49 Pa. Commw. 194 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1980
Opinion by
Petitioner, Wayne Carlise Jacobs, seeks our review of the Bureau of Corrections’ computation of his sentence. The parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment are before us for consideration.
Petitioner was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of not less than 2 years nor more than 5 years to be computed from March 24, 1977. On September 14, 1977, the petitioner was inadvertently released from the State Correctional Institution at Graterford (Graterford) because of a clerical error in recording his sentence, tlpon his release, he came under the supervising r ihority of the Probation Department of the Court of Co amon Pleas of Philadelphia County.
An escapee is not entitled to credit for time spent at large prior to being apprehended.' Commonwealth ex rel. Goins v. Rundle, 411 Pa. 590, 192 A.2d 720, cert. denied, 375 U.S. 959 (1963); Harbold v. Carson, 24 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 417, 356 A.2d 835 (1976). However, under the circumstances of this case, petitioner cannot be classified as an escapee upon his inadvertent release by prison authorities. Further
Therefore, we will grant summary judgment in petitioner’s favor and order the Bureau of Corrections to recompute his sentence, crediting the time from September 14, 1977 to December 16, 1978 to the sentence imposed April 19, 1977 and made effective March 24,1977.
Order
And Now, this 5th day of February, 1980, the Bureau of Corrections’ motion for summary judgment is denied, summary judgment is granted to the petitioner, Wayne Carlise Jacobs, and the Bureau of Corrections is ordered to recompute his sentence, crediting the time from September 14, 1977 to December 16, 1978 to the sentence imposed April 19, 1977 and made effective March 24,1977.
The charge of escape for which the arrest warrant was issued was dismissed by order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on January 18, 1979. Escape is defined in the Crimes Code, 18 Pa. C.S. §5121 (a), as follows :
A person commits an offense if he unlawfully removes himself from official detention or fails to return to official detention following temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or limited period..
Hay 5,1978 to December 16,1978.
September 14,1977 to December 16, 1978.
Cf. Jones v. Cunningham, 371 U.S. 236 (1963) (a prisoner, although released and placed on parole, was in the custody of the members of the parole board.)
Since technical violation parole proceedings, while available to the Board of Probation and Parole, were not utilized in the instant case to reduce the “street time,” we are unable to disallow petitioner credit for time he was away from prison.