Pladson v. State

385 N.W.2d 406, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 4242
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedApril 22, 1986
DocketC6-85-1706
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 385 N.W.2d 406 (Pladson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pladson v. State, 385 N.W.2d 406, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 4242 (Mich. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

FORSBERG, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order denying a petition for post-conviction relief. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

Appellant Neil Michael Pladson was sentenced on November 10, 1972, to five concurrent 25-year sentences for third-degree murder for the deaths of five members of the Fremberg family in Kandiyohi County on November 14, 1970. Appellant was arrested the following day, and indicted and arraigned on November 19, 1970. At his arraignment, the trial court set bail of $25,-000 for each offense, which appellant was unable to pay, and granted appellant’s certificate of indigency.

On November 26, appellant’s appointed counsel moved for a psychiatric examination which was generally limited to the issues of competency and appellant’s mental state on the day of the crime. He did request an opinion as to whether Pladson was mentally ill “and in need of treatment, control or care.” Appellant’s counsel submitted an affidavit stating that Pladson’s family had had him committed in 1968 and had noted similar behavior just before the crime. Appellant’s counsel also moved for a commitment for the purpose of conducting the examination.

The State moved for a psychiatric examination going beyond the issue of competency, including the question whether Pladson should be committed. The motion was denied, and appellant’s motion granted. The examination was thus limited to competency and legal insanity issues. It did not extend to the need for permanent commitment. Appellant was then committed for purposes of examination.

On March 4, 1971, following a hearing the court issued an Order of Commitment to the Minnesota Security Hospital at St. Peter, Minnesota. The psychiatric opinion indicated that Pladson was mentally ill, incompetent to stand trial and legally insane on the day of the crime. The court found that Pladson was insane and had “homicidal tendencies,” and ordered him committed to the hospital

for safekeeping and treatment and [he] shall remain at said hospital until he shall recover, at which time he shall be *408 returned to this court to be placed on trial upon such indictments.

A warrant of commitment was signed on March 5, 1971.

On April 10, 1972, the medical director at M.S.A. wrote to the trial court certifying to him that Pladson was competent to stand trial. He requested that Pladson stay at the hospital until shortly before the trial date. Although the trial court found that appellant was returned to the county jail on July 19, 1972, there are no documents in the file showing discharge from the commitment, transfer from hospital confinement, or re-imposition of bail.

On November 8, 1972, appellant was arraigned a second time on the indictments. The State offered to reduce the charges to 3rd degree murder, which Pladson accepted. A guilty plea was accepted on the record. On November 10, 1972, Pladson was sentenced. No mention was made of jail credit or credit for the hospital confinement either at arraignment or on sentencing.

Appellant filed a petition for post-conviction relief on August 28, 1975, claiming that he should be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea because of the breach of an alleged promise prior to or at the sentencing hearing that he would serve all of his time in a treatment facility. Denial of this petition was affirmed in State v. Pladson, 311 Minn. 564, 250 N.W.2d 183 (1977).

Appellant claims on this petition that he was denied credit for jail time and time spent in hospital confinement in violation of equal protection because he failed to post bail due to his indigency. He also claims he is entitled to retroactive application of current sentencing law requiring credit for such time in custody.

The trial court denied the petition, finding that Pladson failed to show that his release would not present a danger to the public.

ISSUE

Did the trial court err in declining to order appellant’s sentence reduced by time spent before sentencing in jail and in the security hospital?

ANALYSIS

The trial court denied the petition for post-conviction relief because there was no showing that appellant does not present a danger to the public under Minn.Stat. § 590.01, subd. 3 (1984). This showing is required only if the petitioner is seeking retroactive application of the sentencing guidelines. Bixby v. State, 344 N.W.2d 390, 392 (Minn.1984) (petitioner challenged computation of 1982 criminal history score based on 1977 offenses). Such a showing was not required before the guidelines re-sentencing provision, and is not applicable here. See Laws 1981, c. 366, § 1 (adding subd. 3).

The State contends that appellant’s petition should be denied because he failed to raise the jail-credit issue in the prior post-conviction proceeding. The supreme court in State v. Knaffla, 309 Minn. 246, 243 N.W.2d 737 (1976), held that all claims known but not raised on direct appeal will not be considered on a petition for post-conviction relief. Knaffla did not address limitations on the right to a second post-conviction proceeding. See id. We believe, however, that the prior petition does not bar relief on the grounds presented here.

Appellant brought his first petition on August 28, 1975. The case on which he relies for his claim that failure to give credit for jail time is a denial of equal protection was decided in May, 1975. King v. Wyrick, 516 F.2d 321 (8th Cir.1975). The Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure, mandating credit for jail time and other presentence confinement, were effective July 1, 1975. Although the U.S. Supreme Court had earlier established the basis for the equal protection argument, it did so where the burden on the indigent was more direct. Williams v. Illinois, 399 U.S. 235, 90 S.Ct. 2018, 26 L.Ed.2d 586 (1970) (statute requiring a defendant who could not pay his fine to “work off” the fine by an extension of his term of impris *409 onment). Thus, the decision and the procedural rules on which he relies were only months old at the time of the petition. To deny relief on this ground is too strict an application of a remedial statute.

Appellant’s equal protection claim is that he was confined due to his indigency from his arrest until his sentencing because he was unable to post bail. This claim ignores the civil commitment, and the length of time appellant was confined pursuant to the commitment order. Although that order is not part of the agreed statement of the record, it is included in the criminal file transmitted on appeal, and forms part of the record. Minn.R.Crim.P. 28.02, subd. 8.

Appellant’s entitlement to credit for pre-sentence confinement need not be decided on constitutional grounds.

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Related

State v. Bonafide
457 N.W.2d 211 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1990)
Lightly v. State
739 P.2d 1232 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
385 N.W.2d 406, 1986 Minn. App. LEXIS 4242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pladson-v-state-minnctapp-1986.