Gilles v. Missouri Department of Corrections

200 S.W.3d 50, 2006 WL 1463200
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 30, 2006
DocketWD 65864
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 200 S.W.3d 50 (Gilles v. Missouri Department of Corrections) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gilles v. Missouri Department of Corrections, 200 S.W.3d 50, 2006 WL 1463200 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

VICTOR C. HOWARD, Judge.

Joseph A. Gilíes appeals the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Missouri Department of Corrections (“MDOC”) on Gilles’s petition for declaratory judgment. Gilíes contended in his petition that the MDOC erred in calculating that he had three or more prior commitments on two separate cases, requiring him to serve a minimum of eighty percent of his sentence before he is eligible for release under section 558.019. 1 Gilles’s sole point on appeal, as stated in his point *52 relied on, is that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for the MDOC because binding precedent strictly and clearly prohibits the MDOC from using sentences pursuant to section 559.115 as “previous commitments” in calculating the minimum prison term he must serve prior to being eligible for parole under section 558.019.

We affirm.

Facts

Joseph Gilíes has been convicted and sentenced five times for driving while intoxicated. Gilíes was sentenced in Case No. CR893-1079FX (Case 1) on April 4, 1994, to three years in the MDOC with a 120-day callback under section 559.115 by the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri, for driving while intoxicated on July 31, 1993. Gilíes was received into the MDOC on this sentence on April 15, 1994. Gilíes was released from the MDOC to probation on August 15,1994.

On April 17, 1995, Gilíes was convicted in Cole County of another driving while intoxicated offense that occurred on February 22, 1995, in Case No. CR395311-FX (Case 2), while Gilíes was on probation from Case 1. Also on April 17, 1995, the Circuit Court of Cole County revoked Gilles’s probation in Case 1. Gilíes was received into the MDOC on April 18, 1995, both for service of the new sentence in Case 2 and as a probation revokee on the sentence in Case 1. Gilíes was then paroled after serving approximately two years.

On November 5, 1997, Gilíes committed a new offense of driving while intoxicated in Newton County, Missouri, in Case No. CR497-2270FX (Case 3), for which he was sentenced to four years on November 10, 1998. Gilíes returned to the MDOC on November 17, 1998. This was a 120-day incarceration under section 559.115, and Gilíes was again released on probation on March 17,1999.

On February 1, 2002, Gilíes committed another driving while intoxicated offense, this time in Miller County, Missouri, in Case No. CR602-411FX (Case 4), for which he was convicted and sentenced on June 17, 2002, to five years in the MDOC with the possibility of a 120-day callback under section 559.115. On June 19, 2002, Gilíes was received into the MDOC for service of the sentence in Case 4. His probation was also revoked in Case 3.

On March 19, 2002, Gilíes committed a driving while intoxicated offense in Cole County, Missouri, in Case No. 02CR323953-01 (Case 5), for which he was sentenced on November 12, 2002, to five years’ imprisonment. He was also received into the MDOC on November 12, 2002.

The MDOC calculated that Gilíes had three or more prior commitments on both Cases 4 and 5. Consequently, the MDOC informed Gilíes that he must serve a minimum of eighty percent of his sentence before he is eligible for release under section 558.019.2.

Gilíes filed a petition for declaratory judgment in the Circuit Court of Cole County, alleging that none of his prior incarcerations under section 559.115 should count as commitments because these were “regimented discipline programs” under section 217.378, which are excluded from being counted as commitments under section 558.019. Gilíes also argued that section 559.115.7, which excludes the first 120-day incarceration for a MDOC program from being counted as a commitment, should be applied retroactively to his case.

The Circuit Court of Cole County granted summary judgment for the MDOC on July 20, 2005, holding that a 120-day com *53 mitment under section 559.115 is not a regimented discipline program under section 217.378, and that even if the initial incarceration under section 559.115 is not counted as a commitment, the commitment count remains three or more commitments on the controlling sentence and parole eligibility remains the same. Gilíes appeals.

Standard of Review

Appellate review of summary judgment is de novo, with no deference given to the circuit court’s ruling. ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-America Marine Supply Corp., 854 S.W.2d 371, 376 (Mo. banc 1993). Pursuant to Rule 74.04(c)(6), “[sjummary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact, and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Johnson v. Mo. Dep’t of Corr., 166 S.W.3d 110, 111 (Mo.App. W.D.2005).

Discussion

Gilles’s sole point on appeal, as stated in his briefs point relied on, is that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for the MDOC because binding precedent strictly and clearly prohibits the MDOC from using sentences pursuant to section 559.115 as “previous commitments” in calculating the minimum prison term Gilíes must serve prior to being eligible for parole under section 558.019.

We first address Gilles’s stated point relied on, that the MDOC cannot use sentences pursuant to section 559.115 as “previous commitments” in calculating the minimum prison term he must serve prior to being eligible for parole under section 558.019. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected this argument in Star v. Burgess, 160 S.W.3d 376, 378 (Mo. banc 2005), finding that “[njothing in section 558.019 or section 559.115 ... provides that commitments under section 559.115 are not to be used for purposes of determining the number of prior commitments under section 558.019.” The court noted that while the action was pending, section 559.115.7 was enacted. Star, 160 S.W.3d at 378 n. 2. However, the court did not consider whether section 559.115.7 could afford the inmate relief, as he did not raise the issue before the trial court. Id.

Section 559.115.7 provides that “[a]n offender’s first incarceration for one hundred twenty days for participation in a department of corrections program prior to release on probation shall not be considered a previous prison commitment for the purpose of determining a minimum prison term under the provisions of section 558.019, RSMo.” This section was enacted in 2003. It applies retroactively. Nieuwendaal v. Mo. Dep’t of Corr., 181 S.W.3d 153, 155 (Mo.App. W.D.2005); Powell v. Mo. Dep’t of Corr., 152 S.W.3d 363, 366 (Mo.App. W.D.2004); Irvin v. Kempker, 152 S.W.3d 358, 362 (Mo.App. W.D.2004).

Section 559.115.7 clearly indicates that it is only an offender’s first

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200 S.W.3d 50, 2006 WL 1463200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilles-v-missouri-department-of-corrections-moctapp-2006.