WHITE v. RECKTENWALD

Filing 14

ORDER. In light of Petitioner's late filed Objections, the Court hereby VACATES its prior Order adopting the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 11 ). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, for the reasons set forth in the Amended Me morandum Order filed contemporaneously herewith, the Petition of Telano L. White for a writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 4 ) is DISMISSED and a certificate of appealability is DENIED. The Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, dated January 11, 2017, hereby is adopted as the Opinion of the District Court. Signed by Judge Cathy Bissoon on 1/31/2017. (kg)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
TELANO L. WHITE,
Petitioner,
v.
WARDEN MONICA RECKTENWALD,
Respondent.

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Civil Action No. 16-1337
Judge Cathy Bissoon
Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan

AMENDED MEMORANDUM ORDER
This case was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan for pretrial
proceedings in accordance with the Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 636(b)(l)(A) and (B), and
Local Rule of Civil Procedure 72.
On January 11, 2017, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report (Doc. 10) recommending that
the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and the certificate of appealability, be denied. Service of
the Report and Recommendation was made. On January 31, 2017, Petitioner filed untimely
Objections to the Report and Recommendation. (Doc. 13).
After a de novo review of the pleadings and documents in the case, together with the
Report and Recommendation and the Objections thereto, the Court makes the following findings:
In his Objections, Petitioner “challenges the sufficiency of the evidence that the DHO
relied upon in finding that Petitioner violated Codes 115 and 205.” (Doc.13 at 1). Specifically,
Petitioner claims that DHO failed to present “some evidence” to support the disciplinary
decision. (Id.). The Court disagrees. As the Magistrate Judge found in her Report and
Recommendation, in making the decision that Petitioner committed the prohibited acts of
“Destroying Any Item During a Search” and “Possession of Anything Not Authorized,” the

DHO relied upon the incident report by Officer D. Smith, which stated that when he began a pat
search on another inmate, he noticed that Petitioner had something in his right hand that
Petitioner was attempting to drop over the railing, and that Petitioner put the item in his mouth
when instructed to put his hands on the wall by the officer. (See Doc. 8-8; Doc. 8-5). The DHO
also cited to Petitioner’s admitted possession of 100 books of stamps to support his finding that
Petitioner committed the offense of “Possession of Anything Not Authorized.” (Doc. 8-8).
Thus, the Court finds that the DHO’s findings were sufficiently based on “some evidence,” and
Petitioner’s arguments are without merit.
For the reasons stated in the Report and herein, the following Order is entered:
The Petition of Telano L. White for a writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 4) is DISMISSED and
a certificate of appealability is DENIED. The Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate
Judge, dated January 11, 2017, hereby is adopted as the Opinion of the District Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

January 31, 2017

s/Cathy Bissoon
Cathy Bissoon
United States District Judge

cc (via ECF email notification):
All counsel of record
cc (via First-Class U.S. Mail):
Telano L. White
35325-068
FCI McKean
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, VA 16701

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