Opinion ID: 533006
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Right to Be Present for Testimony of Witnesses

Text: 17 Finally, the district court found that, by 1982, the right of an inmate to call witnesses for exculpatory testimony and to be present for that testimony was firmly established. While a limited right to call such witnesses did exist in 1982, Wolff, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. at 2979, the separate question of whether Francis had a right to be present at the testimony of his witnesses presents a different issue. The law of this circuit was stated in Bolden v. Alston, 810 F.2d 353 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 896, 108 S.Ct. 229, 98 L.Ed.2d 188 (1987): 18 The District Court found that Alston ... interviewed the witnesses outside of Bolden's presence.... Alston's conduct, however, is not inconsistent with the requirements of due process.... To the extent that he took testimony from witnesses out of Bolden's presence, he did not violate any due process requirement. 19 Id. at 358. Bolden is a post-1982 decision, but its existence forecloses any further inquiry into the state of the law in 1982, for if, as a matter of constitutional law, the right in question does not exist presently, it is entirely superfluous to inquire into whether it appeared to exist at some earlier point. Thus, on this issue, Greiner is entitled to a grant of his Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) motion; the district court's ruling to the contrary is hereby reversed.