Peart v. Kelly

Determination unanimously confirmed and petition dismissed. Memorandum: An inmate who speaks only Spanish is entitled to select a Spanish-speaking employee assistant so that the nature of disciplinary charges may be explained and the inmate can communicate his requests for witnesses or other evidence (7 NYCRR 251-4.1; Matter of Rivera v Smith, 110 AD2d 1043). Although petitioner’s native language is Spanish, prison officials correctly determined that he was conversant in English and did not require a bilingual assistant. Accordingly, petitioner’s failure to select an assistant from the…