State ex rel. Wooding v. Jarrett

289 S.E.2d 203, 169 W. Va. 631, 1982 W. Va. LEXIS 728
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 19, 1982
DocketNo. 14787
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 289 S.E.2d 203 (State ex rel. Wooding v. Jarrett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Wooding v. Jarrett, 289 S.E.2d 203, 169 W. Va. 631, 1982 W. Va. LEXIS 728 (W. Va. 1982).

Opinion

Per Curiam:

This is an appeal by Helen Farmer Wooding from an order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County denying her petition for habeas corpus ad subjiciendum, through which she sought release from the West Virginia state prison for women. This request for release was premised on the appellant’s allegation that the West Virginia Board of Probation and Parole [hereinafter referred to as the Board} had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in denying her parole. The circuit court, however, concluded that the evidence presented failed to reveal a violation of any of the appellant’s constitutional or statutory rights, and, in addition, failed to support a finding of an arbitrary and capricious denial of parole. Having reviewed the record, we are not satisfied that the appellant was afforded a proper review by the Board. We therefore remand this case for further proceedings.

In April of 1978, the appellant, Helen Farmer Wooding, pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County to two counts of Obtaining Property by False Pretenses [633]*633through the use of forged checks. She was sentenced to two concurrent 1-5 years prison terms. However, the sentencing judge recommended that the appellant serve only the minimum one-year term.1

On May 4, 1979, the appellant appeared before the Board. Following this interview, the Board voted to deny the appellant parole. The reasons given by the Board for denying parole were as follows:

1. The nature of your criminal offense was such that your release at this time would tend to depreciate the seriousness of that offense.
2. Public sentiment from the area in which your crime was committed indicates you may be a poor risk for parole at this time.
3. Your release at this time is not in your best interest nor in the best interest of society.

On August 2, 1979, the appellant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County. Through that petition, the appellant sought to be released on parole or otherwise discharged from confinement. As indicated earlier, this petition was premised on the appellant’s allegation that the Board had acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in denying her parole. More specifically, the appellant contended that the Board had failed to consider that information which was favorable to her release on parole. In addition, the appellant contended that the Board’s denial of parole defeated the sentencing judge’s expectations that she would serve only the minimum one-year sentence.

The matter was heard by another circuit judge on Octoberl7,1979. The appellant testified on her own behalf [634]*634and also presented testimony from the sentencing judge and her sister, Patricia Ann Casto. The only other testimony came from a member of the Board.

The stipulated evidence presented at the hearing established that the appellant had no criminal convictions other than those which led to her confinement in the West Virginia state prison for women. In addition, this evidence indicated that the appellant had never been cited for violating institutional rules or regulations during her term of incarceration. Finally, it is clear that, pursuant to the then regular practice of the Board, the appellant was not permitted to view her inmate file.2

The testimony given by a member of the Board revealed that the Board had relied on the pre-sentencing report to evaluate public sentiment regarding the appellant. The member also testified that the Board had doubted the truthfulness of the appellant’s statements concerning the circumstances of the crimes for which she was imprisoned. Finally, the member testified that the Board did, in fact, consider evidence favorable to the appellant’s release.

Based on this evidence, the circuit court concluded that no constitutional or statutory right of the appellant had been violated, and the Board’s actions had not been arbitrary or capricious. Therefore, the circuit judge determined the appellant was not entitled to relief and dismissed the petition. It is from this action that the appellant seeks relief in this Court.

“The eligibility of a prisoner for parole consideration and certain factors to be considered by the West Virginia Board of Probation and Parole in determining the actual release of a prisoner upon parole are established by W.Va. Code, 62-12-13.” Rowe v. White, _ W.Va. _ 280 S.E.2d 301, 302-303 (1981). Basically, this statute provides that a prisoner may be paroled if he or she: (1) has served the minimum term of his indeterminate sentence or one-third [635]*635of his definite term sentence; (2) is not under punishment or in solitary confinement for any infraction of prison rules; (3) has maintained a good conduct record for at least three months prior to his parole release; and (4) has satisfied the board that he or she will act lawfully when released, and his or her release is compatible with the best interests and welfare of society. In reviewing this basic standard, it is apparent that the first three criteria are objective. “A prisoner knows whether he has or has not met those criteria. The last factor involves subjective, discretionary evaluation by the board, and due process rights, which attempt to limit malevolent, arbitrary or reckless decisions, apply.” Tasker v. Mohn, _ W.Va. _ 267 S.E.2d 183, 188 (1980).

In order for the parole interview to satisfy these due process rights, we have ruled that each parole release interview include the following minimum standards:

“(1) Each prospective parolee must be given timely and adequate notice of the date and hour of his parole release interview;
(2) An inmate is entitled to access to information in his record which will be used to determine whether he receives parole (absent overriding security considerations which must be recorded in his file);
(3) Each inmate may personally appear before the parole board and give oral and documentary evidence;
(4) A record, which is capable of being reduced to writing, must be made of each parole release interview to allow judicial review; and
(5) Inmates to whom parole has been denied are entitled to written statements of the reasons for denial.”

Syllabus point 4, Tasker, supra.

Although Tasker had not been decided by this Court at the time of the appellant’s parole interview, we feel the principles enumerated in that opinion are equally applicable to the appellant’s case. In fact, this case serves to [636]*636emphasize the necessity for our ruling in Tasker. For instance, in reviewing the Board’s decision, we are severly hampered by the fact that there is no transcript of the parole board hearing. As we noted in Tasker, supra,

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Related

State Ex Rel. Stollings v. Haines
569 S.E.2d 121 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2002)
Vance v. Holland
355 S.E.2d 396 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
289 S.E.2d 203, 169 W. Va. 631, 1982 W. Va. LEXIS 728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-wooding-v-jarrett-wva-1982.