State v. Padilla

2011 NMCA 029, 258 P.3d 1136, 150 N.M. 344
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 9, 2011
Docket29,014
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2011 NMCA 029 (State v. Padilla) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Padilla, 2011 NMCA 029, 258 P.3d 1136, 150 N.M. 344 (N.M. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

CASTILLO, Judge.

{1} Defendant filed an on record appeal to the district court challenging a judgment and sentence entered by the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court (the metro court). After review, the district court entered an order remanding the case to metro court with instructions to resentence Defendant in accordance with the district court’s memorandum opinion. Defendant appeals from this order.

{2} The primary issue in this ease is whether Defendant continued to serve his sentence while on furlough. Other issues relate to the calculation of good time credit and the metro court’s failure to impose mandatory community service and fines at Defendant’s initial sentencing. We hold that the time on furlough is to be credited as time served. We further conclude that good time was properly calculated by the Metropolitan Detention Center (the detention center). Thus, Defendant did complete his sentence while on furlough and any resentencing is unlawful. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the order of the district court and remand this case to the metro court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

{3} Defendant pled guilty to second offense driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs (DUI) in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-102(F) (2005) (amended 2010). On June 16, 2006, the metro court sentenced him to 364 day’s incarceration in the Detention center. Defendant was given a credit of forty-three days for presentence confinement and began serving his sentence on June 20, 2006.

{4} Roughly one month after Defendant began serving his sentence, the metro court filed an order allowing Defendant to be furloughed from the Detention center. That order states:

It is hereby ordered that [Defendant ... be released on a furlough July 18, 2006[,] by 10:00 a.m. Defendant ... is to enter and complete the inpatient program at Hoy Recovery, Inc. Defendant is to have no further violations of law, no alcohol, no drugs, [and] no driving. Defendant is to return to custody October 20, 2006[,] by 5:00 p.m. Failure to return will result in a charge of escape.

{5} While on furlough, Defendant filed a motion asking the metro court to extend the furlough based on the fact that Defendant had successfully completed the program at Hoy Recovery, Inc. and had enrolled at Northern New Mexico Community College. Defendant requested an extension to complete the current semester which was to end on December 18, 2006. The metro court granted the motion and entered an order extending the furlough as requested.

{6} On December 18, 2006, Defendant attempted to turn himself in at the detention center consistent with the metro court’s order, but he was refused readmission. During a subsequent hearing in metro court, a representative from the detention center explained that Defendant had fully served his sentence as of November 28, 2006 — almost a month before he appeared for readmission — because he had been given credit for both the time he was on furlough and for good time.

{7} Four days after Defendant was denied readmission to the detention center, the metro court issued a bench warrant for Defendant’s arrest based on Defendant’s failure to comply with the metro court’s orders. The metro court later entered an “affidavit for arrest warrant” indicating that Defendant had escaped from the detention center in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-8 (1963). According to the affidavit, a district court felony case number had also been generated and assigned to Defendant’s case.

{8} On January 30, 2007, Defendant was incarcerated at the detention center based on the metro court’s bench warrant and for purportedly violating the terms of his commitment. There was a short hearing on January 31, 2007, at which the court stated it would reschedule the hearing. No hearing on any issue was held until mid-March. On February 19, 2007, Defendant filed a motion for discharge arguing that he had already completed his sentence. On February 20, 2007, the metro court, without a hearing, filed a judgment and sentence (the 2007 judgment and sentence) ordering Defendant to complete his sentence of incarceration by serving 271 days, the portion of the original 364-day sentence which, according to the metro court, had not yet been served.

{9} Defendant moved to correct his sentence arguing that he was entitled to receive “credit” for the furlough time and that the metro court had unlawfully increased his previously imposed sentence and had acted without “jailable jurisdiction” in doing so. A hearing on that motion was held on March 16, 2007, during which the metro court explained that it did not intend Defendant to receive credit for the furlough time and that, in any event, it was not possible to credit Defendant for that time because Defendant had been released from and was not in the custody of the detention center during the furlough.

{10} Defendant filed a habeas corpus petition on March 20, 2007, which he converted ten days later to a notice of appeal. He challenged the 2007 judgment and sentence as well as the metro court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to reconsider that sentence. Defendant’s sentence was stayed pending final disposition of his appeal.

{11} In its memorandum opinion, the district court described the issue on appeal as whether Defendant should have received credit toward his sentence for the furlough time during which he went to a treatment program and attended community college. The district court concluded, citing State v. Fellhauer, 1997-NMCA-064, 123 N.M. 476, 943 P.2d 123, that Defendant was ineligible for credit toward his sentence for the furlough time because during the furlough Defendant was not in actual or constructive custody of law enforcement and there were no restrictions placed on Defendant’s freedom. The district court further concluded that the metro court erroneously failed to impose the mandatory fine and community service provisions in Section 66-8-102(F). Finally, the district court determined that it was the metro court’s duty, not the detention center’s duty, to ascertain whether Defendant “got good time credit for the furlough.” The district court remanded Defendant’s case to metro court with instructions to re-sentence Defendant, impose the community service and monetary fine provisions, and determine the amount of good time Defendant should have been credited. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

{12} Defendant presents us with three issues, all of which relate to sentencing. Our review is de novo. See State v. Frost, 2003-NMCA-002, If 6, 133 N.M. 45, 60 P.3d 492 (stating that whether a sentence violates the applicable sentencing statutes is a question of statutory interpretation which this court reviews de novo).

A. Furlough Time

{13} We first address the treatment of Defendant’s time on furlough. The district court, relying on Fellhauer, concluded that Defendant was not entitled to “credit” for the furlough because he was not in official confinement during that time. According to the district court, he was neither in actual nor constructive custody of the State during the furlough.

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Bluebook (online)
2011 NMCA 029, 258 P.3d 1136, 150 N.M. 344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-padilla-nmctapp-2011.