Gomez v. State

2004 WY 15, 85 P.3d 417, 2004 WL 360426
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 27, 2004
Docket02-229
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2004 WY 15 (Gomez v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gomez v. State, 2004 WY 15, 85 P.3d 417, 2004 WL 360426 (Wyo. 2004).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[¶ 1] While on probation, Aaron Gomez was arrested and incarcerated on several unrelated charges. The state then filed a petition to revoke his probation for violating the terms of his probation. He was convicted and sentenced on one of the charges. Mr. Gomez sought credit against his sentences for time spent in custody prior to sentencing, and sought to have the probation revocation proceedings dismissed due to delay of the proceedings. The district court denied Mr. Gomez credit for time served prior to his conviction finding he was incarcerated because of his probation violation. We reverse the district court and remand with instructions to credit Mr. Gomez’s battery sentence with the time he served from his arrest on that charge.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Appellant presents the following issues:

1. Whether the trial court’s denial of appellant’s pro se “Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence: Defendant Denied Pretrial Detention Time Credit” was error and violated appellant’s right to equal protection and due process of law? Additionally, whether because of the length of time for which Appellant was held with no credit being given, Appellant’s right to be free from double jeopardy was also violated?
2. Whether the probation revocation action against appellant should be dismissed because of the unconscionable delay in disposition?

[¶ 3] Appellee states the issues as follows:

1. Did the district court err in denying appellant’s motion to correct illegal sentence, which sought credit against appellant’s sentences for presentence incarceration?
2. Should the proceeding to revoke appellant’s probation be dismissed because of delay in conducting the revocation hearing?

*419 FACTS

[¶ 4] On September 8, 1999, Mr. Gomez was charged with domestic violence in violation of Wyo. Stat. § 6 — 2—501(b) and (f)(ii) (Lexis 1999). He pleaded guilty to that charge and was sentenced to eighteen to twenty-four months, to be served consecutively to a previous prison sentence stemming from the same incident. After completing the first sentence, his sentence on the September 8, 1999, domestic violence charge was suspended and Mr. Gomez was placed on two years probation to begin on March 19, 2001.

[¶ 5] On June 8, 2001, less than three months after beginning his probation, Mr. Gomez was charged with kidnapping, in violation of Wyo. Stat. § 6-2-201(a) and (d) (LexisNexis 2001); stalking, in violation of Wyo. Stat. § 6-2-506(e)(iii) (LexisNexis 2001); and battery on another household member in violation of § 6-2-501(b) and (f)(ii). A warrant was issued for Mr. Gomez’s arrest on June 8, 2001, and, while not established by the record, the parties agree that Mr. Gomez was taken into custody in California on June 24, 2001, pursuant to that warrant.

[¶ 6] In relation to the June 8, 2001 charges, Mr. Gomez filed an Affidavit of Indi-gency on July 24, 2001, and his bond was set at $50,000 cash. At his preliminary hearing, the stalking and battery charges were dismissed, but Mr. Gomez was bound over to district court on the kidnapping charge. The bond was continued.

[¶ 7] The state filed a petition to revoke Mr. Gomez’s probation on July 18, 2001. As grounds for revocation, the petition alleged he failed to report to his probation officer and he left the state of Wyoming without permission. Conveniently for the state, Mr. Gomez was already in custody on the other charges, and had been since June 24, 2001.

[¶ 8] On August 2, 2001, Mr. Gomez was again charged with one count of stalking in violation of § 6 — 2—506(e)(iii) and one count of felony battery in violation of § 6-2-501(b) and (f)(ii) stemming from the same incident involving the same victim. Mr. Gomez again filed an Affidavit of Indigency and counsel was appointed. The August 2, 2001, stalking charge was dismissed, and the June 8, 2001, kidnapping charge and August 2, 2001, felony battery charges were consolidated for trial. Mr. Gomez pleaded not guilty to both charges and the court set bond at $50,000 cash for all cases.

[¶ 9] On December 11, 2001, a jury found Mr. Gomez not guilty of kidnapping, but guilty of felony battery. On March 4, 2002, a sentencing hearing was held on Mr. Gomez’s conviction for felony battery. At that hearing, the district court discovered Mr. Gomez’s petition for revocation of probation was still pending. The court added Mr. Gomez’s most recent conviction as additional cause to revoke his probation and accepted Mr. Gomez’s admissions to the probation violations. Sentencing was reset for March 8, 2002.

[¶ 10] On March 8, 2002, the district court revoked Mr. Gomez’s probation and reinstated his original sentence of 18 to 24 months. On the felony battery charge, the district court sentenced Mr. Gomez to a term of 21 to 24 months to be served consecutively to the reinstated 18 to 24 month sentence. The district court credited Mr. Gomez’s new felony battery conviction for time served from the date of conviction to the date of sentencing. However, it denied Mr. Gomez credit for any other time he spent in county jail, including the time from his arrest on the battery charges to his conviction on those charges.

[¶ 11] Mr. Gomez filed a pro se motion on April 25, 2002, entitled “Motion to Dismiss Probation and Probation Violation.” He argued he had not received a timely revocation hearing, and, therefore, the petition to revoke his probation should be dismissed. The district court denied the motion, finding there had been good cause to delay the proceedings. The court said: “Proceedings on the revocation were postponed because Defendant had several charges pending. Therefore, [the court had] good cause to extend the time limits in W.R.Cr.P. 39(a)(4)(B).”

[¶ 12] Less than two weeks after he filed the motion to dismiss his probation, Mr. Gomez filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence. In that motion, Mr. Gomez argued *420 that he was entitled to credit because he was incarcerated due to his inability to post bond and was denied a timely revocation hearing. He requested the trial court give him credit for time served and/or dismiss the probation revocation petition. The trial court denied Mr. Gomez’s motion. Mr. Gomez appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to correct the sentence, but did not appeal the denial of his motion to dismiss the probation revocation petition.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 13] The decision to grant or deny a motion to correct an illegal sentence is usually left to the sound discretion of the district court. Young v. State, 2002 WY 68, ¶ 7, 46 P.3d 295, ¶ 7 (Wyo.2002); see also Segnitz v. State, 7 P.3d 49, 52 (Wyo.2000).

The district court’s decision is given considerable deference unless a rational basis does not exist for it. A criminal defendant is entitled to receive credit against his sentence for the time he was incarcerated prior to sentencing, provided that such confinement was because of his inability and failure to post bond on the offense for which he was awaiting disposition.

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Bluebook (online)
2004 WY 15, 85 P.3d 417, 2004 WL 360426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gomez-v-state-wyo-2004.