Shroyer v. Cotton

80 F. App'x 481
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedOctober 9, 2003
DocketNo. 02-1767
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 80 F. App'x 481 (Shroyer v. Cotton) 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
Shroyer v. Cotton, 80 F. App'x 481 (7th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

ORDER

A Conduct Adjustment Board (“CAB”) found Indiana inmate Rocky Shroyer guilty of trafficking in contraband and sanctioned him with the loss of 180 days’ earned credit time and a demotion in credit earning class. After exhausting his administrative remedies, Mr. Shroyer sought relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court denied his petition, and we affirm.

In August 2000, Mr. Shroyer’s mother visited him at the Putnamville Correctional Facility. After the visit, Correctional Officer Browning searched Mr. Shroyer and discovered two small plastic parcels containing tobacco and rolling papers hidden in his left boot. An internal affairs investigator was notified of the discovery and, after reviewing a security videotape of the visiting room where Mr. Shroyer met his mother, placed him in segregation pending an investigation. The investigator later issued a conduct report charging Mr. Shroyer with trafficking in contraband, explaining in the report that the videotape had plainly captured “an exchange be[483]*483tween Offender Shroyer and his mother” (R. 13, Ex. 1). Mr. Shroyer pleaded not guilty and requested a lay advocate. He also requested that his mother serve as a witness, but was refused on the ground that his mother was on “lockout” status due to her role in smuggling the tobacco to her son.

At the CAB hearing Mr. Shroyer asserted that he was wearing shoes, not boots, and requested that the CAB view the security videotape of the incident. After denying this request, the CAB found him guilty based on the conduct report and his own statements. Mr. Shroyer appealed on the ground that he was denied the opportunity to call witnesses and to examine any documentary and physical evidence, as well as that he was not provided with a meaningful explanation of the CAB’s findings.

Although the prison superintendent initially rejected a request for rehearing, he later granted the request and provided Mr. Shroyer with a fist of witnesses to choose from, including guards and prisoners who were present in the visitors’ room when Mr. Shroyer met with his mother. Mr. Shroyer chose Correctional Officers J. Miller, V. Miller, and Knauer; inmate Bruce; and his mother, noting that she would testify that he had not engaged in trafficking. But none of the witnesses appeared. Officers J. Miller and V. Miller provided written statements denying any recollection of the incident, while Officer Knauer and inmate Bruce gave written statements explaining that they had not seen anything unusual. The CAB again denied Mr. Shroyer’s request for his mother to appear but stipulated that she would testify that she did not bring anything into the facility or traffic with her son.

At the rehearing Mr. Shroyer denied that any tobacco was found on him when searched and asked to see the videotape of the incident. His request was denied, and the CAB again found him guilty and imposed the same punishment. The CAB stated that it found “all reports true and factual,” basing its decision on investigation and staff reports, Mr. Shroyer’s statement, the tobacco, and the videotape of the incident. He again appealed the decision and was denied.

In his § 2254 petition, Mr. Shroyer asserts that he was deprived of due process because: (1) he was denied the right to examine physical and documentary evidence; (2) he was denied the right to be heard and to call witnesses; (3) rehearing was not the proper remedy for the alleged deficiencies of the original hearing; (4) the CAB that heard his case was not impartial; and (5) “some evidence” did not support his disciplinary conviction. The district court held that Mr. Shroyer received all the procedural and substantive process to which he was entitled and denied his petition.

Mr. Shroyer has a protected liberty interest in his good time credits and credit-earning class and may not be deprived of either without the minimum requirements of due process. Piggie v. McBride, 277 F.3d 922, 924 (7th Cir.2002) (per curiam); Montgomery v. Anderson, 262 F.3d 641, 645 (7th Cir.2001). In this context, due process consists of advance written notice of the charges, see Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 564, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), a limited right to call witnesses and produce documentary evidence, id. at 566-67, a right to be heard before an impartial decision maker, id. at 570-71, and a written statement as to the evidence relied on and reasons for the disciplinary action, id. at 563-64, that is supported by “some evidence” in the record, see Superintendent, Mass. Corr. Inst., Walpole v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 455, 105 S.Ct. 2768, 86 L.Ed.2d 356 (1985); Webb v. Anderson, 224 F.3d 649, 652 (7th Cir.2000).

[484]*484At the heart of Mr. Shroyer’s petition is his contention that he was denied the right to examine the videotape of the incident. However, he did not have an unlimited right to examine evidence, especially if doing so would compromise institutional safety or goals. See Wolff, 418 U.S. at 566; Pannell v. McBride, 306 F.3d 499, 503 (7th Cir.2002). Mr. Shroyer does not contend that examining the videotape would reveal that he did not traffick; rather his complaints are, alternatively, that the refusal to let him see the tape casts doubt on its existence, that the tape was improperly handled in the chain of custody, and that the CAB never actually viewed the video. Contrary to his assertions, the hearing report documents that the CAB viewed, considered, and relied upon the security tape in adjudicating his guilt. Chain of custody is not a significant factor here, compare Webb, 224 F.3d at 652-53, and since Mr. Shroyer does not even allege that the tape was exculpatory, we can find no error in denying him access to it, see Rasheed-Bey v. Duckworth, 969 F.2d 357, 361 (7th Cir.1992) (right to exculpatory evidence is qualified).

We note that this result is not inconsistent with our recent decision in Piggie v. Cotton, 344 F.3d 674 (7th Cir.2003). In Piggie a CAB denied an inmate access to a videotape which recorded his cell extraction by several officers. Id. at 678. The CAB report was silent as to the tape’s contents; however, a post-hearing report suggested that the tape might not inculpate the offender. Id. at 679. Because there was no apparent security concern and because there was a suggestion that the tape could have been exculpatory, we held that it was error for the district court not to make an in camera review of the tape in order to evaluate whether it was exculpatory or legitimately withheld for security or other reasons. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
80 F. App'x 481, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shroyer-v-cotton-ca7-2003.