NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-5587-16T1
CHARLES MERRITT,
Appellant,
v.
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT
OF CORRECTIONS,
Respondent.
________________________________
Submitted November 28, 2018 – Decided March 8, 2019
Before Judges Fuentes and Vernoia.
On appeal from the New Jersey Department of
Corrections.
Charles Merritt, appellant pro se.
Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for
respondent (Melissa Dutton Schaffer, Assistant
Attorney General, of counsel; Suzanne M. Davies,
Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Appellant Charles Merritt is an inmate serving a fifty-year sentence at
South Woods State Prison. He appeals from the final decision of the New Jersey
Department of Corrections (DOC) finding he committed disciplinary infraction
.254 under N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1, "refusing to work, or to accept a program or
housing unit assignment." After reviewing the record developed before the
DOC and mindful of our standard of review, we reverse and expunge this
disciplinary infraction from appellant's inmate comportment record.
On June 14, 2017, appellant "became argumentative" when a Correction
Officer (C.O.) attempted to serve him an "on-the-spot" disciplinary charge.
Appellant refused to sign the charge and requested to see a Sergeant, who would
presumably have supervisory authority to interact in this situation. The C.O.
denied appellant's request and twice repeated his order for appellant "to return
to his cell and lock in." Appellant did not obey the C.O.'s commands. Against
these facts, the DOC charged appellant with committing disciplinary infraction
.254, "refusing to work, or to accept a program or housing unit assignment ."
Appellant refused to participate in the disciplinary hearing conducted by a
hearing officer. Based on the facts we have described, the hearing officer found
appellant guilty of disciplinary infraction .254 and imposed a sanction of ten
days loss of recreation privileges, sixty days loss of commutation time
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suspended for sixty days, and ninety days of administrative segregation (solitary
confinement) suspended for sixty days under N.J.A.C. 10A:4-9.18.
Before this court, appellant argues the DOC did not meet its burden of
proof under N.J.A.C. 10A:4-9.15(a), which requires that "a finding of guilt at a
disciplinary hearing shall be based upon substantial evidence that the inmate has
committed a prohibited act." As an intermediate appellate court, we are bound
not to disturb an agency's ultimate determination unless the decision is
"arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, [] or not supported by substantial
credible evidence in the record as a whole." In re Stallworth, 208 N.J. 182, 194
(2011) (alteration in original) (quoting Henry v. Rahway State Prison, 81 N.J.
571, 579-80 (1980)). Furthermore, "when reviewing agency decisions, we defer
to matters that lie within the special competence of an administrative tribunal."
Mejia v. N.J. Dep't of Corr., 446 N.J. Super. 369, 376 (App. Div. 2016) (quoting
Balagun v. N.J. Dep't of Corr., 361 N.J. Super. 199, 202 (App. Div. 2003)).
Here, the evidence presented to the hearing officer does not support that
appellant committed the disciplinary charge .254 "refusing to work, or to accept
a program or housing unit assignment." Accepting the veracity of the C.O.'s
account of events, appellant twice refused to obey an order "to return to his cell
and lock in." This was an act of defiance by appellant of this particular C.O.'s
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order, not a refusal to accept a housing assignment. Stated differently, this was
a personal act of disobedience, not a systemic defiance. The DOC could have
charged appellant under N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1 with committing disciplinary
infraction .256 "refusing to obey an order of any staff member." However, for
reasons not disclosed in this record, the DOC decided to charge appellant with
committing disciplinary infraction .254. Based on the facts presented to the
hearing officer, the DOC did not meet its burden of proof to find appellant guilty
of committing disciplinary infraction .254 under N.J.A.C. 10A:4-9.15(a).
Reversed.
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