Opinion
July 13, 2000.
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this court by order of the Supreme Court, entered in Albany County) to review a determination of the Commissioner of Correctional Services which found petitioner guilty of violating a prison disciplinary rule.
Ronald Thomas, Stormville, petitioner in person.
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney-General (Kathleen M. Treasure of counsel), Albany, for respondent.
Before: Mercure, J.P., Peters, Carpinello, Graffeo and Lahtinen, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND JUDGMENT
Following a tier III hearing, petitioner, a prison inmate, was found guilty of the sale or exchange of narcotics after an ongoing investigation revealed that petitioner was responsible for selling controlled substances within the facility. Contrary to petitioner's contention, the misbehavior report and the testimony of the correction officer who authored the misbehavior report, as well as the confidential testimony offered by the informant, provide substantial evidence of petitioner's guilt (see, Matter of Rivera v. Selsky, 272 A.D.2d 708, 708 N.Y.S.2d 646; Matter of Knight v. Goord, 267 A.D.2d 523, lv denied 94 N.Y.2d 760).
Notably, there is no requirement that the Hearing Officer personally interview the confidential informant in order to make an assessment as to reliability (see, Matter of Abdur-Raheem v. Mann, 85 N.Y.2d 113). Here, the Hearing Officer heard testimony from the correction officer who was the recipient of confidential information which was detailed and corroborated by other evidence (see, Matter of Zambrana v. Goord, 251 A.D.2d 837; Matter of Williams v. Goord, 251 A.D.2d 740). Petitioner's remaining contentions, including his claim that the misbehavior report was not specific enough, are either unpreserved for our review or found to be without merit.
ADJUDGED that the determination is confirmed, without costs, and petition dismissed.