Gonzalez v. Mackelberg

District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania·Decided August 25, 2021·No. 1:21-cv-01166·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

DAVID GONZALEZ, : Petitioner : : No. 1:21-cv-1166 v. : : (Judge Rambo) WARDEN FCI SCHUYLKILL, : Respondent :

MEMORANDUM

On June 1, 2020, pro se Petitioner David Gonzalez (“Petitioner”), who is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania (“FCI Schuylkill”), initiated the above-captioned action by filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. (Doc. No. 1.) Petitioner challenges the decision of a Disciplinary Hearing Officer (“DHO”) who found him guilty of violating Code 199. (Id.) When Petitioner filed his § 2241 petition, he was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (“USP Lewisburg”). (Id. at 2.) The incident report in question, however, was issued while Petitioner was incarcerated at FCI Estill in South Carolina. On February 9, 2021, the District of South Carolina granted Petitioner leave to proceed in forma pauperis. (Doc. No. 12.) On June 30, 2021, that court transferred Petitioner’s § 2241 petition to this Court for further proceedings. (Doc. No. 18.) On July 1, 2021, the Court directed Respondent to show cause why

Petitioner should not receive the relief he seeks. (Doc. No. 22.) After receiving an extension of time (Doc. Nos. 23, 24), Respondent filed his response on August 4, 2021 (Doc. No. 25). Petitioner’s § 2241 petition is, therefore, ripe for disposition.

I. BACKGROUND On September 18, 2019, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Officer Eady heard “a loud screaming noise coming from cell C02-224L” at FCI Estill. (Doc. No. 25-1 at 15.) Officer Eady observed Petitioner “underneath his bunk kicking and screaming.”

(Id.) Petitioner was placed in hand restraints, and he was observed to have slurred speech and difficulty maintaining his balance. (Id.) Petitioner was unable to answer Officer Eady when asked if he had smoked any drugs. (Id.) Petitioner was escorted

to medical, where he was asked to provide a urine sample and was given a breathalyzer test. (Id.) Both resulted in negative findings. (Id.) A medical assessment indicated that Petitioner was stumbling while walking and was “slow to sit down and seem[ed] unsure of how to sit in the chair.” (Id.)

When a blood pressure cuff was used, Petitioner “began screaming about the handcuff being too tight, [but] when it was removed to be loosened [he] continued to scream about it being too tight even though it was not secured at the time.” (Id.)

2 Petitioner was “unable to answer questions appropriately.” (Id.) Medical noted that Petitioner had no medical conditions and took no prescription medication that would

elicit this behavior. (Id.) Later that day, Officer Eady issued Incident Report 3305800, charging Petitioner with a violation of Code 199, disruptive behavior, most like Code 112,

use of narcotics, marijuana, drugs, or alcohol. (Id.) Petitioner received a copy of the Incident Report on September 19, 2019. (Id.) When the Incident Report was delivered to Petitioner, he was advised of his rights, including his right to remain silent. (Id. at 17.) Petitioner stated that he had eaten some food that made him act

the way he did. (Id.) The Incident Report was forwarded to the Unit Discipline Committee (“UDC”) for further action. (Id.) On September 25, 2019, Petitioner appeared

before the UDC for a hearing, at which time he stated that he was on medication at the time of the incident. (Id. at 16.) The UDC advised him of his rights. (Id. at 16, 24.) At that time, Petitioner requested that Mrs. J. Brown represent him at his DHO hearing. (Id. at 23.) The UDC referred the Incident Report to the DHO. (Id. at 16.)

Petitioner appeared before the DHO on October 9, 2019. (Id. at 10.) Although Petitioner had previously requested a staff representative, he waived his right to such

3 at the DHO hearing. (Id. at 10, 22.) Petitioner waived his right to call witnesses. (Id. at 10.) Petitioner provided the following statement:

I am not guilty. I went to work and fell. I took too much medication. I had a big knot on my head, and it was bruised. I took 2 or 3, a double dose of my prescribed medication. They are all for pain except cholesterol and heart burn. I don’t recall anything. When I came to, I didn’t fight them. I told them I was alright. He cuffed the right side more than the left. It was a wound, so it was still hurting. I was not getting too loud.

(Id.) The DHO found the charge of Code 199 to be supported by the greater weight of the evidence. (Id. at 12-13.) In doing so, the DHO considered the Incident Report, Petitioner’s verbal and written statements, the memorandum written by Lieutenant Slingerland, Petitioner’s clinical records for September 18, 2019, and the Chain of Custody Report. (Id. at 11.) The DHO sanctioned Petitioner with thirty (30) days of disciplinary segregation, disallowance of forty-one (41) days of good conduct time, and loss of commissary and visitation privileges for six (6) months. (Id. at 13.) Petitioner received a copy of the DHO report on October 22, 2019. (Id. at 14.) Petitioner subsequently appealed the DHO’s decision to the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”)’s regional office; however, his appeal was rejected as untimely. (Doc. No. 1-1 at 1.)

4 Petitioner then filed the instant § 2241 petition. (Doc. No. 1.) In his petition, Petitioner argues that his due process rights were violated because there was not

sufficient evidence to support a finding that he violated Code 199. (Id. at 4.) He asserts that the direct evidence obtained—the negative urinalysis and breathalyzer— support his claim of insufficient evidence. (Id.) Petitioner maintains that the

symptoms noted are not necessarily indicative of drug use because feelings of anxiety and depression “can become overwhelming and may lead to irrational behavior and sometimes violence.” (Id. at 4-5.) He also contends that his medications “do cause dizziness, balance and coordination issues, tremors, and

double vision.” (Id. at 5.) As relief, Petitioner requests that the Incident Report be expunged, and his good conduct time be restored. (Id. at 9.) II. DISCUSSION

Respondent asserts that Petitioner’s § 2241 petition should be denied because: (1) Petitioner failed to exhaust his administrative remedies; and (2) he received due process before and during his DHO hearing. (Doc. No. 25 at 3.) The Court considers each argument in turn.

A. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies While § 2241 does not contain an explicit statutory exhaustion requirement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has consistently required a

5 petitioner to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing a § 2241 petition. Moscato v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 98 F.3d 757, 760 (3d Cir. 1996). Exhaustion is

required “for three reasons: (1) allowing the appropriate agency to develop a factual record and apply its expertise facilitates judicial review; (2) permitting agencies to grant the relief requested conserves judicial resources; and (3) providing agencies

the opportunity to correct their own errors fosters administrative autonomy.” Id. at 761-62 (citing Bradshaw v. Carlson, 682 F.2d 1050, 1052 (3d Cir. 1981)). Thus, “a federal prisoner who . . . fails to exhaust his administrative remedies because of a procedural default, and subsequently finds closed all additional avenues of

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Gonzalez v. Mackelberg, (M.D. Pa. 2021).

Gonzalez v. Mackelberg (Gonzalez v. Mackelberg) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Wolff v. McDonnell
418 U.S. 539 (Supreme Court, 1974)
James Pachla v. Saunders System, Inc.
899 F.2d 496 (Sixth Circuit, 1990)
Eddie Griffin v. John Spratt and J. Kevin Kane
969 F.2d 16 (Third Circuit, 1992)
Travis Denny v. Paul Schultz
708 F.3d 140 (Third Circuit, 2013)
Von Kahl v. Brennan
855 F. Supp. 1413 (M.D. Pennsylvania, 1994)
Torres v. Fauver
292 F.3d 141 (Third Circuit, 2002)
Speight v. Minor
245 F. App'x 213 (Third Circuit, 2007)
Bradshaw v. Carlson
682 F.2d 1050 (Third Circuit, 1981)