Anthony Thigpen, Jr. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
84A05-1611-CR-2643
| Ind. Ct. App. | Oct 31, 2017Background
- Anthony Thigpen pleaded guilty in 2014 to a Class C felony (battery) with a four-year suspended sentence to probation. While on probation he was later charged with new offenses and admitted to a probation violation and pleaded guilty to an amended Level 5 battery in 2016.
- The trial court imposed consecutive sentences totaling seven years and ordered direct placement to the Vigo County Community Corrections work release program on August 19, 2016.
- Thigpen accrued 63 days of actual time in the work release program (Aug 19–Oct 20, 2016) and had previously accrued jail time and good-time credit for other periods.
- During September–October 2016 community corrections imposed sanctions for rule violations, including loss of credit time; the program director reported a loss of 120 days of credit time.
- The trial court revoked Thigpen’s direct placement on October 21, 2016, ordered him to serve the seven-year sentence in DOC, and stated Thigpen had lost all good time earned while in work release (thereby excluding the 63 days).
- Thigpen appealed the loss of the 63 days, arguing community corrections lacked authority to deprive him of earned good-time credit absent a DOC rule delegating that power.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether a community corrections program director may deprive an offender of earned good-time credit for time served in the program | Thigpen: only the DOC may deprive earned good-time credit; no DOC rule delegates that power to community corrections | State: community corrections (not the trial court) revoked the credit under its disciplinary authority and the trial court properly incorporated that prior deprivation | Reversed: following Shepard, community corrections lacked authority to deprive earned good-time credit absent a DOC rule; remand to recalc credit to include the 63 days |
Key Cases Cited
- Pharr v. State, 2 N.E.3d 10 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013) (trial court exceeded authority when it deprived defendant of credit time earned while in community corrections)