State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 14, 2002
DocketW2002-00460-CCA-R3-CD
StatusPublished

This text of State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray (State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON Assigned on Briefs October 1, 2002

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WILLIAM ROY GRAY

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Madison County No. 01-513 Donald H. Allen, Judge

No. W2002-00460-CCA-R3-CD - Filed October 14, 2002

Following a bench trial, the Defendant, William Roy Gray, was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor, and resisting arrest, a class B misdemeanor. He received consecutive sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days and six months, respectively, to be served in jail. However, approximately two months later, the trial court entered an order allowing the Defendant to serve his sentences at home due to the Defendant’s poor health. The court revoked this order based on the Defendant failing to comply with the conditions of his release from jail and the Defendant being arrested for theft. Moreover, the court ordered that the Defendant not be given credit for the portion of his sentences that he served at his home. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that the order of the trial court denying him credit for the time he served outside of jail serves to increase his sentence and to effectively punish him twice for the same offense in violation of the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Trial Court Affirmed

DAVID H. WELLES, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR. and ALAN E. GLENN, JJ., joined.

Vanessa D. King, Assistant Public Defender, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellant, William Roy Gray.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Braden H. Boucek, Assistant Attorney General; Jerry Woodall, District Attorney General; and Shaun A. Brown, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION

Following a bench trial on October 4, 2001, the Defendant was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor, and resisting arrest, a class B misdemeanor. He was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days and six months, respectively. The trial court ordered the sentences to run consecutively, for an effective sentence of eighteen months to be served in the local jail. On November 30, 2001, the trial court reconsidered its sentencing order in light of the Defendant’s health problems.1 The court ordered the Defendant to serve his sentence at home under the supervision of a Community Corrections officer. The court also ordered the Defendant to wear an ankle monitor and not leave his home except for health-related reasons. On February 5, 2002, the trial court revoked this order, finding that the Defendant violated the terms of his release by failing to ever report to the Community Corrections office, failing to wear an ankle monitor, and subsequently being arrested for theft. The trial court ordered that the Defendant receive credit for time served in jail but not for the period while he was supposed to be serving his sentence at home. The Defendant argues in this appeal as of right that by not crediting him for the time he served at his home, the trial court effectively punished him twice for the same offense in violation of the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and the Tennessee Constitutions.

We note at the outset that there is a discrepancy in the record regarding the Defendant’s status while he was allegedly serving his sentence at his home pursuant to the court’s order on November 30, 2001. The record is not clear as to whether the Defendant was on probation or in Community Corrections. The difference is not trivial, for a defendant who is serving a sentence on Community Corrections is actually serving his sentence in the community “in lieu of incarceration,” while the sentence of a defendant who is on probation is suspended. Compare Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-36- 106(e)(1), with Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-303(c). Furthermore, a defendant who has his or her Community Corrections sentence revoked is incarcerated to serve the term of his sentence “less any time actually served in any community-based alternative to incarceration.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40- 36-106(e)(4). On the other hand, a defendant who violates the terms of his or her probation shall have the suspension revoked and his or her original sentence executed. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40- 35-310. Therefore, a defendant who is on probation receives no credit for time served, but a defendant on Community Corrections does.

In its order, the trial court states that the Defendant shall “continue[ ] to serve his sentence at home.” There is no mention in the order of the sentence being suspended. A Community Corrections officer was assigned to monitor the Defendant, and the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant for the Defendant states that the Defendant “has violated the conditions of his Community Corrections sentence . . . .” However, prior to the hearing on February 4, 2002, the trial judge stated, “We’re here on a probation violation warrant.” In his formal order, the trial judge “decreed that the defendant’s probation be revoked.” When the trial judge issued his ruling from the bench on February 4, 2002, he found “that Mr. Gray has, in fact, violated the terms of his probation or really

1 The record is unclear as to precisely what health problems the Defendant experienced. However, at the revocation hearing, the D efendant testified that he ha d a co lostom y while he was out of jail.

-2- the terms of his sentence in this case.” Thus, it is unclear from the record whether the Defendant was on probation or Community Corrections.

However, based on our review of the record, we conclude that the trial court intended to place the Defendant on Community Corrections status. There is no mention of suspending his sentence in the record, the Community Corrections office was given the responsibility of monitoring the Defendant, and the trial judge clearly states in his order on November 30, 2001 that the Defendant was to continue serving his sentence at home. Therefore, we will consider the Defendant’s appeal as a challenge to the revocation of his Community Corrections sentence.2

The Defendant argues that, by not crediting him with the time that he served in his home, the trial court effectively gave him another sentence, and, in so doing, violated his protection from double jeopardy guaranteed by the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. The double jeopardy clauses of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, section 10 of the Tennessee Constitution both protect against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, a second prosecution for the same offense after an acquittal, and multiple punishments for the same offense. See State v. Mounce, 859 S.W.2d 319, 321 (Tenn. 1993). Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-36-106(e)(4) states that when a defendant’s Community Corrections sentence is revoked, he or she shall receive credit for “any time actually served in any community-based alternative to incarceration.” (emphasis added). Therefore, if the Defendant had actually served time in the Community Corrections program, he would be entitled to credit for that time served.

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Related

State v. Mounce
859 S.W.2d 319 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1993)

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State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-tennessee-v-william-roy-gray-tenncrimapp-2002.