Commonwealth, Corrections Cabinet v. Ramsey

828 S.W.2d 662, 1991 Ky. App. LEXIS 142, 1991 WL 254729
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedDecember 6, 1991
DocketNo. 90-CA-1849-DG
StatusPublished

This text of 828 S.W.2d 662 (Commonwealth, Corrections Cabinet v. Ramsey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth, Corrections Cabinet v. Ramsey, 828 S.W.2d 662, 1991 Ky. App. LEXIS 142, 1991 WL 254729 (Ky. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

McDONALD, Judge.

This case is before us on discretionary review. The District Court ruled adversely to the Kentucky Corrections Cabinet and its ruling on appeal to the Lyon Circuit Court was affirmed.

Both of the courts prior to this review ruled that Jerry Ramsey, an inmate in the Kentucky penal system, was entitled to a Kentucky Governor’s Warrant before being given up to the State of Indiana, the demanding jurisdiction.

On September 28, 1989, the State of Indiana made a demand for temporary custody of Jerry Ramsey under Article 4 of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, codified in Kentucky under KRS 440.450, and referred to throughout as IAD.1

The record shows that Ramsey had outstanding Indiana felony charges against him. The demand made for him was in writing, signed by both the prosecuting attorney and the trial judge of the First Judicial District of Indiana. The demand was for temporary custody purposes to dispose of the outstanding felony charges.

On October 11, 1989, Ramsey was notified that a detainer had been filed but there were no signatures affixed on it. Ramsey declined to waive extradition to Indiana.

On November 14, 1989, the Cabinet moved to intervene in this matter, and on December 22,1989, the Lyon District Court heard the case. The District Court found the following:

1) that Kentucky and Indiana were parties not only to the IAD but were also parties to the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, codified in Kentucky under KRS 440.-150, et. seq., and referred to herein as the UCEA;2

2) that the IAD does not require a Governor’s Warrant for transferring a prisoner, but that the UCEA does require such a warrant under KRS 440.170 and specifically, KRS 440.220;

3) that Ramsey, under the Supreme Court of the United States’ authority of Cuyler v. Adams, 449 U.S. 433, 101 S.Ct. 703, 66 L.Ed.2d 641 (1981), was entitled to the protection of both the UCEA and IAD, so therefore, a Kentucky Governor’s Warrant was required.

On appeal the circuit court affirmed the district court, and in its opinion correctly determined that there are two ways a receiving state could get custody of an inmate across state lines; one method was through the UCEA, the traditional method; the other way was pursuant to IAD. The circuit court’s opinion also declared that extradition was purely an executive function.

In affirming the district court, the circuit court cited Cuyler, supra, to the following extent:

We conclude as a matter of federal law prisoners transferred pursuant to the provisions of the [IAD] are not required to forfeit any pre-existing rights they may have under state or federal law to challenge their transfer to the receiving state.

The issue then is, what pre-existing rights did Ramsey have before the adoption of the IAD, which existed under the UCEA and the federal Constitution?

[664]*664Ramsey argues that he was entitled to be transferred only upon a Kentucky Governor’s Warrant, and that such a right comes to him directly from the United States Constitution, Art. IV, § 2, cl. 2, as a constitutional right, and that he is entitled to a hearing before being transferred. Cuyler, supra, is the fundamental authority dealing with the rights of a fugitive such as Jerry Ramsey. In Cuyler, the Supreme Court concluded that a federal question was involved because the states involved had entered into a compact. That is the same circumstance we have in the case before us, in that Kentucky and Indiana are parties to the IAD. The Supreme Court said:

The Compact Clause of the United States Constitution, Art I, § 10, cl 3, provides that “No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, ... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State....” Because congressional consent transforms an interstate compact within this Clause into a law of the United States, we have held that the construction of an interstate agreement sanctioned by Congress under the Compact Clause presents a federal question.
[lb] The Detainer Agreement [IAD] and the Extradition Act [UCEA] both establish procedures for the transfer of a prisoner in one jurisdiction to the temporary custody of another jurisdiction. A prisoner transferred under the Extradition Act is explicitly granted a right to a pretransfer “hearing” at which he is informed of the receiving State’s request for custody, his right to counsel, and his right to apply for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the custody request. He is also permitted “a reasonable time” in which to apply for the writ. However, no similar explicit provision is to be found in the Detainer Agreement [IAD],

Chronologically, the UCEA was enacted prior to the IAD. Again, both states were parties to the compact. While the IAD granted no pretransfer hearing, the UCEA does under KRS 440.250. Cuyler was explicit in this regard:

[Ramsey] is thus entitled to assert any right he might have had under the Extradition Act [UCEA] (or any other state law applicable to interstate transfer of prisoners) to challenge his transfer.
In light of the purpose of the Detainer Agreement [IAD] as reflected in the structure of the Agreement, its language, and its legislative history, we conclude as a matter of federal law that prisoners transferred pursuant to the provisions of the Agreement are not required to forfeit any pre-existing rights they have under state or federal law to challenge their transfer to the receiving state.

Inasmuch as Ramsey had a pre-existing right by way of the UCEA for a pretrans-fer hearing, it is concluded that that right would remain and does under the IAD, Article IV, § 4 of KRS 440.450.

Next, under federal law, is a Kentucky Governor’s Warrant required to be executed upon the demand of Ramsey as a matter of right that he possesses? The answer is no.

The purpose of the Extradition Clause of the federal Constitution is to implement a duty upon a state to deliver up a fugitive to a demanding state. The Clause inherently has concepts of full faith and credit and comity within it so as to facilitate national unity and smooth functioning of the criminal justice system. See 31A Am.Jur.2d, § 4.

However, a detainee of a state can claim no right under the Clause. Sami v. United States, 617 F.2d 755, 774 (1979), explains,

The Constitution’s extradition provision, U.S. Const, art. IV, § 2, cl. 2, applies only to interstate extradition....

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Related

Cuyler v. Adams
449 U.S. 433 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Mohammad Sami v. United States of America
617 F.2d 755 (D.C. Circuit, 1979)
Housewright v. Lefrak
669 P.2d 711 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
828 S.W.2d 662, 1991 Ky. App. LEXIS 142, 1991 WL 254729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-corrections-cabinet-v-ramsey-kyctapp-1991.