Opinion ID: 1934540
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Right to Call Witnesses and Present Evidence

Text: N.J.A.C. 10A:4-9.13(a) provides that [i]nmates shall be allowed to call witnesses and present documentary evidence in their defense when permitting them to do so will not be unduly hazardous to correctional facility safety or goals. New Jersey's standard follows Wolff's mandate. See 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. at 2979, 41 L.Ed. 2d at 956 (holding that inmate should be allowed to call witnesses and present documentary evidence when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals). New Jersey's current regulation gives the hearing officer discretion to refuse to call witnesses, but goes beyond federal constitutional requirements mandating that the reasons for each such refusal shall be separately specified on the Adjudication Form. N.J.A.C. 10A:4-9.13(a) (emphasis added). Although the federal constitution does not require a contemporaneous recording of reasons, New Jersey was one of at least twenty-nine States and the District of Columbia that, as of 1985, required that hearing officers record reasons for refusing to hear witnesses. Ponte v. Real, 471 U.S. 491, 519 & n. 19, 105 S.Ct. 2192, 2207 & n. 19, 85 L.Ed. 2d 553, 573 & n. 19 (citing N.J. Dep't of Corrections, Disciplinary Standard 254.18 (1984) (codified at N.J.A.C. 10A:4-9.13(a)). Hearing officers must record their reasons for refusing to call a witness `whether it be for irrelevance, lack of necessity or hazards presented in individual cases.' Avant, supra, 67 N.J. at 531, 341 A. 2d 629 (quoting Wolff, supra, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. at 2980, 41 L.Ed. 2d at 957). For courts properly to review prison disciplinary proceedings, the record must show that prison officials observed mandatory procedural safeguards.