In Re Zepeda

Opinion

IRION, J.

Richard S. Zepeda, an inmate at Calipatria State Prison, petitioned the trial court for a writ of habeas corpus seeking reversal of disciplinary action imposed upon him by prison officials for possessing a weapon in violation of prison regulations. The court granted the relief requested, concluding that the evidence introduced at Zepeda’s prison disciplinary proceeding—consisting primarily of the weapon’s location in a cup on a shelf accessible to both Zepeda and his cellmate—was insufficient to support a finding that Zepeda possessed the weapon. Consequently, the court ruled,…