State v. Walker

283 P.3d 668, 2012 WL 3140224, 2012 Alas. App. LEXIS 120
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedAugust 3, 2012
DocketNo. A-10844
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 283 P.3d 668 (State v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Walker, 283 P.3d 668, 2012 WL 3140224, 2012 Alas. App. LEXIS 120 (Ala. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

MANNHEIMER, Judge.

This appeal arises from litigation in the superior court on the issue of whether the defendant should receive credit against his sentence for various periods that he spent in residential treatment. For the reasons explained here, we must send this case back to the superior court because of obvious errors in the superior court's ruling.

The history of Walker's case from the time of his original sentencing until the time, years later, when he refused further probation and was ordered to serve the remainder of his suspended term of imprisonment

In 1994, in superior court file number 4BE~-94-279 Cr, Stanley M. Walker was con-viected of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. He received a sentence of 4 years' imprisonment, but with 3 years, 10 months suspended (.e, only 2 months to serve). In 1995, while Walker was on probation in the 1994 case, he again committed second-degree sexual abuse of a minor-giving rise to his conviction in the present case, superior court file number 4BE-95-1200 Cr.

[669]*669In July 1996, the superior court sentenced Walker for the 1995 offense and for the violation of probation in the 1994 case. For the 1995 offense, the superior court imposed a sentence of 8 years' imprisonment with 6 years suspended. For the probation violation in the 1994 case, the court imposed 2 years of Walker's previously suspended jail time (consecutive to the just-imposed sentence in the 1995 case).

Thus, at the conclusion of this 1996 sentencing hearing, Walker's composite sentence for the 1994 and 1995 offenses was 4 years and 2 months to serve, with an additional 7 years, 10 months suspended. Of this suspended jail time, 1 year and 10 months remained from Walker's 1994 sentence, while 6 years was imposed as part of his 1995 sentence.

Starting in 2000, Walker repeatedly violated the conditions of his probation. As a result of these violations, he little by little served a large portion of his suspended imprisonment. Finally, in September 2009, Walker rejected further probation, and the superior court imposed the remaining 26 months of his suspended imprisonment.

The litigation on the issue of whether Walker should receive credit against his sentence for the time he spent in residential treatment

The imposition of the last 26 months of Walker's sentence seemingly ended the sentencing litigation in Walker's case. However, about eight months later, in May 2010, Walker filed a motion asking the superior court to give him credit against this 26-month sentence for five periods of time that Walker had spent in various residential treatment facilities during the years he was on probation. According to Walker, these five periods of residential treatment totaled nearly one year. In chronological order, these five periods were:

(1) the 10 days that Walker spent at the Ralph Perdue Center in Fairbanks from August 8, 2000 through August 18, 2000;
(2) the 120 days that Walker spent at the NorthStar Center in Fairbanks from April 30, 2001 through August 28, 2001;
(8) the 105 days that Walker spent at the NorthStar Center from October 15, 2001 through January 28, 2002;
(4) the 42 days that Walker spent at the Hudson Lake Healing Camp near Copper Center from July 22, 2002 through September 2, 2002; and
(5) the 67 days that Walker spent at the NorthStar Center from June 9, 2005 through August 15, 2005.

In his motion, Walker mistakenly told the superior court that these five periods totaled 346 days. In fact, they total 844 days.

The State opposed Walker's request-not based on Walker's calculations, but rather based on this Court's decision in Triplett v. State, 199 P.3d 1179 (Alaska App.2008). In Triplett, we held that defendants are not entitled to credit against their sentences for time they spend in a residential facility following their sentencing, as a condition of probation. Id. at 1181.

Walker filed a reply in which he argued that the Triplett decision was not controlling authority under the facts of his case. According to Walker, the defendant in Triplett was ordered into residential treatment by the Parole Board as a condition of parole, and Walker contended that the decision in Triplett hinged on this fact. Walker declared that his case was materially different from the facts of Triplett because he (Walker) was ordered into residence at the various treatment programs as a condition of his probation.

Walker's characterization of Triplett was incorrect.

The Triplett opinion states that the Parole Board released Triplett "(on] discretionary parole ... to the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Program." 199 P.3d at 1180. However, it appears (from the briefs filed in Triplett) that when the Parole Board released Triplett on parole, Triplett may have begun serving his probation at the same time (because he was released from incarceration).1 In any event, the Tripleit opinion explains that Triplett was sent to the Salvation Army treatment program because "[the [670]*670conditions of Triplett's probation required him to complete a substance abuse program at the direction of his probation officer, including residential treatment of up to one year." Id. at 1179 (emphasis added). Seemingly, then, Triplett (like Walker) was sent to residential treatment as a condition of his probation.

But more importantly, our decision in Triplett did not hinge on whether Triplett was on probation or parole. It is true that the lower court based its ruling on this distinction. See id. at 1180. But this Court's decision was based on the wording of AS 12.55.055(c), which states that defendants are entitled to credit against their sentences "for time spent in custody pending trial, sentencing, or appeal." Focusing on this italicized language, we held that Triplett was not entitled to credit against his sentence for the time spent in residential treatment because Triplett had already been sentenced, and because he had no appeal pending: "Triplett did not spend his time in residential treatment while 'pending trial, sentencing, or appeal, so he did not qualify for credit under AS 12.55.025(c) for the time he served in treatment." Triplett, 199 P.3d at 1181.

Despite these flaws in Walker's interpretation of Triplett, the superior court granted Walker's motion and gave him credit against his sentence for all of the 346 days he claimed. Although the superior court did not cite Triplett in its written decision, the court repeatedly stated, with respect to each of the five periods of residential treatment, that Walker resided in these facilities "as a condition of probation". From this, we infer that the superior court was persuaded by, and endorsed, Walker's mistaken theory that the Triplett decision only applied to defendants who are sent to residential treatment as a condition of parole, and that Triplett did not apply to defendants who spend time in residential treatment as a condition of probation.

Following the superior court's decision to grant Walker the 346 days of credit, the State initiated this appeal.

The issues raised in this appeal

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
283 P.3d 668, 2012 WL 3140224, 2012 Alas. App. LEXIS 120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-walker-alaskactapp-2012.