Kuykendall v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole

363 A.2d 866, 26 Pa. Commw. 234, 1976 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 796
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 7, 1976
DocketNo. 155 Misc. Docket
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 363 A.2d 866 (Kuykendall v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kuykendall v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole, 363 A.2d 866, 26 Pa. Commw. 234, 1976 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 796 (Pa. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

Opinion by

President Judge Bowman,

On December 26, 1975, Earl William Kuykendall (plaintiff) filed a complaint in mandahriis in this Court against the Board of Probation ánd Parole (Board). The Board filed an answer with new matter and plaintiff then filed a reply to the new matter. Plaintiff seeks relief from what he terms' an unlawful recomputation of his prison senteneé, and credit for service of this allegedly unlawful recommittal against a subsequent conviction sentence. The matter is now before us on cross motions for judgment on the pleadings. Judgment on the pleadings is proper at this time, as the material facts are not in dispute. Commonwealth ex rel. Pittenger v. Leechburg Area School Board, 19 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 140, 339 A.2d 149 (1975); Commonwealth ex rel. Dawson v. Board of Probation and Parole, 17 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 550, 333 A.2d 796 (1975).

Plaintiff was convicted in 1968 in the Court of Common Pleas of Adams County for receiving stolen goods and given an indeterminate to five year sentence (original sentence); the maximum expiration date of said sentence was April 26, 1973 to be served at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill (Camp Hill). Plaintiff was paroled in 1969, but was recommitted as a convicted, parole violator and' his original sentence was extended to July 14, 1973. This particular extension of sentence is not in dispute.

[236]*236Plaintiff was released again on parole on July 21, 1971, however, on April 7, 1972, he was declared delinquent as of March 11, 1972, because his whereabouts were unknown to the Board. Plaintiff was not located until his arrest on new criminal charges on December 25, 1973. Plaintiff was convicted on February 13, 1974, on the new charges and was sentenced to serve one to two years (new sentence) at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon (Huntingdon).

After said conviction and a parole revocation hearing thereon, the Board recommitted plaintiff as a convicted parole violator. The result of this action was another recomputation of plaintiff’s original sentence making the expiration date thereof February 6, 1976 ; this recomputation was based upon a denial of credit for time spent on parole, from July 21, 1971, to the July 14, 1973, expiration date as mandated by Section 21.1(a) of the Act of August 6, 1941 (Parole Act), P.L. 861, as amended, 61 P.S. §331.21a(a).

On November 20,1974, plaintiff was paroled on his original sentence (expiring February 6, 1976) to begin serving his new sentence. He was then immediately released on bail incident to an appeal of this conviction; however, after revocation of said bail, the maximum date of his new sentence was recomputed to expire August 14, 1977, as measured by his time on bail.

Plaintiff seeks in this action a definitive determination of his right to be free from the custodial authority of the Board in light of the Board’s extension of the expiration date of his original sentence. More precisely, plaintiff contends that even though he was delinquent on parole when arrested on December 25, 1973, and in fact had been for more than a year prior to the July 14, 1973, expiration date, the sentence nevertheless expired. Thus, plaintiff claims [237]*237that the Board was without statutory authority to recommit him as a convicted parole violator and recompute his sentence, as a result of the February 13, 1974, conviction, and in doing so the Board has violated the due process provisions of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions.

Collaterally, he argues that he was wrongfully required to serve the remainder of his original sentence rather than commencing service of his new sentence. This argument revolves around the fact that the original sentence was to be served at Camp Hill and the new sentence at Huntingdon, and therefore being different institutions, the Parole Act, plaintiff argues, requires that the new sentence be served first.

There is no doubt that the Board can recommit and recompute, the sentence of a parolee who commits a crime while on parole but is not convicted until after his original sentence would have expired. Choice v. Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole, 24 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 438, 357 A.2d 242 (1976); Mitchell v. Board of Probation & Parole, 18 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 69, 335 A.2d 856 (1975). Plaintiff desires to profit from the fact that he absconded and was, delinquent on the date of expiration of his original sentence, and notwithstanding the, subsequent conviction, he asserts that the Board lacked “jurisdiction” to recommit him. There is no reason why a delinquent parolee should so profit, and we reject plaintiff’s arguments. Certainly the Legislature never intended such an absurd result in enacting Section 21.1 of the, Parole Act. Therefore, we must deny plaintiff’s motion, and since the matter is free of doubt, grant the Board’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.

Section 21.1(b) of the Parole Act, 61 P.S. §331.-21a(b), inter alia, provides:

“(b) Technical Violators. Any parolee under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Board of Parole [238]*238released from any penal institution in the Commonwealth who, during the period of parole, violates the terms and conditions of his parole, other than by the commission of a new crime - of which he is convicted ... may be recommitted after hearing before the board. If he is so recommitted, he shall be given credit for the-time served'on parole in good standing but with no'credit-for delinquent time, and may be reentered to serve the remainder of his original sentence or sentences. Said remainder shall be computed by the board from the time his delinquent conduct occurred for the unexpired period of the maximum sentence imposed by the court without credit for the period the parolee was delinquent on parole, and he shall be required to serve such remainder so computed from the date he is taken into custody on the warrant of the board.”. (Emphasis added.)

From this provision alone, we are unable to perceive any support for plaintiff’s argument that his sentence expired despite his delinquency. The Superior Court in Commonwealth ex rel. Davidson v. Maroney, 177 Pa. Superior Ct. 82, 110 A.2d 822 (1955) ■ clarified the meaning of Section 21.1(b) as being a response to prior, case law which allowed for the expiration of a parolee’s sentence even though he was delinquent.'

.“The effect of this decision was that the longer a technical parole, violator could remain unapprehended the shorter, was his period of confinement upon re-commitment. If he could successfully avoid arrest until the expiration of his maximum term, he could not be recommitted at all. The Act of 1951 was designed to remedy this undesirable situation.” Maroney, supra, 177 Pa. Superior Ct. at 85, 110 A.2.d at 824.

. Clearly, the Board did not lose its legal custody over plaintiff, as- a -technical -parole' violator as said [239]

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Bluebook (online)
363 A.2d 866, 26 Pa. Commw. 234, 1976 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kuykendall-v-pennsylvania-board-of-probation-parole-pacommwct-1976.