SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO

. A

- 371 8

- 16 T2 MICHAEL STANTON, Appellant,

v. NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent.

____ _________________________

Submitted December 19, 2018

– Decided May 20, 2019 Before Judges Nugent and Reisner. On appeal from the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Michael Stanton, appellant pro se. Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Melissa Dutton Schaffer, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Christopher Josephson , Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
PER CURIAM NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court

. " A lthough it is posted on the internet , this

opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited

. R. 1:36

- 3.2 A

- 3718

- 16T2

Appellant, Michael Stanton, a prison inmate, appeal s from the final disciplinary action taken against him by the Department of Corrections (DOC). We affirm.
Stanton was an inmate at Bayside State Prison when the events underlying this appeal occurred. According to the record of the disciplinary proceedings, on a February afternoon in 2017, two corrections officers who were attempting to locate the source of a strong odor of something burning entered a cell occupied by Stanton and another inmate. Stan ton initially complied with an officer's order to stand up, place his hands on his head, and face the cell window,
but he then moved his hands toward his waist. He disobeyed an order to return his hands to his head and instead reached toward or into his w aistband while turning toward the officer. T he officer sprayed Stanton with a spray called O.C.
spray . W ith the assistance of several other officers who had responded to a call for assistance, the officer who had sprayed Stanton restrained him , as he had become combative. During the struggle, an officer dislodged from Stanton's left
hand a four

- inch brush handle . The handle had been sharpened to a point on one end and had a shoelace through a hole on the other end. The incident caused a delay of approx imately one hour in prison movements.3 A

- 3718

- 16T2

The DOC charged Stanton with three of the acts prohibited by N.J.A.C.
10A:4

- 4.1: *

. 202, possession or introduction of a weapon, *.306, conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly r unning of the institution, and

*

. 708, refusing to submit to a search

. Following a hearing, the hearing officer found Stanton guilty of the charges. The sanction for the *.202 c harge was 365 days of administrative segregation, 365 days loss of commutation time, thirty days loss of recreation time, and confiscation of the weapon

. The sanctions for the *.306 and *.708 charges were "combined" with the sanctions for the *.202 charges. Stanton filed an administrative appeal , and the Assistant Superintendent upheld the hear ing officer's decision. This appeal followed. On appeal, Stanton raises the following points:
POINT I DHO RALPH SHOWED PRE JUDICE BY NOT ALLOWING STANTON TO ASK PERTINENT QUESTIONS REGARDING SCO. PEREZ'S FAILURE TO COMPLY WI TH D.O.C. STANDARDS OF OPERATIONAL PROCEDUR ES, WHICH WOULD PROVE HIS MALI CIOUS INTENT & EXPOSE THE FALSIFIED CHARGES & STATEMENTS. AS WELL AS TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION PEREZ WASN'T IN COMPLIANCE WITH DOC STANDARDS.4 A

- 3718

- 16T2 POINT II DHO VIOLATED STANTON'S D UE PROCESS RIGHTS BY ALLOWING P OSTPONEMENT TO EXCEED BEYOND THE AL LOTTED TIME TO GO ON A VACATION INCLUD ED IN 10A 4

- 9.7(A)2.

POINT III INCONSISTENT STATEME NTS MADE BY ALL OFFICERS DURING THE CONFRONTATION DOES NOT SUPPORT THE FABRICATED CHARGES AGAINST STAN TON. IT EXPOSE [S] THE LIES TO LD BY THE OFFICERS I N ORDER TO COVER UP THE TRUTH.

POINT IV VIDEO EVIDENCE PURPO SELY DESTROYED TO COVER UP ALL THE FAB RICATED LIES BY ALL REPORTING OFFICERS T O JUSTIFY THE PHYSICAL ATTACK AGAI NST STANTON AND SETTING HIM UP WITH A WEAPON THAT WOULD'VE PROV ED BEYOND A SHADOW O F A DOUBT IT WASN'T HIS. A C RIME OF THE FOURTH DEGREE. 2C:2 8

- 6. Our scope of review is narrow. General ly, we will not disturb the DOC's final administrative decision impos ing discip linary sanctions upon an inmate unless the inmate demonstrates that the decision is arbitrary or capricious, or is unsupported by substantial cr edible evidence in the record. Henry v. Rahway State Prison , 81 N.J. 571, 579

- 80 (1980). Evident from a careful consideration of the record is that the DOC's final decision is supported by substantial evidence. See McDonald v. Pinchak , 139 N.J. 188, 195 (1995); N.J.A.C. 10A:4

-5 A

- 3718

- 16T2

9.15(a) ("A finding of guilt at a disciplinary hearing shall be b ased upon substantial evidence that the inmate has committed a prohibited act."). The arguments Stanton raises in his first and third points reflect little more than his disagreement with the hearing officer's factual determinations and credibility findi ngs. The questions he says he was precluded from asking were mostly irrelevant or objectionable for security or other reasons, and his argument that the statements of all officers were inconsistent represents nothing more than his disagreement with the we ight the hearing officer gave to those statements. The record also demonstrates the disciplinary proceedings were conducted
in a manner that afforded Stanton the due process to which he was entitled

. See Avant v. Clifford , 67 N.J. 496, 522 (1975). Most o f the delays in the hearing were attributable to Stanton's requests, such as his requests that statements be
obtaine d from two inmates and his request to confront seven corrections officers

. His request for video surveillance footage was denied not becaus e it was purposefully destroyed, as he alleges, but because the video system stored only five days of recordings. In short, the DOC's final decision is supported by sufficient credible evidence on the record on the whole. R. 2:11

- 3(e)(1)(D). Stanton's arguments lack sufficient merit to warrant further discussion. R. 2:11

- 3(e)(1)(E).6 A

- 3718

- 16T2

Affirmed.