Hackett v. State

354 N.W.2d 247, 1984 Iowa App. LEXIS 1510
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedJune 26, 1984
Docket83-1022
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 354 N.W.2d 247 (Hackett v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hackett v. State, 354 N.W.2d 247, 1984 Iowa App. LEXIS 1510 (iowactapp 1984).

Opinion

SCHLEGEL, Judge.

The petitioner, Robert Leroy Hackett, appeals from the district court’s denial of habeas corpus relief. Hackett asserts that his parole revocation hearing was not held within a reasonable time after his arrest and detention for a violation of parole. We affirm.

Hackett was paroled from the Iowa State Penitentiary in May, 1982. The State of South Dakota was designated to supervise his parole. Hackett was arrested on December 30, 1982, in South Dakota for driving while intoxicated. A detainer was issued on December 31, 1982, alleging Hack-ett was in violation of the terms and conditions of his parole. Hackett subsequently entered a plea of guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving. The South Dakota parole officer’s report to the interstate compact administrator indicated that Hackett pleaded guilty to the charge of driving while intoxicated on January 3. The trial court found after a hearing that he entered a plea of guilty to reckless driving on January 12. In any case, a preliminary hearing on revocation of parole was held in South Dakota on January 12 and it was determined that reasonable grounds existed to believe that Hackett had violated his parole.

Hackett was returned to the Iowa State Penitentiary on January 28, 1983. The Iowa Board of Parole held a revocation hearing on April 5, 1983, and revoked Hackett’s parole. This was 95 days after the detainer had originally been filed.

The record shows that Hackett received notice of the parole revocation hearing on March 29, 1983. Hackett’s pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus recites that “as of this 1st day of April, 1983 ...” he had not been afforded a revocation hearing. The petition also recites that it was executed on April 1, 1983. The parole board apparently orally revoked Hackett’s parole at the parole revocation hearing on April 5. No appeal on the grounds asserted here was taken by petitioner from the board decision, nor was any reason given for his failure to appeal.

Hackett’s petition for writ of habeas corpus was subsequently filed with the district court on April 15, 1983. He testified that he had mailed the petition on April 2. There is no evidence in the record concerning the discrepancy between the execution date and the filing date.

Hackett represented himself at the district court hearing on his application for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court held that under the circumstances of this case the revocation hearing was held within a reasonable time following the arrest and detention.

*249 I. The petition for a writ of ha-beas corpus was filed in this case after the board of parole held its revocation hearing. Iowa Code section 663A.1 (1981) provides that the provisions of the chapter on habe-as corpus do not apply to persons convicted of, or sentenced for, a public offense. Postconviction is the exclusive remedy in those situations. Kelly v. Nix, 329 N.W.2d 287, 290 (Iowa 1983). The postconviction procedures of Iowa Code section 663A specifically apply to persons who have been convicted of, or sentenced for, a public offense and who claim that their probation, parole or conditional release has been unlawfully revoked. Iowa Code § 663A.2(5). However, this court does not lose jurisdiction of the case simply because the pleading in this action should have been labeled as a postconviction proceeding. Id. at 290. Compare McElhaney v. Auger, 238 N.W.2d 797, 799 (Iowa 1976) (statutory postconviction procedure is an implementation of the right of habeas corpus).

Finally, the State does not challenge Hackett’s failure to appeal the board action revoking his parole. See Frazee v. Iowa Board of Parole, 248 N.W.2d 80, 82 (Iowa 1976). Accordingly, we reach the merits of Hackett’s claim.

II. Proceedings in a postconviction relief action are special proceedings treated as an action at law. Kelly v. Nix, 329 N.W.2d at 291. We review the case de novo in light of the totality of the circumstances where there are fundamental constitutional rights involved. Id. at 291. The burden of proof is on the petitioner to establish the facts by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. at 291.

III. The constitutional requirements for parole revocations were laid down in Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972). The court in Morrissey mandated a two-step procedure to be followed in parole revocations; an initial hearing to determine if reasonable ground exists for revocation of parole and an opportunity for a hearing, if desired by the parolee, prior to the final decision on revocation by the parole authority. Id. at 485-89, 92 S.Ct. 2602-04, 33 L.Ed.2d 496-99. There is no question that Hackett received both a preliminary hearing to determine reasonable cause for parole revocation in South Dakota and a subsequent parole revocation hearing before the Iowa Board of Parole. The court in Morrissey goes on to say, in reference to the second step, that “[t]he revocation hearing must be tendered within a reasonable time after the parolee is taken into custody.” Id. at 488, 92 S.Ct. 2603-04, 33 L.Ed.2d 498. Hackett urges that “reasonable time” should be interpreted to mean no longer than three months. The parole revocation here was held 95 days after his parole officer in South Dakota filed the detainer for his alleged parole violation.

The Iowa Supreme Court stated in Thomas v. State Board of Parole, 220 N.W.2d 874, 877 (Iowa 1974), as follows:

Depending upon the circumstances of the case and of the nature of the alleged parole violations, the time lapse from arrest to revocation hearing may in some cases be less than two months while in other cases it may not be reasonably practical to have the hearing precisely within two months. We cannot fix a specific number of days for all cases. The board should act with reasonable celerity. The time lapse must not be unreasonable. Each case depends upon its own facts. Under the facts of this case, we cannot say the time lapse was unreasonable.

Therefore, we reject any attempt to fix a specific number of days after which it would, in all cases, be an unreasonable time lapse.

The parole and probation revocation procedures in Iowa are modeled on our preconviction procedures. State v. Dowell, 297 N.W.2d 93, 96 (Iowa 1980). The alleged defect in this case occurred after the probable cause stage and is analogous to a violation of statutory speedy trial rights. Denial of statutory speedy trial rights requires dismissal with prejudice. State v. Johnson, 217 N.W.2d 609, 612 (Iowa 1974). See State v. Dowell,

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354 N.W.2d 247, 1984 Iowa App. LEXIS 1510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hackett-v-state-iowactapp-1984.