Court Opinion

ID: 9964854
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-05-01 00:00:45.29135+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:25:44.418780
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40193            Document: 68-1         Page: 1     Date Filed: 04/30/2024

           United States Court of Appeals
                for the Fifth Circuit                                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                   ____________                                       FILED
                                                                                   April 30, 2024
                                     No. 23-40193
                                   ____________                                    Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                        Clerk
Jeffrey L. McBride,

                                                                Petitioner—Appellant,

                                          versus

Warden, FCI Beaumont Low,

                                             Respondent—Appellee.
                   ______________________________

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Eastern District of Texas
                             USDC No. 1:21-CV-106
                   ______________________________

Before Higginson, Willett, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
       Jeffrey L. McBride, federal prisoner # 17702-035, appeals from the
denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition challenging his prison disciplinary
conviction and resulting loss of 41 days of good-time credits. He contends
there was insufficient evidence to show that he possessed either of two cell
phone chargers that were found in his “cubicle,” the living space assigned to
him and another prisoner.

       _____________________
       *
           This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-40193        Document: 68-1       Page: 2    Date Filed: 04/30/2024

                                 No. 23-40193

       Because federal prisoners have a liberty interest in accumulated good-
time credits, “revocation of the credits must comply with minimal
requirements of due process.” Kapordelis v. Myers, 16 F.4th 1195, 1200 (5th
Cir. 2021). As relevant here, a disciplinary conviction comports with due
process if the record includes “some evidence” to support it. Id. (quoting
Superintendent, Mass. Corr. Inst. v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 455 (1985)). Under
the some-evidence standard, “prison disciplinary proceedings will be
overturned only where there is no evidence whatsoever to support the decision
of the prison officials.” Id. (citation omitted). We review this issue of law de
novo. See id. at 1202.
       The disciplinary decision in this case relied primarily on a report
stating one charger was found on a locker and the other in a laundry bag
located in the common area of the cubicle. Although McBride points to an
affidavit signed by the cubicle’s other occupant admitting the chargers, the
locker, and the laundry bag were his, that prisoner refused to speak when
called as a witness or to produce a written statement for the disciplinary
hearing. The disciplinary hearing officer (“DHO”) concluded that “[t]his
diminished [the other prisoner’s] credibility,” so “the DHO determined
that the greater weight of the evidence supported the conclusion [that
McBride] committed the prohibited act.”
       Ascertaining whether the some-evidence standard is met does not
require weighing of the evidence; rather, the relevant question is whether
“any evidence” can support a finding of guilt. Hill, 472 U.S. at 455. Because
there is some evidence to support a finding that McBride constructively
possessed a phone charger, we conclude that the minimal requirements of
due process were met. See Kapordelis, 16 F.4th at 1200.
       AFFIRMED.

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