United States v. Marc Turner
2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 16380
| 9th Cir. | 2012Background
- Turner pleaded guilty to distributing visual depictions of minors in sexually explicit conduct and was sentenced to 46 months plus 36 months of supervised release.
- After completing the prison term, Turner was detained under the Adam Walsh Act’s stay-of-release provision ( Walsh Act stay) pending civil commitment proceedings.
- The stay of release automatically delays Turner’s release and keeps him civilly detained while a certification of a sexually dangerous person is adjudicated.
- Turner remained in civil detention at FCI Butner for about four and a half years before a civil-commitment hearing was held in February 2012 and a March 2012 judgment was entered.
- Turner’s postsentence detention was civil and not part of his criminal sentence, and he was not released during the Walsh Act proceedings.
- The district court ultimately found no clear and convincing evidence that Turner was sexually dangerous, and the government was ordered to release him.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Walsh Act detention tolls supervised release | Turner | Turner | No tolling; detention is civil, not imprisonment in connection with a conviction |
| Whether § 4248(a) stay extends imprisonment for tolling purposes | Turner | Turner | Stay applies to all procedures; not to toll imprisonment for § 3624(e) |
| Effect of Johnson on the commencement of supervised release when post-sentence civil detention occurs | Turner | Turner | Johnson controls; supervised release cannot begin while physically imprisoned, even if detention is post-sentence and civil |
| Whether the rule of lenity resolves the ambiguity | Turner | Turner | Lenity favors Turner; ambiguity exists in statutory interpretation |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Johnson, 529 U.S. 53 (2000) (supervised release cannot begin while in prison; release requires freedom from confinement)
- United States v. Comstock, 560 U.S. 126 (2010) (civil-commitment statute; stay and civil detention context)
- Morales-Alejo v. United States, 193 F.3d 1102 (9th Cir. 1999) (tolling during imprisonment in connection with a conviction, pre- Johnson framework)
- United States v. Sullivan, 504 F.3d 969 (9th Cir. 2007) (detention in a non-BOP setting does not toll supervised release)
- Tobey v. United States, 794 F. Supp. 2d 594 (D. Md. 2011) (discourages reading tolling to apply to civil detention post-sentence)
- United States v. Revland, 2011 WL 6780868 (N.D. Iowa 2011) (majority view on tolling and Walsh Act proceedings in similar posture)