Saffold

Saffold v. Mendoza-Powers

Good Law
263 F. App'x 652
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJanuary 18, 2008No. 07-15735California276 words

Opinion

lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

California state prisoner Tony Eugene Saffold appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment denying his habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2258 , and we affirm.

Saffold challenges a prison disciplinary action that resulted in a sentence credit loss of 30 days. Specifically, he contends that the California Department of Corrections’ (“CDC”) failure to assign an Investigative Employee (“IE”) to assist him in his defense violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, and that the findings of the senior hearing officer at the disciplinary hearing were not supported by sufficient evidence in the record.

We conclude that there was no due process violation. The assistance of an IE was not necessary because Saffold was not illiterate nor were the issues pertaining to the disciplinary action so complex as to make it difficult for Saffold to collect and present the evidence necessary for an adequate comprehension of the case. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 570 , 94 S.Ct. 2963 , 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). Furthermore, the findings of the senior hearing officer were supported by some evidence in the record.…

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