Court Opinion

ID: 9552741
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:15:52.403418+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:28:46.010821
License: Public Domain

BURNETT, Judge,
concurring specially.
As noted in today’s opinion, our Supreme Court has held that a prisoner who is being evaluated at NICI, under retained jurisdiction, “must be given adequate notice before the [classification committee] hearing, including the substance of all matters that will be considered.” State v. Wolfe, 99 Idaho 382, 389, 582 P.2d 728, 735 (1978). In the present case, the record on appeal does not disclose whether Shofner was informed of the substance of his evaluation reports before the classification hearings were conducted at NICI. The record reveals only that Shofner was given advance notice of the hearing dates and of the institutional rules and regulations he was expected to obey. The evaluation reports concerning his performance apparently were read to him during each hearing.
In my view, the better practice — and the practice more in keeping with Wolfe —would be to inform a prisoner of the substance of the evaluation reports a reasonable time before his classification hearing. These reports are the heart of the evaluation process. If a prisoner does not learn the substance of the reports until the hearing itself, he may be unable to prepare an explanation or a rebuttal of any adverse assessments.
In this case, Shofner has challenged the general fairness of NICI procedures. However, it is Shofner’s obligation to make an appropriate showing of error in the record on appeal. Error will not be presumed. Wolfe, 99 Idaho at 390, 582 P.2d at 736. Insufficient notice will not be surmised from a record which is silent on that point. Moreover, in both of his classification hearings, Shofner expressly declined to explain or to rebut the adverse reports; and he did not ask for additional time to study them. Thus, Shofner has shown neither error nor any resultant prejudice. Under these circumstances, I join the Court’s decision to affirm the order relinquishing jurisdiction.