HAKIM KELLY v. NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-0

A-2836-13T1

HAKIM KELLY,

Appellant,

v.

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT

OF CORRECTIONS,

Respondent.

_______________________________

December 23, 2015

Submitted December 16, 2015 Decided

Before Judges Alvarez and Ostrer.

On appeal from the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Hakim Kelly, appellant pro se.

John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General, attorney for respondent (A-1652-12) (Melissa H. Raksa, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Gregory R. Bueno, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General, attorney for respondent (A-2836-13) (Lisa A. Puglisi, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Andrew J. Sarrol, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

In two separate appeals, Hakim Kelly challenges final disciplinary decisions of the Department of Corrections. We consolidate the appeals for the purpose of our opinion.

Kelly was sentenced in February 2007 to an aggregate term of ten years, with a five-year minimum term, for various second and third-degree CDS offenses and third-degree eluding. In April 2007, the court sentenced him to additional, apparently concurrent, terms of eighteen months for fourth-degree drug and resisting arrest charges.

In No. A-1652-12, Kelly appeals from a November 1, 2012 decision upholding a finding that Kelly committed prohibited act *.803/*.002, attempting to assault a person.1 See N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1. Kelly received a sanction of 15 days detention, 365 days administrative segregation, and 365 days loss of commutation time.

In No. A-2836-13, Kelly appeals from a February 6, 2014 decision upholding a finding that he refused to submit to a search, prohibited act *.708. See N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1. Kelly received a sanction of 15 days detention, 240 days administrative segregation, and 240 days loss of commutation time. In both appeals, Kelly argues the charges were not supported by substantial evidence and that the proceedings denied him due process.

We are informed that Hakim Kelly was released from custody on October 22, 2015, after serving the maximum time on his sentence 516.65 days of accumulated commutation and work credits having reduced his ten-year sentence, which would have extended to February 2017, by roughly seventeen months.

As a consequence of his unconditional release, we view Kelly's appeal of the disciplinary findings as moot, as the "potential of adverse collateral consequences" arising from the challenged agency decisions are "speculative and remote." See Cinque v. N.J. Dep't of Corr., 261 N.J. Super. 242, 244 (App. Div. 1993) (dismissing as moot appeal from agency decision transferring inmate to management control unit).

Dismissed.

1 Kelly was also found to have committed *.306, "conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the correctional facility." See N.J.A.C. 10A:4-4.1. Upon a remand for rehearing of the *.306 charge at the Department's request, Kelly was found not guilty of that charge. We subsequently reinstated the appeal of the *.803/*.002 finding.