Wheway v. Warden

576 A.2d 494, 215 Conn. 418, 1990 Conn. LEXIS 208
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedJune 19, 1990
Docket13623; 13624
StatusPublished
Cited by51 cases

This text of 576 A.2d 494 (Wheway v. Warden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wheway v. Warden, 576 A.2d 494, 215 Conn. 418, 1990 Conn. LEXIS 208 (Colo. 1990).

Opinion

Covello, J.

These consolidated appeals involve two out-of-state parolees who, after transferring to Connecticut for parole supervision pursuant to the Uniform Act for Out-of-State Parolee Supervision, General Statutes §§ 54-132 through 54-138 (Uniform Act),1 subse[420]*420quently committed crimes in Connecticut. They were convicted and sentenced for those crimes and, there[421]*421upon, filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus challenging pending parole violation detainers lodged against [422]*422them by the states from which they were transferred. The principal issues raised are: (1) whether the trial court has the authority to dismiss or otherwise amend an out-of-state parole violation warrant lodged against a sentenced prisoner; (2) whether the Uniform Act requires an immediate parole revocation hearing and creates the right to serve the remaining portion of an out-of-state sentence in Connecticut; (3) whether a parolee has a liberty interest in programs requiring [423]*423decreased security that are affected by an oüt-of-state parole violation detainer; (4) whether liberty interests are violated when a parolee is classified as a maximum security prisoner solely on the basis of a parole violation detainer; (5) whether a parole violation detainer is a true and valid detainer that must be afforded comity; and (6) whether the parole revocation hearing must await the conclusion of the prisoner’s Connecticut sentence.

In the first case, the petitioner, James L. Wheway, Jr., was convicted of robbery in Mississippi. On October 23, 1980, he was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment with execution suspended after seven years to be followed by five years probation. On April 19, 1982, Mississippi authorities granted parole and transferred Wheway’s parole supervision to Connecticut pursuant to the Uniform Act and Mississippi Code Annotated § 47-7-71.* 2 On June 5,1984, police arrested [424]*424Wheway in Wallingford and charged him with robbery. On October 19, 1984, Mississippi authorities lodged a [425]*425violation of parole detainer against Wheway with the Connecticut authorities. On November 30, 1984, the trial court sentenced Wheway to twenty years imprisonment with execution suspended after twelve years for the robbery in Wallingford and five lesser, concurrent sentences.

Because of his Mississippi parole violation detainer, Wheway is classified as a maximum security prisoner for the duration of his Connecticut sentence. Thus classified, he is ineligible by reason of the prison’s rules for any early release programs, including furloughs, work release or home release. If the out-of-state parole violation detainer were not pending, Wheway would have been eligible for work release and home release in April, 1989, but as a maximum security prisoner he will not be eligible for release until April 19, 1991.

Wheway attempted to have either a parole hearing in Mississippi or a parole hearing in Connecticut, pursuant to General Statutes § 54-136.* *3 Mississippi authorities took the position that they will not act on the parole violation detainer until Wheway completes his Connecticut sentence.

On November 13,1987, Wheway filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Wheway alleged, inter alia, that he had a right to an immediate parole revocation hearing on the Mississippi parole violation detainer because his liberty interest in the conditions and length of his confinement would otherwise be violated.

[426]*426On October 3, 1988, the trial court, Axelrod, J., granted Wheway’s petition and entered an order quashing the parole violation detainer unless, within ninety days, Mississippi authorities afforded Wheway a parole revocation hearing in Connecticut. The respondent warden thereupon appealed to the Appellate Court, and Wheway cross appealed.

In the second case, the petitioner, John A. Graham, was convicted and imprisoned in Ohio. In February, 1982, Ohio authorities granted him parole and in August, 1982, transferred Graham’s parole supervision to Connecticut pursuant to the Uniform Act. See footnote 1, supra. On February 14, 1983, police arrested Graham and charged him with crimes in Connecticut. On March 4, 1983, Ohio authorities declared the petitioner to be a parole violator and issued a warrant for his arrest that remains lodged against him as a detainer. On November 19, 1983, Graham was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment based upon his convictions for the Connecticut crimes. Without disposing of the alleged parole violation, he is unable to qualify for prison programs involving reduced levels of security.

On October 27, 1986, Graham filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition alleged, inter alia, the right to an immediate parole revocation hearing either in Connecticut or Ohio. On February 4,1988, the habeas court, Santos, J., denied Graham’s petition. Graham appealed to the Appellate Court where the matter was consolidated with the Wheway appeal. We thereafter transferred both matters to ourselves pursuant to Practice Book § 4023.

I

In Wheway, the warden first claims that the trial court is without authority to quash, dismiss, strike or otherwise issue an order with respect to an out-of-state [427]*427parole violation warrant lodged as a detainer against a sentenced prisoner. We agree.

With respect to this issue, the habeas court concluded “that it has the authority to dismiss the detainer lodged if it appears that the detainer itself is subject to dismissal in Mississippi or if it violates the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.” The habeas court relied upon this court’s decision in Remick v. Lopes, 203 Conn. 494, 525 A.2d 502 (1987), in reaching its conclusion. Remick involved the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD), Connecticut General Statutes § 54-186. In Remick we noted that the purpose of the IAD was “ ‘to encourage the expeditious and orderly disposition of such charges and determination of the proper status of any and all detainers based on untried indictments, informations or complaints . . . . ’ (Emphasis added.)” (Additional emphasis added.) Remick v. Lopes, supra, 500.

The IAD also provides that failure to comply with the agreement’s speedy trial provisions can nullify the effect of the detainer: “If the appropriate authority shall refuse or fail to accept temporary custody of said person, or in the event that an action on the indictment, information or complaint on the basis of which the detainer has been lodged is not brought to trial within the period provided . . . the appropriate court of jurisdiction where the indictment, information or complaint has been pending shall enter an order dismissing the same with prejudice, and any detainer based thereon shall cease to be of any force or effect.” (Emphasis added.) Connecticut General Statutes § 54-186, Art. V(c).

The United States Supreme Court, however, in Carchman v. Nash, 473 U.S. 716, 105 S. Ct. 3401, 87 L. Ed. 2d 516 (1985), concluded that detainers based upon probation or parole violation warrants are not [428]

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Bluebook (online)
576 A.2d 494, 215 Conn. 418, 1990 Conn. LEXIS 208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wheway-v-warden-conn-1990.