Opinion ID: 783160
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Torres' Second Sentence: The Process Analyzed and Evaluated.

Text: 53 Torres actually was sentenced a second time under the peculiar procedure followed by the state trial court. Originally, his plea to a felony drug count was accepted by the court, and he was remanded to a drug rehabilitation program. Successful completion of the program, he was told, would result in his return to the court for a plea to a misdemeanor, apparently in replacement of the felony conviction, and a sentence to time served in the rehabilitation program. When Torres was returned to the trial court for further proceedings, however, it was not for a misdemeanor plea, but for a sentence of four-and-a-half-to-nine years. The felony sentence imposed was the sentenced promised if Torres did not work out in the Phoenix House program. In imposing the sentence, the trial court relied only on its review of the letter from Phoenix House, and, after he had requested and received permission to be heard, on Torres' brief unsworn statement to the court that he was innocent of the alleged wrongdoing. Due process standards clearly established by the Supreme Court were thereby ignored. 54 In rejecting Torres' unsworn statement and relying on the report from Phoenix House, the trial court noted that it was convinced by the report that Torres had violated the conditions the court had set down very seriously. An examination of the report that formed the entire basis for the court's determination reveals that double and triple hearsay informed the decision of Phoenix House to discharge Torres from the program for attempting to sell drugs at the facility. According to the report, certain residents of the facility overheard conversations in Spanish between Torres and others  claiming that they could make illicit drugs available for sale within the facility. (emphasis supplied) The report recites that [i]t is suspected that drugs may have been entering the facility through the use of church trips, and that [c]onfederates may have met clients at church to pass drugs or money. (emphasis supplied) These speculative statements obviously do not implicate Torres in any way. 55 There is one statement in the report that does implicate Torres: [I]t is suspected that gang activity in the form of meetings on the male floor and the use of gang hand signals have involved [Torres]. (emphasis supplied) This statement does not even implicate Torres directly in drug dealing at the facility. It is only the concluding sentence of the Report that mentions Torres in connection with drug dealing at the facility. According to the concluding sentence, information received from (unnamed) residents clearly implicates Torres in an organized attempt to sell drugs in this facility. That statement is qualified by the statement: [W]e have been unable to obtain physical evidence. In affirming Torres' felony sentence, the Appellate Division recognized the due process implications of the procedure in the trial court, finding that the trial court properly relied on a report of misconduct that was reliable and accurate. 277 A.D.2d at 12, 715 N.Y.S.2d 59. The Appellate Division therefore recognized the Supreme Court's due process jurisprudence relating to sentencing but applied it to the facts of this case in an objectively unreasonable manner. See Wiggins v. Smith, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 2527, 2538-39, 156 L.Ed.2d 471 (2003); see also Woodford v. Visciotti, 537 U.S. 19, 24-25, 123 S.Ct. 357, 154 L.Ed.2d 279 (2002) (per curiam). 56 In the first place, it cannot be said that the required preponderance of the evidence standard in sentencing can be met with only a report of the type furnished by Phoenix House. As has been demonstrated, due process in sentencing requires at least a showing by a preponderance of evidence to resolve disputed factual issues. While it is true, as the learned district judge noted, that Morrissey v. Brewer permitted the use of material that would not be admissible in an adversary criminal trial, 408 U.S. at 489, 92 S.Ct. 2593, a single report replete with multiple levels of hearsay and speculation cannot be said to suffice to make a showing by a preponderance of the evidence, even under the flexible standard that is permitted. And, while Morrissey involves standards for parole revocation, it is not a great extension to apply its principles to the breach-of-condition-of-sentence case before us. See Kennaugh v. Miller, 289 F.3d 36, 44-45 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 909, 123 S.Ct. 251, 154 L.Ed.2d 187 (2002). 57 Due process has clearly been held to require some kind of hearing before a person is deprived of a liberty interest. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 558, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974) (In the context of deprivation of good time prison credits for serious misconduct, the determination of whether such behavior has occurred becomes critical, and the minimum requirements of procedural due process appropriate for the circumstances must be observed.). The teachings of the Supreme Court have been effectively ignored in the case of Torres. He was not afforded the opportunity to testify under oath, and no witness from Phoenix House testified as to the reliability of those who furnished the information of Torres' wrongdoing. The district judge opined that the institution no doubt would have resisted disclosure of the names of those who furnished the information. We cannot say that this is so, and we certainly cannot say that a witness familiar with the administration of Phoenix House could not or would not have furnished some basis for determination of the informants' reliability. A Phoenix House representative could have testified in this regard. 58 The District Court also opined that there was no reason to believe that Phoenix House did not have an adequate basis to believe the informants' statements. The problem with that analysis is that there was no explanation of the basis for the beliefs of Phoenix House other than vague references to information furnished by informants. Had the informants furnished reliable information in the past? Did they have any axes to grind? Were they promised any rewards for informing? Torres said he was discharged from the program merely for associating with certain other inmates during cigarette breaks. His hearing did not even include his own sworn testimony in the trial court and he therefore was not available for cross examination regarding his contentions. As a matter of fact, he was not even given a review by Phoenix House prior to his discharge despite the fact that he requested a review by the Program Director by checking the space provided for such a request on his Client Discharge Form. 59 While it is true that the Supreme Court in Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 252 n. 18, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 93 L.Ed. 1337 (1949), held that it was not a denial of due process in sentencing to rely on information supplied by witnesses whom the accused could neither confront nor cross-examine, Fatico, 579 F.2d at 711, it is also true that  Williams does not hold that all hearsay information must be considered, id. at 712. In the federal sentencing context, we have held that admission of an unidentified informant's corroborated declarations in a sentencing proceeding where there is good cause for not disclosing his identity is not barred by the Confrontation Clause. Id. at 714 (emphasis supplied). In the case at bar, there was no corroboration of informant declarations and no showing of good cause for failure to disclose the identity of any informant who may have furnished information to Phoenix House regarding Torres. 60 We think that well-settled and clearly established Supreme Court due process jurisprudence or, at the very least, a reasonable extension of it, mandates a finding of denial of due process in Torres' sentencing. The following elements, unique to this case, compel the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus: total reliance by the trial court on a hearsay report that itself contains only uncorroborated statements of unnamed informants; omission of any finding by the trial court as to the reliability of the informants or as to reasons for the non-disclosure of their identities; failure of the trial court to conduct some kind of hearing, including provision for the examination of Torres under oath; lack of preponderating evidence of Torres' wrongdoing; and the gross disparity between a sentence that would release Torres to society on a plea to a misdemeanor charge after completion of the Phoenix House program and the four-and-a-half-to-nine-year felony sentence to state prison that he received for violating the original sentence condition.