Opinion ID: 787387
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proceedings in Sira's Presence

Text: 8 To address Sira's charged role in the strike, a Tier III disciplinary hearing commenced on January 26, 2000, presided over by Captain Robert Morton. See N.Y.C.R.R. §§ 254.3, 270.3. At the hearing, Sira pleaded not guilty to the charged offenses and moved for their dismissal on the ground that the misbehavior report did not provide him with adequate notice of the conduct at issue. Specifically, he complained that the report failed (1) to identify any person whom he had threatened or organized; (2) to indicate where in Green Haven the alleged misconduct had occurred; and (3) to provide clear notice of the date of his alleged misconduct, since the incident date on the report was marked January 19, while the body of the report suggested that the strike had occurred sometime earlier, possibly before January 1. Sira denied urging or threatening anyone to participate in the Y2K strike and noted that he had no history of discipline problems in prison and had not missed his work assignments during the strike. Further, he cited prison records showing that he was in the Health Services unit on the morning of January 19. 9 Capt. Morton denied Sira's request to dismiss the charges. While acknowledging that the report was very vague with respect to the incident date — that actually could mean that on January 19th you were identified or it could mean that the investigation was conducted on the 19th or it was concluded on the 19th, Hearing Tr., Jan. 26, 2000, at 13 — and that Green Haven is a large facility housing approximately 2200 inmates, Morton nevertheless concluded that the report provided Sira with adequate notice of the date, time, and place of the charged conduct: this misbehavior report indicates the date as January 19, 2000, [time of] incident, 10:15 a.m., and place of incident, Green Haven Correctional Facility, id. at 36. Morton stated that he would call complaining officer Schneider to testify in support of the charges and to answer approved questions posed by Sira. Morton further advised that at some point in the proceedings, he would hear evidence outside Sira's presence to make a personal assessment of the credibility of the confidential sources whose information supported the disciplinary charges. Id. at 10, 27. 10 On January 31, 2000, Lt. Schneider testified in Sira's presence that from shortly before the December 24, 1999 lock down through the month of January, prison officials had investigated the Y2K strike. From various confidential sources, the officers had learned that Sira had assumed leadership of a group of Dominican inmates, that he was the Captain of C Block, 2 and that he had endeavored to enforce participation in the Y2K strike by threatening inmates. Hearing Tr., Jan. 31, 2000, at 4-6. Lt. Schneider stated that no source had indicated that Sira had threatened any particular inmate; rather, the sources disclosed that Sira had made open threats to any one who would go against the strike. Id. at 15. She did not detail the nature of these threats, nor did she indicate any dates on or about when threats or other charged conduct occurred. Lt. Schneider did, however, clarify that the report's reference to January 19 at 10:15 a.m. alluded to the date and time she filed the disciplinary charges, not the date and time of any misconduct. 11 In light of Lt. Schneider's testimony, Sira reiterated his objection to the written notice, arguing that the January 19 incident date on the misbehavior report was plainly inaccurate, and the reported location, Green Haven Correctional Facility, was unnecessarily general. Capt. Morton again rejected Sira's challenge. He observed that Lt. Schneider had satisfactorily explained why January 19, 2000, at 10:15 a.m. was mistakenly noted in the report as the incident date and time. Morton further concluded that the report's reference to January 1, 2000, as the planned strike date provided Sira with sufficient notice of the approximate date and time of his alleged misconduct. He also concluded that the report's identification of Green Haven as the site of the misconduct was adequate.