Commonwealth v. Bunting, 458 Mass. 569

Bunting pled guilty to unarmed burglary with assault, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, and threatening to commit a crime; sentenced to 2.5 years incarceration, 6 months concurrent sentence, and a 10-year probation to be served after release.
While incarcerated, Bunting committed new crimes; probation violation hearing was held in January 2007 after the new convictions.
Probation officer issued surrender notice; the term of probation had not commenced when the violation occurred.
Trial court found a probation violation and extended the probation from ten to eleven years to commence after release.
Appeals Court affirmed the extension; this Court granted review to address due process notice for violations occurring before probation commencement.
Court vacates the probation violation finding and reverses the extension to eleven years, due to lack of required notice under Ruiz.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether can revoke/extend probation for pre-commencement conduct	Bunting argues no authority.	Defense contends proper under Ruiz with adequate notice.	Not permissible; due process requires notice.
Whether Ruiz notice requirement applies to criminal conduct during incarceration	Commonwealth relies on criminal nature of conduct.	Ruiz applies regardless of criminality of conduct.	Ruiz notice required for any probation condition violation before commencement.

Commonwealth v. Ruiz, 453 Mass. 474 (2009) (due process requires notice before revoking probation when incarceration precedes probation)
Commonwealth v. Phillips, 40 Mass. App. Ct. 801 (1996) (probation revocation may occur for violations after imposition but before commencement)
Commonwealth v. Juzba, 44 Mass. App. Ct. 457 (1998) (concurrent incarceration and probation; commencement timing)