Teddy Dean Daniels

2014 WY 125, 335 P.3d 483, 2014 Wyo. LEXIS 142, 2014 WL 5020601
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 8, 2014
DocketS-14-0023
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2014 WY 125 (Teddy Dean Daniels) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Teddy Dean Daniels, 2014 WY 125, 335 P.3d 483, 2014 Wyo. LEXIS 142, 2014 WL 5020601 (Wyo. 2014).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[T1] The district court revoked Teddy Dean Daniels' probation and reinstated his prison sentence. Although the district court told Mr. Daniels in an earlier proceeding that he would earn credit against his sentence for time spent in substance abuse treatment, it refused to award him such credit based upon its belief that this Court's jurisprudence prohibited it. We conclude the district court had authority to give Mr. Daniels credit for time spent in treatment and should have done so, in accordance with its earlier representation, if he successfully completed treatment. It is not, however, clear from the record whether he successfully completed treatment. Therefore, we reverse and remand for a determination of that factual issue and the award of credit, if proper.

ISSUES

[T2] Mr. Daniels presents the following issues on appeal:

I. Did the district court violate the double jeopardy provisions of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Art. 1, § 11 of the Wyoming Constitution when, following a probation revocation, it failed to give credit for time served at an in-patient treatment facility, contrary to a previous order and sentence?
*485 II. Did the district court violate the due process provisions of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Art. I, § 6 of the Wyoming Constitution when, following a probation revocation, it failed to give credit for time served at an inpatient treatment facility, contrary to a previous order and sentence?

Although phrased differently, the State articulates the same issues.

FACTS

[¶3] Mr. Daniels pleaded guilty in 2009 to one felony count of possession of over three ounces of marijuana. The district court sentenced him to serve a term of incarceration of one to three years but suspended the sentence in favor of two years of supervised probation.

[¶4] In September 2011, the State petitioned to revoke Mr. Daniels' probation for using controlled substances and consuming alcohol in a bar. Mr. Daniels admitted the violations and the district court revoked his probation, but immediately reinstated it for another two-year period. The district court verbally stated:

The Defendant is to successfully complete an in-patient treatment program at his own cost and expense. The Defendant will be given credit off of his imprisonment sentence for his presentence incarceration on the Petition for Revocation of Probation plus every day while in in-patient treatment, assuming he's successful. If the Defendant is not successful in treatment{, ...] the Court may not consider giving him credit for the time that he is in inpatient treatment.

The district court's written order stated:

Defendant is given credit for One Hundred Sixty (160) days off of the minimum and maximum imprisonment sentence herein for presentence confinement. If Defendant successfully completes in-patient treatment, he will receive credit off of the minimum and maximum imprisonment sentence for his time in in-patient treatment[.]

[T5] In September 2013, Mr. Daniels again violated the terms of his probation by driving while under the influence of alcohol and running a flashing red light. He admitted the violations, and, at an October 24, 2018, hearing, the district court imposed the underlying one to three year sentence. Mr. Daniels sought credit for 484 days against his sentence, but the district court awarded only 178 days, concluding that it could not award credit for the time he spent in treatment. The district court stated the Wyoming Supreme Court had, in a recent case, decided that a defendant was entitled to eredit only if he could be charged with escape for leaving the treatment center. The district court concluded that since Mr. Daniels was not subject to a charge of escape, he was not entitled to credit for the time he spent in the treatment center. Mr. Daniels appealed.

DISCUSSION

[16] Mr. Daniels claims his constitutional rights to due process of law and not to be placed twice in jeopardy for the same offense were violated when the district court refused to grant credit against his sentence for the time he spent in in-patient substance abuse treatment. We review asserted violations of constitutional rights de movo. Tucker v. State, 2009 WY 107, ¶ 11, 214 P.3d 236, 240 (Wyo.2009).

[T7] We begin with Mr. Daniels due process argument because it is disposi-tive. Due process of law is guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Art. 1, § 6 of the Wyoming Constitution. A district court's failure to award proper credit for presen-tence confinement results in an illegal sentence and violates the defendant's right to due process of law. See, eg., Gomez v. State, 2004 WY 15, 85 P.3d 417 (Wyo.2004); Cothren v. State, 2013 WY 125, 310 P.3d 908 (Wyo.2018).

[T8] Although Wyoming has no statute governing when a defendant is entitled to presentence confinement credit, we have addressed the issue in our case law. Hedge v. State, 696 P.2d 51, 52 (Wyo.1985). The district court relied on our October 22, *486 2013, decision in Yearout v. State, 2013 WY 133, 311 P.3d 180 (Wyo.2013), in ruling it could not give Mr. Daniels eredit against his sentence for the time he spent in treatment. Mr. Yearout claimed he was entitled to credit against his original sentence for the time he spent in treatment while on probation. We reviewed our case law and concluded a district court must award credit against a sentence when the defendant is in "official detention." Id., 18, 311 P.8d at 182. Typically, official detention does not include supervision on probation or parole. Id., citing Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-5-201(a)(ii). "However, if a condition of probation subjects a defendant to a charge of escape, he is entitled to credit against his sentence for the time spent in that environment." Yecrout, ¶ 8, 311 P.3d at 182, citing Blouir v. State, 950 P.2d 53, 55 (Wyo.1997). See also Weedman v. State, 792 P.2d 1388, 1389 (Wyo.1990) (recognizing defendant entitled to credit for presentence confinement due to his indigeney and holding that "credit should be granted against the minimum and maximum term of each concurrent sentence"). In Yearout's case, there was no evidence that he would have been subject to a charge of escape if he left the treatment facility; therefore, he was not entitled to credit. -

[¶ 9] The district court in the case at bar suggested that the Yearout decision changed or extended the law on presentence confinement credit in Wyoming. That was not aceu-rate; Yearout was entirely consistent with our earlier precedent. In YellowBear v. State, 874 P.2d 241, 245-46 (Wyo.1994), the district court ordered the defendant to undergo substance abuse treatment on three different occasions. The district court did not give him credit against his underlying sentence for any of the time he spent in treatment. We concluded YellowBear was entitled to credit for one of his treatment programs but not for the other two.

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Bluebook (online)
2014 WY 125, 335 P.3d 483, 2014 Wyo. LEXIS 142, 2014 WL 5020601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/teddy-dean-daniels-wyo-2014.