United States v. Griffin

627 F. Supp. 1551, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29199
CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedFebruary 18, 1986
DocketNo. CR 81-0130 TUC ACM
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 627 F. Supp. 1551 (United States v. Griffin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Griffin, 627 F. Supp. 1551, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29199 (D. Ariz. 1986).

Opinion

ORDER

MARQUEZ, District Judge.

The Defendant, OTIS LAMONT GRIFFIN, has filed a timely motion for reduction of sentence pursuant to Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The court has reviewed the pre-sentence report, the matters considered by the court at the time of sentencing, the motion and the attachments. In addition, the court has also examined the court file in this matter.

Defendant Griffin was convicted following a jury trial for various narcotic violations. On September 18, 1981 this court sentenced the Defendant to three concurrent three year terms in prison and a five year special parole term. Defendant was permitted to remain free on bond pending appeal. Following the affirmance of the conviction by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Defendant filed a motion under Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to reduce his sentence. On April 22, 1983 this court granted that motion and sentenced the Defendant to three concurrent three year terms but suspended that sentence conditionally upon the Defendant’s serving of 179 days incarceration followed by a three year period of probation. This is commonly called a split sentence.

The Defendant served his term of imprisonment and began the probationary period. [1552]*1552On February 1,1985 this court revoked Mr. Griffin’s probation and reimposed the three concurrent three year terms of incarceration. At that time, however, the court again suspended the execution of the sentence and placed the Defendant on five years probation.

Another petition to revoke Mr. Griffin’s probation was filed on September 11, 1985. Following a hearing on that matter, this court found that revocation was appropriate. The court’s order stated in part:

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the defendant is committed to the custody of the Attorney General or his authorized representative for a period of fifteen (15) months. The defendant will be remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the defendant will receive credit for any time served on the original sentence.

Order Revoking Probation, filed October 11, 1985, page 2.

The Court worded the Order in this manner to avoid any possible misunderstanding of the Court’s intention. The Court felt that if the prior 179 day term of incarceration was not mentioned, someone could reasonably wonder if the Court intended that he spend an additional 15 months of incarceration. If the Court had sentenced the defendant to 9 months without mentioning the prior 179 days, someone could wonder if the defendant was to receive credit for the prior term, thus resulting in a 3 month term. Unfortunately, but not surprising to the Court, it appears that the Bureau of Prisons has decided either that the Court’s intention is not clear, or that the Bureau’s guidelines take precedence and will be applied regardless of what the Court intended. The latter is more probable since it is inconceivable that the Court’s Order is ambiguous.

In their infinite wisdom, the Bureau’s staff has determined that Mr. Griffin must serve 15 months in addition to the prior 179 day term.

They have calculated Mr. Griffin’s sentence according to Bureau of Prisons policies and have determined that the sentences imposed totalled twenty one months, the fifteen months imposed on October 11, 1985 and the 179 days imposed on April 22, 1983. Once the maximum sentence is calculated to be twenty one months, the Bureau of Prisons policy allows the credit of time already served to be deducted, resulting in their calculation that Mr. Griffin must serve fifteen months on this sentence. This determination is the basis of the present motion to reduce the sentence.

Since it was counsel for Mr. Griffin who had the audacity to challenge the Bureau of Prisons calculation in this case, this Court directed him to obtain a written explanation from Mr. Paul Girvan, Records Office, Federal Correctional Institution, Big Spring, Texas, where the defendant is confined. Despite several requests, an explanation was not received. A probation officer was able to obtain a copy of the policy under which the Defendant’s sentence was computed. That policy and the accompanying memorandum are made a part of the record in this case. The Bureau of Prisons policy in issue is # 7617.1.

Although this court is hesitant to engage in long quotations of government policies, particularly those of the Bureau of Prisons, most of the regulation involved herein warrants quotation in full because of its literary and grammatical clarity:

Computation of Split Sentences
Section 3651 of Title 18, U.S.Code, is often referred to throughout the Bureau and institutions as the “Split Sentence” or “741” sentence procedure. The “741” phrase comes from Public Law 85-741 which was the Act of Congress that caused this part of Section 3651 to become law on August 28, 1958. It allows a “Split Sentence” to be imposed, i.e., a period of confinement followed by a period of probation. The court, “Upon entering a judgment of conviction of any offense not punishable by death or life imprisonment, if the maximum punishment provided for such offense is more than six months.may impose a sentence in excess of six months and provide that the defendant be confined in a jail-[1553]*1553type institution or a treatment institution for a period not exceeding six months and that the execution of the remainder of the sentence be suspended and the defendant placed on probation for such period ... as the court deems best.
Jail time is applicable to all “Split Sentences.”
The initial confinement terms of “Split Sentences” cannot be aggregated with each other or with other sentences.
If an individual is recommitted as a probation violator, three different and distinct terms (original overall term, initial confinement term, and probation violator term imposed at the time of revocation) must be considered in determining the term in effect. In all cases, the sentence on revocation will be computed as beginning on the date initially committed to the “Split Sentence,” becoming inoperative on the date of release, and resuming on the date recommitted as a probation violator. The term in effect will be determined by adding the term of the initial confinement portion, as imposed, to the term imposed at the time of probation revocation, with the following restriction: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL THE TERM IN EFFECT EXCEED THE TERM OF THE ORIGINAL OVERALL SENTENCE.
In the three most common situations:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
627 F. Supp. 1551, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-griffin-azd-1986.