Durling v. Chairman, Massachusetts Parole Board

789 F. Supp. 457, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4730, 1992 WL 70954
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedApril 1, 1992
DocketCiv. A. No. 90-11923-H
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 789 F. Supp. 457 (Durling v. Chairman, Massachusetts Parole Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Durling v. Chairman, Massachusetts Parole Board, 789 F. Supp. 457, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4730, 1992 WL 70954 (D. Mass. 1992).

Opinion

ORDER

HARRINGTON, District Judge.

Report and Recommendation of Magistrate is approved and adopted by the Court.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

COLLINGS, United States Magistrate Judge.

THE FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In his petition for writ of habeas corpus, Ralph M. Durling (hereinafter, “Durling”), complains that the proceedings by which his state parole and probation were revoked violated his right to due process of law. The facts as alleged are that Durling was arrested in September, 1986 in Stough-ton on charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. He presumably appeared in state court and was released. Before the September charges could come to trial, he was arrested on identical charges stemming from a separate incident in October, 1986.

In June, 1987, all four charges were consolidated in the Dedham District' Court and, presumably after a trial, he was found guilty of all four. The judge imposed a two year prison term, suspended all but ninety days, and placed Durling on probation until June 29, 1989. Durling acknowledges that as conditions of probation, he had to obey all laws and report to his probation officer as directed.

In April, 1988, while Durling was still on probation, he was arrested in Taunton for operating under the influence. In May, 1988, he was arrested in Easton for operating under the influence, operating to endanger and operation after revocation. In May, 1988, Durling was served with a document entitled “Notice of Surrender and Hearing(s) for Alleged Violation(s) of Probation” which cited the Easton arrest. No mention was made in the notice of the Taunton arrest.

The hearing on the probation violation occurred in October, 1988. Durling alleges that the government’s evidence consisted only of the probation officer’s reading of the police reports for both the Easton and Taunton arrests; the reports were not introduced into evidence. Cross-examination revealed that the probation officer had no personal knowledge about the facts contained in the reports.

At the surrender hearing, Durling’s attorney objected to the use of the police reports. The Judge stated:

Well, I accept it. They’re acceptable at surrender hearings. That’s the only information we have. We’re not, we’re not obligated to bring in the arresting officers.

Transcript, p. 5-6.

Durling’s counsel then stated that he had a “right to cross-examine” and that he could not cross-examine in these circumstances. Transcript, p. 6. The judge indicated that he would move forward but stay any commitment order pending appeal. Id.

The judge, on the basis of the evidence, revoked the probation, ordered Durling committed for nine months and suspended the remaining year of the original two-year sentence. As the judge had indicated, he [459]*459stayed the sentence to enable Durling to appeal to the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

However, during the pendency of the appeal, Durling was convicted of the underlying charges arising from the Easton and Taunton incidents. He began serving the sentences for those offenses as well as the nine-month probation revocation sentence; he was paroled on March 31, 1990. His parole expired on November 20, 1990; his probation expired on November 20, 1991.

In the interim, the Supreme Judicial Court transferred Durling’s appeal to its own docket and on March 26, 1990, denied relief. Commonwealth v. Durling, 407 Mass. 108, 551 N.E.2d 1193 (1990).

The instant petition was filed on August 7, 1990. In the petition, Durling, citing the “liberty interest” created by state laws providing for probation, claims that the procedures employed in the deprivation of that liberty interest at the revocation hearing violated the due process clause and his right to confront his accusers.

The respondents (hereinafter, “the Commonwealth”), assert in their Answer (# 8) that Durling has failed to exhaust his state court remedies "... in that he did not adequately identify his sixth amendment claim before the State Court.” Further, the Commonwealth maintains that the petition fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

THE MATTER OF EXHAUSTION

The Commonwealth argues that Durling has not exhausted his state court remedies as to the “claim” which is supposedly contained in the notation on p. 3 of the Petition that the probation officer, at the revocation hearing, was allowed to read from “... a second [police] report, relating to an OUI charge in Taunton on April 8, 1988 which was not cited in the surrender notice.” In my opinion, this statement is not meant to state a claim but rather to state a fact. Durling’s constitutional claim is not that he was not given notice of the Taunton arrest; rather, he claims that the reading by the probation officer of police reports involving the Easton and Taunton incidents about which the officer had no personal knowledge violated Durling’s right to confront his accusers and his right to due process. Those claims have clearly been exhausted.

In short, I rule that the instant petition is not a “mixed” one subject to dismissal under the rationale of Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 102 S.Ct. 1198, 71 L.Ed.2d 379 (1982).

THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OPINION

In its opinion, the SJC acknowledged the Supreme Court’s holding in Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 782, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 1759, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973) to the effect that:

[A] revocation of probation does ... result in a deprivation of liberty within the meaning of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The due process clause, therefore, requires that the Commonwealth provide probationers with certain protections for surrender hearings.

Commonwealth v. Durling, supra, 407 Mass, at 112, 551 N.E.2d at 1195-6 citing Gagnon v. Scarpelli, supra, 411 U.S. at 782, 93 S.Ct. at 1759. (footnote omitted).

The SJC further wrote:

In Gagnon, supra, the Supreme Court relied heavily on Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471 [92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484] (1972). In Morrissey, the Court determined that due process principles applied to parole revocation hearing. Mor-rissey and Gagnon establish that the minimum requirement of due process include “ ‘(a) written notice of the claim violations of [probation or] parole; (b) disclosure to the [probationer or] parolee of the evidence against him; (c) opportunity to be heard in person and to present witnesses and documentary evidence; (d) the right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses (unless the hearing officer specifically finds good cause for not allowing confrontation); (e) a ‘neutral and detached’ hearing body ... and (f) a written statement by the factfinders as
[460]*460to the evidence relied on and reason for evoking [probation or] parole.’ Morris-sey v. Brewer, supra, at 489 [92 S.Ct. at 2604].”

Commonwealth v. Durling, supra,

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789 F. Supp. 457, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4730, 1992 WL 70954, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/durling-v-chairman-massachusetts-parole-board-mad-1992.