United States ex rel. Spain v. Oswald

342 F. Supp. 97, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14977
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 23, 1972
DocketNo. 72 CR 73
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 342 F. Supp. 97 (United States ex rel. Spain v. Oswald) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States ex rel. Spain v. Oswald, 342 F. Supp. 97, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14977 (E.D.N.Y. 1972).

Opinion

BRUCHHAUSEN, Senior District Judge.

The plaintiff, now in State custody, moves for an interlocutory judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284.

Plaintiff was convicted of attempted robbery in the third degree in the Supreme Court, Kings County, and was sentenced on August 4, 1969, to an indeterminate term of 0 to 3 years (Mollen, J.). He received credit for 308 days jail time, and his maximum release date was thus October 31, 1971. He was conditionally released on October 13, 1970 with one year remaining to be served on his sentence. However, while on conditional release, he was arrested on May 4, 1971 for grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property [99]*99and criminal impersonation. On May 11, 1971, he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of stolen property in Kings County Criminal Court and received a definite sentence of nine months (Hellenbrand, J.). Plaintiff made a motion for resentence, and, on December 17, 1971, by consent, Judge Hellenbrand re-sentenced plaintiff to nine months nunc pro tunc and “recommend [ed]” to the Parole Board that plaintiff “be given consideration on parole time in light of this sentence.”

Plaintiff completed service of this sentence on December 21, 1971, and was returned to the custody of the Parole Department. Pursuant to Sections 70.40 (1) (b) and (3) (b) of the New York Penal Law, he had to serve the remaining one year of his sentence that had been held in abeyance while he was on conditional release. His new maximum expiration date is December 21, 1972.

Plaintiff brings the instant action requesting an “interlocutory injunction” under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284 to declare unconstitutional Section 2193 of the Penal Law, Section 218 of the Correction Law and “other statutes” and to grant a temporary restraining order. He claims that his sentence cannot be extended beyond its original expiration date, that he was not given a hearing on his parole revocation, and that he should be credited on his first sentence for the time he spent serving his second sentence. These claims are baseless.

In the first place, plaintiff must first bring this action in the state courts, as he is requesting his release from custody and must satisfy the exhaustion of state remedies requirement of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). United States ex rel. Gentile v. Mancusi, 426 F.2d 238 (2nd Cir. 1970). Plaintiff cannot circumvent the habeas corpus exhaustion requirement by calling his action one for injunctive relief. See Martin v. Roach, 280 F.Supp. 480 (S.D.N.Y.1968); Greene v. State of New York, 281 F.Supp. 579 (S.D.N.Y.1967); Duncombe v. State of New York, 267 F.Supp. 103, 109 (S.D.N.Y.1967); Lombardi v. Peace, 259 F.Supp. 222 (S.D.N.Y.1966).

To the extent that plaintiff is requesting that certain state statutes be declared unconstitutional, he has failed to serve any summons or complaint on defendants pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281 and 2284, and so has not commenced a proper action. Furthermore, the statutes that he wishes to declare unconstitutional, Section 2193 of the Penal Law and Section 218 of the Correction Law, have no applicability to plaintiff, as they pertain only to pre-1968 convictions under the old Penal Law. Plaintiff was convicted in 1969. Plaintiff’s allegation as to the unconstitutionality of “other statutes” does not state a claim. However, even if plaintiff’s claims can be considered on the merits, they are clearly meritless.

Both the New York and federal courts have consistently held that a sentence can be interrupted by a declaration of parole delinquency, and that the sentence does not begin to run again until the return of the parolee to the jurisdiction of the parole authorities. See New York Law, § 70,40(1) (b), (3) (b); Zerbst v. Kidwell, 304 U.S. 359, 58 S.Ct. 872, 82 L.Ed. 1399 (1938) ; Avellino v. United States, 330 F.2d 490 (2d Cir. 1963), cert. denied 379 U.S. 922, 85 S.Ct. 280, 13 L.Ed.2d 336, reh. den. 379 U.S. 985, 85 S.Ct. 671, 13 L.Ed.2d 578; Chieppa v. Krimsky, 169 F.Supp. 337 (S.D.N.Y.1959). See also People ex rel. Petite v. Follette, 24 N.Y.2d 60, 298 N.Y.S.2d 950, 246 N.E.2d 722 (1969); Matter of Perillo v. State Board of Parole, 4 A.D.2d 355, 165 N.Y.S.2d 139 (3rd Dept. 1957), aff’d 4 N.Y.2d 1013, 177 N.Y.S.2d 523, 152 N.E.2d 540 (1958). Plaintiff’s sentence thus has not been unconstitutionally extended, and he must serve the remainder of his sentence that was held in abeyance pursuant to the explicit mandate of Penal Law §§ 70.40(1)(b) and (3)(b).

Nor can plaintiff claim that he is constitutionally entitled to receive credit for the time he was out on con[100]*100ditional release prior to his violation of the terms of his conditional release. The federal law concerning parole is identical to New York's conditional release law in that if parole is violated, the time spent on parole up until the time of the violation does not diminish the sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 4205. This provision has been uniformly upheld as constitutional. Moore v. Smith, 412 F.2d 720 (9th Cir. 1969); Weathers v. Willingham, 356 F.2d 421 (8th Cir. 1966); O’Callahan v. Attorney General, 351 F.2d 43 (1st Cir. 1965), cert. den. 382 U.S. 1017, 86 S.Ct. 632, 15 L.Ed.2d 531.

Plaintiff could only receive credit for the time spent serving his second sentence if he had been acquitted of the charges based on the second arrest. Penal Law § 70.40(3) (c) (ii). If he was convicted of the new charge, as here, he would not receive any credit toward his prior conviction, and the jail time served would get credited to the second conviction. Penal Law § 70.30(3). Plaintiff has no constitutional right to have a valid nine month sentence for one crime credited to an unserved sentence for a totally unrelated crime. Zerbst v. Kidwell, supra. Plaintiff additionally alleges that he should get credit for these nine months on his prior sentence because the sentencing judge made the suggestion that he be so credited. This does not mandate any judicial interference.

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365 F. Supp. 699 (E.D. New York, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
342 F. Supp. 97, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14977, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-ex-rel-spain-v-oswald-nyed-1972.