# FILED January 28, 1998 Cecil W. Crowson Appellate Cou rt Clerk 

## IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

DEELICHO BESH, ) ) Plaintiff/Appell

ant, )

) Davidson Chancery VS. ) No. 95-2095-II ) TED COPPICK and ) Appeal No. LES HARRISON, ) 01A01-9605-CH-00234 ) Defendants/Appel

lees. )



### APPEAL FROM THE DAVIDSON COUNTY CHANCERY COURT

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE THE HONORABLE ELLEN HOBBS LYLE, CHANCELL OR
For Plaintiff/Ap

pellant : For Defendants/Appellees : Deelicho Besh John Knox Walkup Pro Se Attorney General and Reporter Lisa T. Kirkham Assistant Attorney General



## AFFIRMED AND REMANDED

WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JUDGE1 Tenn. Ct. App. R. 10( b) provides: The Court, with the concurrence of all judges participating in the case, may affirm, reverse or

modify the actions of the trial court by memorandum opinion when a formal opinion would have no precedential value. When a case is decide d b y memorandum

opinion, it shall be designated “MEMORANDUM OPINION,” shall notbe published, and shall not be cited or relied on for any reason in a subsequent unrelated case. -2-



## MEMORANDUM OPINION This appeal involves contr aband seized from a state prison er. After prison officials confiscated his

un authorized walkma

n-style radio, the prisoner filed suit against two correctional officers in the Chancery Court for Davidson County alleg

ing thatthey had converted hi s personal property. The trial court g

ranted th e officers motionfor summary judgment, and the prisoner has appealed. We af firm the trial court in accordanc

e with Tenn. Ct.App. R. 10. 1
Deelicho Beshis incarcerated a

t the Riverbend Maximum S ecurity Institution in Davidson County. He works in the contract data plant operated by the Correctional Enterprises of Tennessee (“CET”). In June 1993, he purc hase d a walkman-style r adio thathe used at his work station.The radio could be p owered either by

batteries or by curren t. During a routine shakedown of the contract data p lant in June 1995 , a co rrectional officer discover ed a power booster f

or the radio plugged int

o the wal l socket at Mr. Besh’s workstation. The power booster viola

ted the prison

regulations prohibiting prisoners from using power b oosters or alternating cur rent adaptors in their workplaces at CET. After con sul ting with his superior s, the correction

al officer confis

cated the power booster, the radio, and a

set of earphones and

placed them in the pr

ison vault pending a disciplinary hearing on Mr. Besh’s alleg ed ru le infraction. T he prison discipli nary board met on June 30, 1995 and found Mr. Be sh guilty of possessi n g contraband. Accordingly, the prison official d id n ot return Mr. Bes

h’s radio but rather, as far

as this record show s, continued to secur ely store it in the pri son vault. Withina week of th e disciplinary hearing, Mr. Besh sued the correctional officer who had discove

red and c onfiscated the radi o, seeking $20,000 in compensatory and $10,000 in puni tive damages for the all

eged conversion of his eighty dollar radio. Several months later, Mr. Besh amended his suit to add another-3-

prisonemployee as a defe ndant. Both office

rs moved for dismissa

l o r, in th e alternative, for a summary judgm ent. On January 8, 1996, t he Chancery Court f or Davidson County granted the motion and dismissed the case.
We find this case essentially indistinguishable from Bryant v. Barbara , 717 P.2d 522, 524-26 (Kan. Ct. App. 1986) w hich holds t hat prisoners do not have a legally protected interest in the posse ssion of contraband. Since

there is no dispute thatMr. Besh had been f ound guilty of possessing c ontr aban d, he had no property interest in the continued possess ion of his walkman ra

dio w hile incarcerated. Accordingly, the prison official s did not commit conversion by seizing the radio, the power adaptor, and the earphones and by holding them pending later release. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment and remand t

he case to the

trial court for whatever further proceedi

ngs may be

required. We also tax the costs of this appeal to Deelicho Besh for which execution, if necessary, may issue.

______________________________ WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JUDGE CONCUR:

__________________________________ HENRY F. TODD, PRESIDING JUDGE MIDDLE SECTION

__________________________________ BEN H. CANTRELL, JUDGE