant as the inmate who had broken his jaw. Turner was present at both hearings.

The Board determined Turner was guilty of the assault on Harris based on Harris's statement identifying Turner as the assailant and the psychological stress test results indicating that Harris was being truthful when he identified Turner as his assailant. Chairwoman Schneider stated that she also considered the confidential informant's statement when making her determination of guilt. Trial Tr. at 70. Based on the finding of a major conduct violation, Turner was ordered transferred from MECC (a level 4 facility) to a more restrictive level 5 facility ² and ordered to remain in administrative segregation pending transfer.

This Sec. 1983 suit ensued. Turner's claims were that MECC violated his due process rights by refusing to allow him to call the three inmate alibi witnesses, by failing to state in the administrative record the reasons for this refusal and that the Board erred in considering the testimony of a confidential informant without corroborating evidence. After a bench trial, the district court found that (1) MECC violated Turner's due process rights by failing to state in the record the reasons for not calling Turner's witnesses; (2) MECC was required to call live witnesses at disciplinary hearings unless a legitimate penological reason for failing to call them was stated in the record; (3) MECC violated Turner's due process rights by relying on a confidential informant's statement without making any determination that the informant was a reliable witness; and (4) Superintendent Caspari violated Turner's due process rights by acquiescing in conduct of the Board. The district court awarded nominal damages in the amount of $500 and ordered a new hearing on the alleged assault of Harris comporting with due process.

II. DISCUSSION

This appeal challenges the district court's conclusions of law. We review the district court's determination of applicable legal principles de novo.

A. Liberty Interest

MECC argues that the regulations outlining the procedures and purposes for an Adjustment Board do not create a liberty interest as asserted by Turner. We turn to that issue first because it is dispositive.

In this circuit, "an inmate facing disciplinary proceedings is entitled to, among other things, advance written notice of the claimed misconduct and a hearing at which he may call witnesses and present documentary evidence." Clark v. Groose, 36 F.3d 770 (8th Cir.1994) (per curiam) (citing Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 562-67, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 2977-80, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974)). Turner "may not be subjected to additional punishment, not contemplated in [his] sentence of imprisonment, without due process of law." Malek v. Camp, 822 F.2d 812, 815 (8th Cir.1987) (quoting Jones v. Mabry, 723 F.2d 590, 594 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1228, 104 S.Ct. 2683, 81 L.Ed.2d 878 (1984)) (internal quotations omitted). Accordingly, in this circuit it is established that Turner was entitled to a hearing before he could be disciplined for the assault on Harris. ³ Because the hearing requirement is independently established, we need not reach the question of whether the regulations addressing the procedures governing an Adjustment Board in and of themselves create a protected liberty interest.

B. Live Witnesses at Disciplinary Hearings

The next question to be determined is whether the hearing Turner received comports with the requirements of due process. Turner argues that his due process rights were violated because witness statements were used at his hearing, he was not allowed to call live witnesses and no reason was stated in the administrative record explaining why live witnesses were not permitted.

Prison officials may provide inmates with less procedural due process than required in a criminal prosecution because of security concerns in penal institutions. Freitas v. Auger, 837 F.2d 806, 808 (8th Cir.1988). It is well established that an inmate does not have an absolute right to call live witnesses at a disciplinary hearing. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. at 2979-80. Wolff held that an "inmate facing disciplinary proceedings should be allowed to call witnesses ... in his defense when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals." Id.

Prison officials are accorded great discretion to refuse to call witnesses who are irrelevant, unnecessary or who may undermine prison authority. Brown v. Frey, 889 F.2d 159, 168 (8th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1088, 110 S.Ct. 1156, 107 L.Ed.2d 1059 (1990). "Prison officials must have the necessary discretion to keep the hearing within reasonable limits and to refuse to call witnesses that may create a risk of reprisal or undermine authority, as well as to limit access to other inmates to collect statements or to compile other documentary evidence." Id. at 167 (quoting Wolff, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. at 2980) (internal quotations omitted). However, prison officials may not arbitrarily deny an inmate's request to call witnesses. Malek, 822 F.2d at 815 (citing Ponte v. Real, 471 U.S. 491, 495-96, 105 S.Ct. 2192, 2195-96, 85 L.Ed.2d 553 (1985)).

Preventing retaliation against an inmate witness is a legitimate security concern justifying prison officials' refusal to allow witnesses at a disciplinary hearing. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 562, 94 S.Ct. at 2978. Turner was charged with an assault on a fellow inmate that culminated in a broken jaw. Chairwoman Schneider testified that in cases similar to Turner's, the Board utilizes witness statements because they are concerned that the witnesses may be intimidated by the inmate suspected of the assault if those witnesses were called to testify in person at the hearing. Trial Tr. at 77-78. This testimony reflects a legitimate policy of MECC officials designed to prevent retaliation against and intimidation of witnesses. Additionally, preventing intimidation of witnesses greatly enhances the reliability of their testimony. This concern is magnified in the prison setting where inmates often "have little regard for the safety of others ... or for the rules designed to provide an orderly and reasonably safe prison life." Wolff, 418 U.S. at 562, 94 S.Ct. at 2977. Accordingly, we feel that the desire to prevent witness intimidation at Turner's hearing was a legitimate penological concern justifying the refusal to utilize live testimony, especially considering the extremely violent nature of the conduct with which Turner was charged. See Ponte, 471 U.S. at 495, 105 S.Ct. at 2195.

In Malek, we held that Malek's due process rights were not violated by the refusal to call live witnesses at a disciplinary hearing when Malek testified on his own behalf and introduced a statement of another inmate supporting his claim. 822 F.2d at 815. The disciplinary hearing committee determined "the offered testimony was not reasonably necessary to resolve the conflict and would cause undue delay" because Malek stated that the live testimony would...