State v. BradleyState v. Bradley
- Reporters:
- ,
- Before:
- Peters, Doucet, Sullivan
John Coffman, Lake Charles, for Damon Bradley.
PETERS, J.
Damon Bradley filed this supervisory writ application seeking reversal of the trial court‘s judgment denying his motion to quash a probation revocation proceeding filed against him. Bradley asserts that he was not on probation when he committed the acts giving rise to the probation revocation judgment and that, therefore, the trial court has no authority to proceed with the probation revocation proceedings.
On March 26, 1998, Bradley entered a guilty plea to one count of simple burglary, a violation of
Bradley immediately began serving his two-year term of imprisonment. On April 23, 1998, while still incarcerated, Bradley received a visit from Fred Blacklock, a state probation and parole officer. At that time, Blacklock presented Bradley with a document entitled “CONDITIONS OF PROBATION,” containing a list of conditions applicable to Bradley‘s probation. Bradley signed the document, acknowledging an understanding of his probation conditions. He obtained a parole release on June 18, 1998.
On July 25, 1998, while still on parole, Bradley was arrested for armed robbery, a violation of
Bradley asserts that his parole is basically a continuing aspect of his two-year incarceration sentence and that his probation sentence will not begin until he completes that portion of his sentence. On the other hand, the state asserts that, absent the trial court setting a specific date for beginning Bradley‘s probationary period, it began immediately upon his incarceration. Thus, the state asserts that Bradley was on both parole and probation on July 25, 1998. Because we find no direct statutory or jurisprudential guidance addressing the issues raised herein, we find it necessary to evaluate the statutory relationship between custodial sentences, probationary sentences, and those which include both custodial and probationary terms.
A sentence is defined as “the penalty imposed by the court on a defendant upon a plea of guilty, upon a verdict of guilty, or upon a judgment of guilt.”
Once in custody of the DOC, an inmate may be released from physical custody only by completion of his sentence, by earning a diminution of sentence pursuant to
The power to regulate one on parole is vested in a parole board created within DOC.
(1) To determine the time and conditions of release on parole of any person who has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to imprisonment, and confined in any penal or correctional institution in this state.
(2) To determine and impose sanctions for violation of the conditions of parole.
. . . .
(7) To adopt such rules not inconsistent with law as it deems necessary and proper, with respect to the eligibility of prisoners for parole, and to the conditions imposed on persons released on parole.
Assuming a defendant does not violate any conditions of his parole, the term of his parole is the remainder of his sentence, “without any diminution of sentence for good behavior.”
Even when imposing a determinate sentence, the trial court has the discretion to suspend all or part of certain sentences in felony cases and to place a defendant on probation.
A probationary sentence carries with it mandatory and discretionary conditions.
When the court places a defendant on probation, it shall require the defendant to refrain from criminal conduct and to pay a supervision fee to defray the costs of probation supervision, and it may impose any specific conditions reasonably related to his rehabilitation, including any of the following. That the defendant shall:
(1) Make a full and truthful report at the end of each month;
(2) Meet his specified family responsibilities, including any obligations imposed in a court order of child support; (3) Report to the probation officer as directed;
(4) Permit the probation officer to visit him at his home or elsewhere;
(5) Devote himself to an approved employment or occupation;
(6) Refrain from owning or possessing firearms or other dangerous weapons;
(7) Make reasonable reparation or restitution to the aggrieved party for damage or loss caused by his offense in an amount to be determined by the court;
(8) Refrain from frequenting unlawful or disreputable places or consorting with disreputable persons;
(9) Remain within the jurisdiction of the court and get the permission of the probation officer before making any change in his address or his employment; and
(10) Devote himself to an approved reading program at his cost if he is unable to read the English language.
(11) Perform community service work.
(12) Submit himself to available medical, psychiatric, mental health, or substance abuse examination or treatment or both when deemed appropriate or ordered to do so by the probation and parole officer.
(Emphasis added.)
The provisions of
Thus, the incarceration sentence is subject to the rules governing operation of the state penitentiary system, including specifically the statutory rules governing parole. Even if physically released on parole, the individual remains in the legal custody of the state until release from parole. The trial court has no authority with regard to this phase of the sentence and can impose no condition on the parole responsibilities of the parolee. See State v. Douglas, 576 So.2d 1102 (La.App. 3 Cir.1991). On the other hand, probation envisions control by the trial court over the suspended portion of the sentence.
In sentencing Bradley, the trial court made the following statements:
[O]n each of the charges I‘m going to sentence you to ten years in the Department of Corrections. I‘ll suspend all but two years thereof; place you on five years supervised probation under the usual conditions of 895 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. As a special condition of your probation you will have to pay a fine of $1,000.00 plus Court costs. As a condition of probation you have to pay a $20.00-per-month probationary
fee. As a condition of probation you will have to go through drug screens, one per week. That will be unscheduled, but once a week. As a condition of probation you will have to accept treatment and after-care if determined to be necessary by Probation and Parole. As a condition of probation you will have to attend at least one NA meeting per week. That‘s Narcotics Anonymous. As a condition of probation you will have to perform two hundred hours of community service. As a condition of probation you will have to make restitution to the victims, to be determined, the amount and to whom, by Probation and Parole.... I will run them concurrently with each other, and credit for time served.
The trial court then clarified its sentence by stating that the random drug tests would be “a minimum of one per week,” and that the restitution would be that found due in three complaints pending in state district court and one in the Lake Charles City Court.
The state asserts that because the trial court did not specify when probation was to begin, it began immediately after incarceration. Brenda Eaves, a state probation and parole agent and Bradley‘s probation officer, testified that when a defendant is sentenced to a “split sentence,” as was Bradley, it is the office policy of the DOC to assume probationary supervision the date the prisoner is released from incarceration or released on parole. However, Ms. Eaves further testified that DOC‘s office policy was that “probation started on the date of conviction or sentence.” (Emphasis added).
It is obvious from the special conditions placed by the trial court on Bradley‘s probation that the trial court envisioned that Bradley‘s probation would be in effect only after his release from incarceration. Had Bradley served the full two years and not been released on parole, it is doubtful that he or the state would have contested his five-year probation beginning when he was released from DOC‘s legal and physical custody. We find no reason to alter that date because of its interruption by a period of parole, where Bradley remained under DOC‘s legal custody during that time.
The fact that a probation and parole officer may have presented Bradley with his conditions of probation upon his release on parole does not change the beginning probation date. Additionally, Bradley paid a monthly parole fee ($43.00) upon his release from DOC‘s physical custody and did not pay a probation fee.
We are not persuaded that DOC‘s office policy in this regard is an accurate interpretation of applicable law.
The provisions of this Code are intended to provide for the just determination of criminal proceedings. They shall be construed to secure simplicity in procedure, fairness in administration, and the elimination of unjustifiable delay.
While there may be a situation in which a trial court might decide to run the incarceration phase of the sentence with the probation phase, we would find such a situation to be extraordinary. To accept DOC‘s policy as applicable to all cases would lead to absurd results in cases where the incarceration phase of a “split sentence” exceeds the probation phase. In that situation, a probationary sentence would be equivalent to no sentence at all.
DOC‘s office policy also conflicts with
DISPOSITION
For the foregoing reasons, we grant the writ application and reverse the ruling that denied Damon Bradley‘s motion to quash. We render judgment herein granting the motion to quash and dismissing the probation revocation proceedings.
WRIT GRANTED AND MADE PEREMPTORY.