In re Marti

BACKGROUND

I January 14, 2019, Rules Violation Report A little less than four months before the violation at issue here, on January 14, 2019, Correctional Officer J. Brown discovered an electric grill while conducting a search that included petitioner’s property. Petitioner was issued a notice of a rules violation for possession of the grill. In connection with this same search, Brown documented other items of “confiscated contraband” including items such as “excess” tennis shoes and Tupperware as well as sheets and pillow cases in excess of the state- issued quantity. As we shall explain, Brown claims to have also verbally instructed petitioner to bring himself into compliance with respondent’s property limits. Sergeant M. Rhode, Brown’s reviewing supervisor, signed the rules violation report prepared by Brown. The matter proceeded to a disciplinary hearing solely on the issue of the electric grill, however, and petitioner was found guilty of the rules violation. For reasons not relevant here, that decision was subsequently vacated, and a rules violation report was reissued. Although Rhode did not sign the reissued report, it specifically referenced and incorporated the original…