Rivas v. Persson

304 P.3d 765, 256 Or. App. 829, 2013 WL 2362260, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 648
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMay 30, 2013
Docket11C19664; A149716
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 304 P.3d 765 (Rivas v. Persson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivas v. Persson, 304 P.3d 765, 256 Or. App. 829, 2013 WL 2362260, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 648 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

HADLOCK, J.

Plaintiff petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, asserting that the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision had failed to fully credit him for time served following his arrest. The trial court denied the petition under ORS 34.370(2)(b)(A) after concluding that plaintiffs remedy properly lies in post-conviction relief and, alternatively, that the petition was barred by issue preclusion. Plaintiff appeals, challenging both of the grounds on which the trial court denied his petition. We conclude that plaintiffs appeal is moot because the board has since granted the only relief to which plaintiff would be entitled if he were to prevail— commencement of the release-consideration process. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

We review the denial of a habeas corpus petition under ORS 34.370(2)(b)(A) as we review dismissals under ORCP 21 A(8) for failure to state a claim. Billings v. Gates, 133 Or App 236, 240-41, 890 P2d 995 (1995), aff'd, 323 Or 167, 916 P2d 291 (1996). That is, we review the allegations in the petition and related inferences in the light most favorable to plaintiff to determine whether the petition alleges a legally sufficient claim. In this case, plaintiff attached 12 exhibits to his petition, stating that the exhibits were “submit [ted] in support” of the petition, but not expressly incorporating them in the petition. In the judgment dismissing plaintiffs petition, the trial court noted that it could consider the petition “in its entirety, including any attachments and exhibits in deciding whether to issue a writ.” Neither party challenges the court’s consideration of the exhibits. Accordingly, we assume, without deciding, that it is appropriate to consider the exhibits on appeal as well, and we take the following facts from the petition and the exhibits.

Plaintiff has been incarcerated since 1987, when he was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated murder and one count of first-degree robbery. Plaintiff entered into a plea agreement in 1992 under which he agreed to plead guilty to one count of aggravated murder. In return, the state agreed to dismiss the other two charges and promised that plaintiffs sentence would be imposed concurrently with the sentences he was then serving for [831]*831two other convictions and that he would receive “[cjredit for all time served in custody.” The court accepted plaintiffs guilty plea and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a minimum of 30 years, ordering that the sentence be served concurrently with the others that plaintiff was then serving. One thousand five hundred sixty-eight days had passed between plaintiffs arrest and his sentencing.

Sometime in or before 2006, the Department of Corrections (DOC) determined that plaintiff was entitled to 964 days of credit for time served.1 Plaintiff brought a mandamus action against DOC in 2006 in an unsuccessful attempt to compel DOC to award additional credit. The court in that case ruled that DOC did not have a legal duty under ORS 137.320 and ORS 137.370 to credit plaintiff with the additional time served.2

In July 2010, the board found that plaintiff was likely to be rehabilitated within a reasonable period of time, and it converted his sentence to life with the possibility of parole. Applying the sentencing matrix that was in effect when plaintiff committed the underlying crime, the board determined in July 2011 that plaintiffs prison term should be 276 months. Based on that determination, it set a projected parole release date of June 3, 2012.3 In setting that date, the [832]*832board factored in 964 days of credit for time served. Had the board credited plaintiff with all 1,568 days that plaintiff was incarcerated between his arrest and his sentencing, the projected release date would have been approximately October 8, 2010.

Plaintiff brought the present action in August 2011, seeking specific performance of the plea agreement. The trial court issued an order to defendant to show cause why the writ should not be allowed. Defendant responded with a motion to deny the petition for failure to state a claim for relief, arguing that the decision in the mandamus action was preclusive and, alternatively, that habeas corpus relief was not available because plaintiff had a remedy in post-conviction relief. The trial court granted the motion “ [¶] or the reasons set forth in defendant’s response” and entered a judgment dismissing plaintiff’s petition.

On appeal, plaintiff argues that this action is not barred by issue preclusion and that a writ of habeas corpus is the appropriate remedy. As to the first point, he contends that issue preclusion does not apply because the issues in the two proceedings are not identical and the issues presented in this case were neither actually litigated nor essential to the final decision on the merits of the mandamus action. Plaintiff asserts that the issues in this case are (1) whether the plea agreement entitled him to credit for all time served in custody and (2) whether he is entitled to release if he prevails on the first issue. In the mandamus action, plaintiff continues, the issue was whether DOC had a legal duty under ORS 137.320 or ORS 137.370 to credit him with the additional time served before sentencing. With respect to post-conviction relief, plaintiff contends that he is not challenging the lawfulness of the judgment of conviction and, therefore, that post-conviction relief is not available to him.

In response, defendant first contends that plaintiffs appeal is moot. Defendant moved to dismiss on mootness grounds while this appeal was still in the briefing stage, [833]*833citing OAR 255-070-00154 and asserting that, even if plaintiff is correct as to the calculation of his credit for time served, “the most he would have been entitled to in October 2010 was an exit interview.” Defendant submitted a copy of a board order issued on December 20, 2011, in which the board stated that it had held an exit interview on that date, in anticipation of plaintiffs upcoming June 3, 2012, projected release date. According to the order, the board reviewed information including psychological evaluations of plaintiff conducted in October and November 2011 and, based on that evidence, found that plaintiff “suffers from a present severe emotional disturbance that constitutes a danger to the health or safety of the community.” In light of that finding, the board postponed plaintiffs projected release date by two years, to June 3, 2014. Defendant argued that, given plaintiffs new projected release date, he is not entitled to immediate release on parole even if he prevails in this appeal.

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Bluebook (online)
304 P.3d 765, 256 Or. App. 829, 2013 WL 2362260, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivas-v-persson-orctapp-2013.