Taylor v. Gray

375 F. Supp. 790
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedApril 30, 1974
Docket73-C-520
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 375 F. Supp. 790 (Taylor v. Gray) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Gray, 375 F. Supp. 790 (E.D. Wis. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

TEHAN, District Judge.

This petition for issuance of the writ of habeas corpus challenging the denial of credit for preconviction and postconviction imprisonment against a maximum sentence imposed on conviction for theft is before the court on the pleadings, the state court record and briefs of counsel.

The record shows the following material facts: Petitioner was arrested on November 5, 1970, and detained in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail. Bail was set at $7,500.00 with sureties. On November 20, 1970, bail was reduced to $5000.00 with sureties, but petitioner was financially unable to post the bail at any time between his arrest and trial.

On December 16, 1970, petitioner was convicted of theft, party to a crime, in violation of §§ 943.20(1) (a) and 939.05, Wis.Stats., and the case was adjourned to December 17, 1970 for disposition as to sentencing, when the court ordered a presentence investigation. On January 13, 1971, the court imposed a sentence of an indeterminaté term of not more than five years, the maximum penalty permitted by statute for the offense involving theft in the amount of $285.00.

Posttrial motions filed by counsel on petitioner’s behalf were denied on January 15, 1971, and petitioner was delivered to the Wisconsin State Prison to commence service of his sentence. He remained in detention at the County Jail from the date of his conviction until delivery to the State Prison. Although he did not apply for postconviction bail, it is undisputed that he did not have the financial ability to post bond at least in the amount set before conviction.

Petitioner has not presented the claim of the instant petition to the courts of the State of Wisconsin. He submits that exhaustion of state remedies would be futile because the same justices presently constituting the Wisconsin Supreme Court have already determined that the crediting of pretrial detention time against a sentence imposed on conviction is not constitutionally required. See State v. Tew, 54 Wis.2d 361, 195 N.W.2d 615 (1972). Since respondent has not taken issue with this position, the court deems it appropriate to consider the merits of the claim.

Respondent analyzes the county jail detention time for which credit is sought as falling within three different categories: (1) preconviction detention of 41 days from date of arrest on November 5, 1970 to date of trial on December 16, 1970; (2) postconviction presentence period of 28 days from date of conviction on December 16, 1970 to date of sentence on January 13, 1971; and (3) postsentence predelivery period from January 13, 1971, to time of delivery to the State Prison on January 16, 1971. A total number of 72 days is involved.

*792 Respondent concedes without agreeing to the validity of the decision that this court’s holding in Robert J. Monsour v. Ramon L. Gray, Warden, D. C., 375 F.Supp. 786, decided April 17, 1973, requires that petitioner be credited with respect to the first period of preconviction detention resulting from his financial inability to meet the bond set in his case. Since Monsour was concerned only with credit for preconviction custodial time attributable solely to the indigency of the preconviction detainee held to constitute a denial of the equal protection of the law, it is contended that the decision does not govern the question of credit for the two postconviction periods of time spent by petitioner in the County Jail. It is submitted that in view of petitioner’s failure to request bail following conviction, there can be no showing of invidious discrimination as to any “dead” time, that is, detention following conviction not credited against the sentence, since this custody is not attributable to petitioner’s indigency.

Further, respondent maintains that credit for postsentence predelivery time of 3 days is barred by the provisions of § 973.15(1), Wis.Stats. which expressly exclude from computation as any part of the term of imprisonment any time a defendant may spend in the County Jail or on bail following imposition of sentence.

Particular objection is raised to the allowance of credit for the 28 day period of postconvietion presentence custodial detention, not necessarily occasioned by petitioner’s indigency but by the court’s failure to set postconviction bail and the ordering of the presentence investigation and report. Respondent reasons that there can be no violation of constitutional rights in not crediting this time against the sentence because the setting of postconviction bail is discretionary with the court rather than mandatory as in the case of preconviction bond. Thus there could be no denial of the equal protection of the law by discrimination based on financial inability to meet bond. Further, in view of the discretionary nature of the grant of postconvietion bail and the statutory provisions for ordering a presentence report under § 972.15, Wis.Stats. and for exclusion of County Jail time following sentence under § 973.15, Wis.Stats., respondent maintains that petitioner must be deemed to have had notice that his conviction of theft could subject him to imprisonment in excess of the statutory maximum penalty for the offense with which he was charged. Accordingly, denial of credit for the postconviction detention would not constitute a denial of due process.

At the outset it is noted that the deprivation of liberty by detention in the County Jail whether as a preeonviction detainee or postconviction prisoner awaiting sentence or delivery to prison constitutes punishment. This view is basic to the holding that there is a violation of the equal protection clause in case the detention is occasioned by the prisoner’s indigency. Thus petitioner must be deemed to have been subjected to a form of punishment of incarceration from the date of his arrest until delivery to the State Prison.

It may be arguable that petitioner’s postconviction custody, as was his preconviction detention, was attributable to his indigency. In view of his financial inability to meet preconviction bond, a request for postconviction bail or the court’s sua sponte consideration of bond may be considered as undertaking a futile act. Since there was no determination that petitioner was not in fact bailable for reasons other than indigency, the discretionary nature of postconviction bail would not bar assertion of a claim of denial of the equal protection of the law.

The determination whether or not there was a denial of equal protection with respect to the postconviction imprisonment is, however, in my opinion, not necessary to resolution of the claim. Unlike the petitioner in Mon-sour, who received a relatively light sentence in view of the penalties to which *793 his conviction exposed him, petitioner in the instant case was sentenced to the maximum penalty provided by statute for the offense he committed. This furnishes a basis independent of the equal protection clause for the determination whether or not the failure to credit him with any part of the predelivery to prison custody was in violation of his constitutional rights since the Fifth Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy includes protection against multiple punishments for the same offense. North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
375 F. Supp. 790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-gray-wied-1974.