GREGORY WEBB v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-5421-04T15421-04T1

GREGORY WEBB,

Petitioner-Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,

Respondent-Respondent.

________________________________

 

Submitted January 31, 2006 - Decided February 27, 2006

Before Judges Lefelt and Seltzer.

On appeal from a Final Decision

of the Department of Corrections.

Gregory Webb, appellant pro se.

Zulima V. Farber, Attorney General,

attorney for respondent (Michael J.

Hass, Assistant Attorney General,

of Counsel; Christopher C. Josephson,

Deputy Attorney General, on the

brief).

PER CURIAM

Prison inmate Gregory Webb is incarcerated at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Yardville. Webb appeals from the Department of Correction's final decision imposing disciplinary sanctions on him for committing the prohibited act of escape. N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1 *101.

On May 18, Webb was assigned to the Hope Hall halfway house and was employed at the Pennsauken Save-A-Lot store. He was scheduled to be at work from 2:00 p.m. until 10:15 p.m. According to the halfway house rules, he was to sign out when he left and sign in when he returned. On the day in question, Webb's sign-out time from Hope Hall was 12:00 noon and, according to the Department of Corrections, he was required to sign in no later than 11:25 p.m. The designated sign-in and out times were apparently based upon the 409 bus that Webb took to and from work.

After Webb reported to work on May 18, he was fired at 7:25 p.m. Instead of returning to Hope Hall, he waited until 10:22 p.m. to notify the halfway house that he was on his way back. Webb claims that he was frustrated by what occurred, and decided to wait in the parking lot of Save-A-Lot until his scheduled time to return to Hope Hall. He signed back in at 12:22 a.m.

Because Webb could not account for his whereabouts between 7:25 p.m., when he was fired, and 10:22 p.m., when he called in, and because he returned to Hope Hall approximately one hour after his approved sign-in time of 11:25 p.m., he was charged with escape.

Webb claims that his failure to return to Hope Hall after his termination by Save-A-Lot did not constitute an escape. He argues that he returned to the program just before his designated time of return, and although he did not return to the program immediately after he was fired, he did return just before his designated time and therefore could not be guilty of escape.

The pertinent rule, N.J.A.C. 10A:20-4.37(a)2, provides that an inmate is guilty of escape when the inmate "fails to return to the Residential Community Release Agreement Program unless the designated time has been extended for legitimate reason by the Director or designee." Webb claims he signed out at 12:00 p.m. and that his designated sign-in time was actually 12:25 a.m., and therefore, he returned three minutes before his designated time. The Department disagrees, however, and contends that Webb's approved sign-in time was not 12:25 a.m., but 11:25 p.m. Our review of the record reveals sufficient evidence supporting the Department's position on Webb's designated sign-in time, and we are consequently bound by that finding. See Henry v. Rahway State Prison, 81 N.J. 571, 579-80 (1980).

We do agree, however, with Webb's criticism of the hearing officer's statement, which in part essentially concluded that appellant could have escaped and would therefore be guilty of escape. Although we disagree with this portion of the articulated rationale, the record supports the Department's finding that Webb had escaped.

On May 18, Webb was required to return to Hope Hall by 11:25 p.m., and he failed to return until 12:22 a.m. In addition, it was uncontested that Webb left work at 7:25 p.m. and did not call Hope Hall until after 10 p.m. Besides being bound by the pertinent regulation, Webb also signed a listing of halfway house rules, further advising that "[a] resident shall be considered an escape[e] if they . . . fail to return to the facility unless their designated time of return has been extended." Accordingly, there was sufficient evidence that Webb committed an escape, at least as that term is defined by the pertinent regulation. Therefore, we are obliged to affirm the Department's decision. Campbell v. Dep't of Civil Serv., 39 N.J. 556, 562 (1963).

 
Affirmed.

(continued)

(continued)

2

A-5421-04T1

February 27, 2006