Court Opinion

ID: 9377002
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-06 17:05:14.129293+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:09.310911
License: Public Domain

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

                           STATE OF LOUISIANA

                             COURT OF APPEAL

                               FIRST CIRCUIT

                               2022 CA 0889

                               KEATON WILSON

                                   VERSUS

    LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS

                                               Judgment Rendered:     MAR 0 6 2073

          On Appeal from the Nineteenth Judicial District Court
                   In and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge
                              State of Louisiana
                              Docket No. 705763
                Honorable Trudy M. White, Judge Presiding

Keaton Wilson                              Plaintiff/ Appellant
In Proper Person                           Keaton Wilson
Angie, Louisiana

Debra A. Rutledge                         Counsel for Defendant/ Appellee
Baton Rouge, Louisiana                     Louisiana Department of Public Safety
                                          and Corrections

      BEFORE:       McCLENDON, HOLDRIDGE, AND GREENE, 33.
McCLENDON, J.

       The plaintiff appeals a judgment of the district court that dismissed his petition for

judicial review with prejudice.   For the following reasons, we affirm.

                         FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

       On September 24, 2020, Keaton Wilson, an inmate in the custody of the Louisiana

Department of Public Safety and Corrections ( the Department), was charged with having

violated disciplinary rules regarding defiance and aggravated disobedience following an

incident at Rayburn Correctional Center in Angie, Louisiana.       Following a hearing, the

Disciplinary Board determined that Mr. Wilson was guilty of the rule violations and

sentenced him to the forfeiture of ninety days of good time.    The Board also ordered Mr.

Wilson to pay restitution in the amount of $8. 00.

       Mr. Wilson appealed the decision of the Disciplinary Board to the Warden, who

responded, in pertinent part:

       A review of the video for this incident was reviewed with inconclusive
       results. At the time of the incident that occurred on the breezeway, you
       were directly behind a column that blocked the view of the camera. With
       no video proof of your claims, credibility to the officer has to be considered.
       Other officers who were present during this incident also filed an Unusual
       Occurrence Report stating upon their arrival they witnessed you resisting
       the officer.... Your appeal in this matter is denied.

       Mr. Wilson sought further administrative review and appealed to the Secretary of

the Department in accordance with the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures for Adult

Inmates.   The Secretary denied the appeal and affirmed the Warden' s decision, stating:

       We have considered [ Mr. Wilson' s] argument and the decision rendered by
       the Warden. After review, we find the disciplinary report to be clear,
       concise, and to present convincing evidence of the violations as reported.
       The officer's eyewitness account of the incident provides sufficient evidence
       of the finding of guilt. Not only did the offender curse the reporting officer,
       but he did it in an intimidating manner. The offender's claims on appeal
       have no merit. The offender's actions of refusing to follow the direct verbal
       orders given by the reporting officer obscured the officer from performing
       his assigned duties.   The offender' s actions constitute said rule violations.
       The offender received allowable sanctions that follow the Department of
       Correction' s guidelines for Adult [ Offenders].   The offender was provided
       with a full hearing and was afforded due process in both the hearing and
       the sentencing phases of the proceeding. For the foregoing reasons, we
       agree with the decision of the Disciplinary Board and the Warden.

       On March 16, 2021, Mr. Wilson filed a Petition for Judicial Review in the district

court, asserting that the defendant officers deviated from proper procedure during the

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incident, used excessive force against him, and denied him prompt and proper medical

care.'   Mr. Wilson sought restoration of the ninety days of good time.

         In his petition,   Mr. Wilson referenced Administrative Remedy Procedure (                   ARP)

Numbers RCC -2020- 768 and RCC -2020- 319. As a result, the district court, through the

commissioner, issued a Multiple Claims Order requiring Mr. Wilson to notify the court

which single administrative record in his petition was sought to be reviewed and to

provide to the court a copy of the final agency decision issued in that record.              In response,

Mr.   Wilson filed the Disciplinary Board Appeal response of the Secretary of the

Department with regard to ARP Number RCC -2020 -320 -

         On August 27, 2021,         the Secretary of the Department answered the petition

generally denying the allegations of Mr. Wilson. Additionally, the Secretary specifically

denied Mr. Wilson' s allegation that excessive force was used by the officers of the

Department and stated that only the amount of force necessary to bring the situation

under control was used.         However, when the Secretary filed its answer, he attached a

true copy of the administrative record in ARP Number RCC -2020- 768, rather than ARP

Number RCC -2020- 320, although both ARP numbers involved the September 24, 2020

incident. As a result, on September 20, 2021, the commissioner issued a Stay Order and

Remand, staying the appeal for thirty days and directing the Department to amend its

answer to include the administrative record for RCC -2020- 320.                On November 5, 2021,

the Secretary of the Department filed a Motion and Order to Supplement the Record to

include a true copy of the Disciplinary Board Appeal numbered RCC -2020- 320, which was

granted on November 12, 2021.

         On March 17, 2022, the commissioner issued her report. Therein, she referred to

the decisions of the Warden and the Disciplinary Board and found that, based on the

evidence in the record, Mr. Wilson failed to allege specific facts to show that his

disciplinary sentence was arbitrary,           capricious,    or in violation     of his rights.       The

commissioner also determined that the penalty that Mr. Wilson received was a valid

1 Pursuant to the screening requirements set forth in LSA- R. S. 15: 1178, the matter was submitted to a
commissioner for judicial screening prior to service on the named defendants.     The commissioner found
that Mr. Wilson' s claim was subject to judicial appellate review and ordered service of the petition on the
Secretary of the Department.

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authorized penalty for a Schedule B Rule violation under the Department's Rules and

Procedures. Therefore, the commissioner found that the Department' s decision was not

arbitrary, capricious or in violation of Mr. Wilson' s rights and recommended that the

district court should affirm the Department's decision and dismiss the appeal with

prejudice at Mr. Wilson' s costs.     On May 10, 2022, the district court signed a judgment,

adopting,     as   reasons,   the   commissioner' s   report,   affirming the decision   of        the

Department, and dismissing with prejudice Mr. Wilson' s petition for judicial review of ARP

Number RCC -2020- 320 at his costs. Mr. Wilson appealed the district court's judgment.

                                          DISCUSSION

       An offender aggrieved by an adverse decision of the Department rendered

pursuant to any administrative remedy procedures may seek judicial review of the

decision in the 19th Judicial District Court. See LSA- R. S. 15: 1177( A).    On review of the

Department's decision, the district court functions as an appellate court. Williams v.

Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, 2018-0268 ( La. App. 1 Cir.

9/ 21/ 18), 257 So -3d 690, 692. The district court's review shall be confined to the record

and shall be limited to the issues presented in the petition for review and the ARP request

filed at the agency level. LSA- R. S. 15: 1177( A)( 5).

          Further, on review of the district court's judgment in a suit for judicial review under

LSA- R. S. 15: 1177, an appellate court owes no deference to the district court' s factual

findings or legal conclusions. Williams, 257 So. 3d at 692- 93.          A reviewing court may

reverse or modify the administrative decision only if substantial rights of the appellant

have been prejudiced because the administrative decisions or findings are: (                  1)    in

violation of constitutional or statutory provisions; ( 2) in excess of the statutory authority

of the agency; ( 3) made upon unlawful procedure; ( 4) affected by other error of law; ( 5)

arbitrary, capricious, or characterized by an abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted

exercise of discretion; or ( 6) manifestly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and

substantial evidence on the whole record. LSA- R. S. 15: 1177( A)( 9); Williams, 257 So -3d

at 692.

       As recognized by the commissioner in her report, the scope of the district court's

review was limited by LSA- R. S. 15: 1177( A)( 5) and ( 9).      After a thorough review of the

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record, we find that the district court did not err in concluding that the administrative

decisions and findings were not arbitrary, capricious, or characterized by an abuse of

discretion.   Accordingly, because Mr. Wilson' s substantial rights were not prejudiced, we

find no error by the district court in upholding the decision of the Department and

dismissing with prejudice Mr. Wilson' s petition for judicial review of ARP Number RCC -

2020 -320.

                                       CONCLUSION

       For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.   All costs

of this appeal are assessed to Keaton Wilson.

       AFFIRMED.

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