Cite as: 520 U. S. 641 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
that no witness statements had been submitted on his behalf"). This is an obvious procedural defect, and state and federal courts have reinstated good-time credits (absent a new hearing) when it is established. See, e. g., Kingsley v. Bureau of Prisons, 937 F. 2d 26, 27, 31 (CA2 1991); Dumas v. State, 654 So. 2d 48, 49 (Ala. Crim. App. 1994); Mahers v. State, 437 N. W. 2d 565, 568-569 (Iowa 1989); In re Contras, 199 App. Div. 2d 601, 602, 604 N. Y. S. 2d 651, 652 (1993). Cf. In re Reismiller, 101 Wash. 2d 291, 293-297, 678 P. 2d 323, 325, 326 (1984); In re Burton, 80 Wash. App. 573, 585, 910 P. 2d 1295, 1304 (1996). Respondent's claim, however, goes even further, asserting that the cause of the exclusion of the exculpatory evidence was the deceit and bias of the hearing officer himself. He contends that the hearing officer lied about the nonexistence of witness statements, see App. to Pet. for Cert. I-4, I-6, I-7; Brief for Respondent 2-3; App. 4, and thus "intentionally denied" him the right to present the extant exculpatory evidence, Brief for Respondent 3. A criminal defendant tried by a partial judge is entitled to have his conviction set aside, no matter how strong the evidence against him. Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U. S. 510, 535 (1927); Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U. S. 279, 308 (1991). The due process requirements for a prison disciplinary hearing are in many respects less demanding than those for criminal prosecution, but they are not so lax as to let stand the decision of a biased hearing officer who dishonestly suppresses evidence of innocence. Cf. Wolff, supra, at 570-571.
Respondent contends that a judgment in his favor would not imply the invalidity of the loss of his good-time credits because Washington courts follow a "some or any evidence" standard, under which, "if there is any evidence in the record to support the prison hearing determination, then the court will not undertake an entire review of the record and will uphold prison hearing results." Brief for Respondent 7, citing Superintendent, Mass. Correctional Institution at Walpole v. Hill, 472 U. S. 445 (1985); Brief for Respondent 21
647
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007