Ashley GADDY, State and Federal Prisoner, Appellee,
v.
George MICHAEL, in his official capacity as parole officer
of the U. S. Boardof Paroles, et al., and the U.
S. Board of Paroles, Appellants.
No. 74-2054.
United States Court of Appeals,
Fourth Circuit.
Argued March 7, 1975.
Decided July 7, 1975.
Michael S. Scofield, Asst. U. S. Atty. (Keith S. Snyder, U. S. Atty., on brief), for appellants.
John E. Gehring, Walnut Cove (court-appointed), for appellee.
Before WINTER, CRAVEN and RUSSELL, Circuit Judges.
DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge:
The issue in this appeal is whether the Parole Board is required to hold and dispose of a revocation proceeding within two months after the issuance of a parole violators warrant or may delay, under appropriate circumstances, the hearing on, and disposition of, such warrant until it has been executed.1 The District Court held that the Board must dispose of the proceeding within this two months' period. We conclude, to the contrary, that the execution of the warrant may, in proper circumstances, be held in abeyance and that, when so held in abeyance, the revocation hearing on, and the disposition of the warrant may be delayed until after the warrant has been executed. We accordingly reverse.
The petitioner, who has filed this habeas proceeding, had been convicted of the federal crime of counterfeiting and had secured mandatory good-time release under § 4163, 18 U.S.C., "as if paroled," with approximately a year and a half remaining on his federal sentence. About five months after his release, he was arrested, convicted, sentenced and imprisoned on a state charge admittedly violative of his parole. The United States Board of Parole issued on April 10, 1973 only a few days after his conviction on the intervening charge a parole violators warrant on the basis of his state conviction and a detainer was filed within a few days thereafter with the state authorities having custody of the petitioner. The petitioner was promptly advised that the detainer had been filed and that he might "submit to the Board any information (he) would like considered by the Board in disposing of the warrant. Upon receipt of such information, he was further advised that "(his) case (would) be reviewed and, if deemed appropriate, a representative of the Parole Board (would) personally interview (him) prior to any action being taken on the warrant."2
On May 28, 1974 the petitioner was released by the state authorities3 to the custody of the United States pursuant to the parole violators warrant. On the same day, he was given a "probable cause" hearing and on August 30, 1974, the final hearing on the revocation was held, resulting in the revocation of his parole. In the meantime, the petitioner had, almost immediately after his release by the state authorities to federal custody, filed this habeas proceeding in the District Court for the purpose of voiding or cancelling the parole violators warrant because of the alleged denial of his due process right to a prompt hearing and disposition after the issuance of the warrant. The District Court granted partial relief. It held, relying primarily on Morrissey v. Brewer (1972)
It is generally agreed and has long been recognized that the Board of Parole, after the issuance of its parole violators warrant, is obligated, as a matter of fundamental fairness, to execute with reasonable dispatch its parole violators warrant and, after the warrant has been executed, to accord to the parolee his due process rights to a hearing within a reasonable time.5 But, the authorities, while recognizing this obligation, have uniformly held that there is no inflexible time standard, such as the sixty-day standard mandated by the decision of the District Court, within which the Board must act, either in the execution of the warrant or, after its execution, in according the parolee his hearing rights.6 What is a reasonable time and whether the Board in a particular case has acted within a reasonable time, either in connection with the execution of the warrant or in the subsequent grant of a hearing, just as the constitutional right to a speedy trial, may not be cast in absolute terms and "quantified into a specific number of days or months"7 but depends upon all the circumstances of the particular case. Shelton v. United States Board of Parole (1967)
While, as we have already indicated, the warrant must be executed with reasonable dispatch and an extremely "long delay between the issuance of an arrest warrant and its execution may be unreasonable and a deprivation of due process * * *,"8 the Courts have established a number of sound reasons which may and will justify delay in executing the parole violators warrant. These reasons are founded primarily on fairness to the parolee but they would be unavailing under the absolute and inflexible rule promulgated by the District Court in this case. Thus, it has been the uniform rule that the execution of the warrant may be held in abeyance awaiting the outcome of pending criminal charges against the parolee, where, as here, such charges are the basis for the warrant and any delay thereby occasioned will be deemed reasonable.9 The rationale for this was well expressed in Burdette v. Nock (6th Cir. 1973)
" * * * In fairness to the defendant he should first be afforded the opportunity to have his case tried before a jury in the state court. The Federal Parole Board also ought not be required to determine the issues of the state charge prior to the trial in the state court. * * * "
The same reasoning was stated by the Court in Shelton v. United States, supra, (
" * * * Since there is no need to hold a revocation hearing at all in such cases the violation being established by the criminal conviction there can be no prejudice to the parolee in regard to determining the fact of violation by awaiting the outcome of criminal proceedings, and there may be an advantage, as appellees suggest, in leaving 'the determination of guilt or innocence * * * to the courts (rather) than to an informal Board hearing.' "
A delay of 18 months between issuance and execution of the warrant in Burdette, almost 3 years in Moore v. Smith (7th Cir. 1969)
Equally settled is the rule that "where a warrant has been properly issued within the maximum term of the sentence, the execution of that warrant may be held in abeyance for the service of an intervening sentence" and again such delay is reasonable. Stockton v. Massey (4th Cir. 1929)
Unlike the District Court, we find in Morrissey no suggestion or indication that any of these well-developed rules governing the handling of federal parole hearings rules that had largely been developed under judicial auspices14 were violative of a parolee's constitutional rights. Morrissey concerned state, not federal parolees, and a state parole system under which a parolee might have his parole revoked without being granted any hearing whatsoever, and without being given any opportunity to know the basis on which his parole was being revoked or to challenge the facts on which a violation of his parole might be claimed.
We realize that Sutherland v. District of Columbia Board of Parole (D.C.D.C.1973)
We accordingly conclude that the Board was perfectly justified in holding in abeyance and delaying execution of its warrant in this case until the petitioner had been released by State authorities after service of his sentence for the intervening charge, which was the basis for the warrant.24 Even were we to find that the delay had been unreasonable, however, the petitioner would still be entitled to relief only if he could establish prejudice.25
The petitioner in this case was manifestly not prejudiced by the delay in the factual establishment of his violation of parole. He certainly was not prejudiced in his right to a prima facie hearing. The District Court conceded that his conviction in state court was conclusive on that right. The District Court, however, found prejudice in delay of a final hearing on three grounds, no one of which we find sound. First, it found that "(D)elay fades and perishes evidence of mitigation" and "(W)itnesses may die or forget." All of this is true but these are reasons that have particular relevancy where the fact of violation is in dispute. As Morrissey itself points out, they are largely insignificant where the fact of violation is conclusively established by the criminal conviction itself. Moreover, if the petitioner seeks to claim prejudice on this ground, he is obligated to show "what evidence and what witnesses he would have presented at a timely hearing which were unavailable to him because of the delay" and, absent such a showing, he may not claim prejudice in this particular. Jenkins v. United States (D.C.Conn.1972)
There is another and a conclusive answer to all the hypothetical bases for a finding of prejudice on any of the grounds stated. Almost simultaneous with the issuance of the warrant, the petitioner was advised, as required by § 2.53(a), 28 C.F.R., that he could offer any evidence that would support a withdrawal or other disposition of the warrant. That extended to him the opportunity for a hearing. He made no attempt to avail himself of this administrative remedy, thus open to him almost from the day the warrant was issued.27 No doubt the petitioner failed to exercise this right because he knew that his conviction made the possibility of immediate parole, or concurrency of sentence, unlikely in withdrawal of the detainer. But whatever the reason for his failure to avail himself of this right, though, he could not "sleep on his administrative remedies for fear that he has no case and then claim prejudice by reason of the passage of time."28
To summarize, we conclude that the delay by the Board in according the petitioner a hearing on his parole violators warrant until he had served his intervening sentence, which was the basis of the warrant, was not unreasonable; and, even if unreasonable, the petitioner suffered no prejudice thereby and was entitled to no relief on account thereof. The order of the District Court is accordingly reversed, with directions to dismiss the petition.
Reversed.
Notes
Section 4206, 18 U.S.C.A. provides that an officer "shall execute such warrant by taking such prisoner and returning him to the custody of the Attorney General." In keeping with this statute, it has been held that, "(A) parole violators warrant is executed when its command is carried out that is when the parolee is retaken and returned to federal custody pursuant to it." Cook v. United States Attorney General (5th Cir. 1974)
This procedure was provided for under the Board's regulations as set forth in § 2.37(c), 28 C.F.R. In 1974 that regulation was revised and is now § 2.53(a), 28 C.F.R
Subsequent to his original arrest and conviction, the petitioner had been convicted on two additional charges. Apparently the sentences on these new charges ran concurrently with his original sentence
Italics added
United States v. Strada (8th Cir. 1974)
§ 4207, 18 U.S.C. expressly provides that the parolee shall be given a hearing after he is "retaken upon a warrant." On principles of fundamental fairness, this hearing was required to be two-tiered under the basic decision of Mr. Chief Justice (then Circuit Judge) Burger in Hyser v. Reed (1963)
Cf., Barker v. Wingo (1972)
Barker v. Wingo, supra (
United States v. Strada, supra (
Shelton instanced two cases of such extreme delay as to create an irrebuttable presumption of prejudice (
In Simon v. Moseley (10th Cir. 1971)
Some of the authorities make a distinction between cases where a prosecution is the basis for the warrant and where it is not. Thus, in Shelton v. United States Board of Parole, supra (
" * * * Where there is confinement for a charge that is not alleged as a ground for revocation of parole it is not per se reasonable to defer determination of whether there has been a violation of parole pending the completion of the unrelated criminal proceedings. If the Board intended to pursue the charge that the parole board's order had been violated by failure to report, there is at least an issue whether it was reasonable to delay this determination for two and a half years merely because the parolee was in confinement on an unrelated Dyer Act charge."
In some cases, the basis for the issuance of the warrant is both the criminal prosecution and what is described as a non-legal circumstance. The Board will often delay the execution of the warrant on account of the pendency of the prosecution in line with its customary practice. This is accepted as a basis for holding the hearing in abeyance. See Skeeter v. McCune (D.C.Va.1974)
In fact, this has been the long-time practice of the Board and has received the approval consistently of the courts. Thus, in Woykovsky v. Chappell (1964)
"Generally the commission of a criminal offense while on parole or on a conditional release is a ground for the revocation of the release. If the parole board decides to institute revocation proceedings, it issues a parole violator warrant. However, customarily, these are not served upon the releasee immediately, but are instead held as a detainer against the prisoner while he is serving the sentence on the new conviction."
See, Jefferson v. Willingham (10th Cir. 1966)
When the parole violation rests on an intervening conviction, the importance of an early hearing after execution of the warrant loses some of its significance. See Jones v. Rivers, supra (
" * * * Obviously a parolee cannot relitigate issues determined against him in other forums, as in the situation presented when the revocation is based on conviction of another crime. * * *
" * * * If it is determined that petitioners admitted parole violations to the Parole Board, as respondents contend, and if those violations are found to be reasonable grounds for revoking parole under state standards, that would end the matter."
This follows substantially the language in Hyser v. Reed, supra (
" * * * Those who have not denied the charged violation of parole or any whose parole was revoked because of a criminal conviction would not now be benefited by a hearing which is designed specifically to make a record only in cases where the fact of violation is controverted."
See Shelton v. United States Board of Parole, supra (
United States v. Strada, supra,
As the Court said in Shelton (at 574, n. 11) "(W)holly different problems are raised where the violator is in custody solely pursuant to a warrant and awaiting a hearing on the fact of violation " and where the parolee is in prison on an intervening charge. In the former instance, where as a result of the execution of the warrant the parolee has lost his liberty, his right to a prompt hearing is far more impelling obviously than when he is already in prison
Strictly followed, the construction of Morrissey adopted by the District Court, with its inflexible "two months" rule would in the vast majority of cases prevent the Board from delaying the execution of its warrant until the pending prosecution, on which the warrant was issued had been concluded and would force the defendant to make his defense, including the giving of his testimony, prior to his actual trial, thereby losing the right to be silent at trial. Such an unfair result gives cogent support to the rule that the execution of the warrant may in such a case be held in abeyance, even if it results in a delay in the revocation hearing for many months, or perhaps years in some instances
It would seem, also, unlikely that the Court was establishing two different and inconsistent rules in its decisions in Morrissey and Wingo. In both cases, the individual is deprived of his liberty on a charge that has not been proved. The right to a prompt hearing is equally cogent in both cases. A rule that requires a hearing in the one case and a trial in the other within a reasonable but not "quantified" time, taking into consideration all the circumstances, it is submitted is the proper one and is supported by authority.
In Skeeter v. McCune, supra, Judge Merhige did not conclude that Morrissey overruled Shelton. To the contrary, he found Hyser and Shelton entirely consistent with Morrissey and in fact rested his decision on Shelton
See Trimmings v. Henderson, supra; Cook v. United States Attorney General, supra; Britton v. Small, supra
Shelton v. United States Board of Parole, supra (
Zerbst v. Kidwell (1938)
Delay in the hearing and disposition of parole revocation proceedings is another aspect of the general problem of denial of a speedy trial considered in Smith v. Hooey (1969)
Moore v. Smith, supra (
