Calligan v. Wilson

362 F. App'x 543
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 23, 2009
DocketNo. 09-2773
StatusPublished

This text of 362 F. App'x 543 (Calligan v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Calligan v. Wilson, 362 F. App'x 543 (7th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

ORDER

A conduct-adjustment board found Indiana inmate Edwin Calligan guilty of battery after an altercation that he had with two prison guards. Calligan was sanctioned with a year of disciplinary segregation, a demotion in credit-earning class, and the loss of 365 days’ good-time credits. After exhausting his administrative appeals, he petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court denied his petition and his motion for reconsideration. We affirm the judgment.

According to the conduct report, in August 2007 Officer Frank Bernacet saw Cal-ligan punching and kicking a fellow guard. Bernacet tried to restrain Calligan, but Calligan punched him in the face, hitting his eye and knocking him to the ground where he scraped his arm. When Berna-cet got up, he pulled out his mace, and Calligan abandoned his protest and let Bernacet handcuff him. Bernacet was treated for his injuries both in-house and then, two days later, at an outside facility. Calligan was subsequently charged -with a Class A-102 battery for the “serious bodily injury” that he caused Bernacet.

Before his hearing, Calligan requested photographs of Bernacet’s injuries and statements from three eyewitnesses: inmates Barry Jewell, ‘Williams,” and “the offender who jumped in and helped.” The photographs were not provided because, prison officials said, they did not turn out clearly. They also reported that Williams was unavailable because he had been released and that the unnamed prisoner did not exist. They located Jewell, however, and postponed Calligan’s hearing to arrange for his appearance.

On the day of the hearing, Calligan waived Jewell’s statement and proceeded without his other two witnesses. In his written statement, he admitted that in the commotion of the fight he may have punched Bernacet. But Calligan also speculated that this unnamed prisoner may have done so. In addition, he argued that his charge should be reduced to a Class B battery because Bernacet had not suffered “serious” injuries. The Board accepted Bernacet’s conduct report and found Calligan guilty, explaining that the “[rjeport clearly states offender assaulted staff member.”

In the district court, Calligan asserted that the prison violated due process by failing to locate his two other witnesses. He sought discovery into the efforts that prison officials had made to locate them. He also claimed that there was insufficient evidence of serious bodily injury to Berna-cet. The court denied both his discovery requests and his petition, ruling that Calli-gan could not show that he was prejudiced by the absence of his potential witnesses and that Bernacet’s conduct report, his bruise, and his need for outside medical treatment two days after the incident constituted “some evidence” of serious bodily [545]*545injury. Calligan asked for reconsideration under Rule 59(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, attaching evidence of the availability of his two witnesses and a photograph of Bernacet’s injuries, and contending again that Bernacet’s injuries were not “serious” under Indiana case law. The court denied Calligan’s motion, and this appeal followed.

On appeal Calligan reiterates his arguments that his hearing did not comport with due process. Calligan has a protected liberty interest in his good-time credits and credit-earning class, and he may not be deprived of either without the minimum requirements of due process. Piggie v. McBride, 277 F.3d 922, 924 (7th Cir.2002). For prison disciplinary hearings, due process requires advance written notice of the charges, a limited right to call witnesses and produce documents, a right to be heard before an impartial decision-maker, and a written statement of the evidence relied on with the reasons for the disciplinary action. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 564-71, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). In addition, the disciplinary board’s decision must be supported by “some evidence.” Superintendent, Mass. Corr. Inst. v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 105 S.Ct. 2768, 86 L.Ed.2d 356 (1985).

Calligan first argues that insufficient evidence in the record shows that Bernacet suffered serious bodily injury; he says Bernacet sustained only minor scrapes and bruises. The “some evidence” standard is a lenient one, requiring no more than “a modicum of evidence.” Hill, 472 U.S. at 455, 105 S.Ct. 2768. We will not reweigh the evidence underlying the Board’s decision; we confine our inquiry to whether any reliable evidence exists to support the decision, and, once found, we will not look to see if other record evidence suggests a contrary conclusion. Id. at 455-56, 105 S.Ct. 2768; Scruggs v. Jordan, 485 F.3d 934, 941 (7th Cir.2007); Culbert v. Young, 834 F.2d 624, 630-31 (7th Cir. 1987). Based on this highly deferential review, we agree with the district court that the record contains “some evidence” of “serious” injuries. Under Indiana law, “serious bodily injury” includes injuries resulting in “extreme pain.” Ind. Code § 35-41-1-25(3). The record contains some evidence that Bernacet experienced extreme pain because he sustained a punch to the eye so hard that it immediately felled him and caused bruises significant enough to require two rounds of medical treatment. Moreover, determining where the line should be drawn between the lesser and the greater battery offense in this case is a question of state law. The state of Indiana has the right to determine what constitutes “serious bodily injury,” and the resolution of this matter does not implicate the federal Constitution. See Estelle v. McGuire, 502 U.S. 62, 67-68, 112 S.Ct. 475, 116 L.Ed.2d 385 (1991); Dellinger v. Bowen, 301 F.3d 758, 764 (7th Cir.2002).

Next, Calligan argues that the Board violated his due process rights by failing to better explain its decision. Even if we assume that this argument is properly before us (the prison argues that Calligan forfeited it), it fails on the merits because the Board’s written statement is constitutionally adequate, despite its brevity. The Board is required to state its reasoning and the evidence that it relied on to ensure prisoners are not disciplined for things they have not done. See Wolff, 418 U.S. at 565, 94 S.Ct. 2963; Saenz v. Young, 811 F.2d 1172, 1174 (7th Cir.1987). But when the charge is straightforward, the Board need say only that it believed the conduct report. Saenz, 811 F.2d at 1174. Calligan’s case was simple, involving only limited evidence: Bernacet’s conduct report, the evidence of his injuries, and Calligan’s own acknowledgment that he may have punched Bernacet. The

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Related

Wolff v. McDonnell
418 U.S. 539 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Estelle v. McGuire
502 U.S. 62 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Bracy v. Gramley
520 U.S. 899 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Jerry Saenz v. Warren Young
811 F.2d 1172 (Seventh Circuit, 1987)
Llewellyn Culbert v. Warren Young
834 F.2d 624 (Seventh Circuit, 1987)
Clyde Piggie v. Daniel McBride Superintendent
277 F.3d 922 (Seventh Circuit, 2002)
Martize R. Dellinger v. Edward R. Bowen, Warden
301 F.3d 758 (Seventh Circuit, 2002)
Clyde Piggie v. Zettie Cotton
344 F.3d 674 (Seventh Circuit, 2003)
Alphonso Hubanks v. Matthew J. Frank, Secretary
392 F.3d 926 (Seventh Circuit, 2004)
County of McHenry v. Insurance Company of the West
438 F.3d 813 (Seventh Circuit, 2006)
Aaron B. Scruggs v. D. Bruce Jordan
485 F.3d 934 (Seventh Circuit, 2007)
Hand v. State
863 N.E.2d 386 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
362 F. App'x 543, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/calligan-v-wilson-ca7-2009.