Williams v. Superior Court

230 Cal. App. 4th 636, 178 Cal. Rptr. 3d 685, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 916
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 14, 2014
DocketG050280
StatusPublished
Cited by86 cases

This text of 230 Cal. App. 4th 636 (Williams v. Superior Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Superior Court, 230 Cal. App. 4th 636, 178 Cal. Rptr. 3d 685, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 916 (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Opinion

IKOLA, J.

In Morrissey v. Brewer (1972) 408 U.S. 472 [33 L.Ed.2d 484, 92 S.Ct. 2593] (Morrissey), the United States Supreme Court held that a parolee is entitled to certain procedural due process protections before parole *643 may be revoked. (Id. at pp. 482-484.) Among these is the right to a prompt evidentiary hearing on whether probable cause exists to believe the parolee violated a condition of parole. (Id. at pp. 484, 487.)

“In 2011, California began enacting legislation, commonly known as ‘Realignment,’ that significantly altered the state’s criminal justice system.” (Valdivia v. Brown (E.D.Cal. 2013) 956 F.Supp.2d 1125, 1126 (Valdivia III)) This legislation established, inter alia, a uniform process for revocation of probation, parole, and postrelease supervision of felons. 1 (Stats. 2012, ch. 43, § 2, subd. (a).) The Legislature intended this uniform procedure to comply with Morrissey's due process requirements. (Stats. 2012, ch. 43, § 2, subd. (b).) Under this uniform procedure, the court has jurisdiction over petitions for revocation of supervision (including parole). (§ 1203.2, subds. (a), (b).) 2

Petitioner Wendy Joy Williams contends that, in the wake of realignment, the State of California and the Orange County Superior Court have systematically denied her and other parolees the procedural protections to which they are entitled in revocation proceedings. Williams petitions for a writ of mandate (1) ordering the superior court to arrange for her immediate release from custody and to dismiss the petition for revocation of her parole and (2) ordering the superior court and real parties in interest (the People of the State of California and the Division of Adult Parole Operations (Parole) of the DCR) to provide her with reasonable due process prior to any further incarceration, including a Morrissey-compliant probable cause hearing within 15 days of arrest.

We grant Williams’s petition in part. 3 We hold that, in parole revocation proceedings, a parolee is entitled to arraignment within 10 days of an arrest for a parole violation, a probable cause hearing within 15 days of the arrest, and a final hearing within 45 days of the arrest.

*644 FACTS

Williams’s Parole Violation and Revocation Proceedings

On May 20, 2014, 4 Williams was arrested for absconding from parole supervision. She was placed in custody at the county jail on a parole hold.

On that date, a parole agent signed a probable cause determination form identifying Williams’s parole violation as absconding from parole supervision, and describing the circumstances of the charge as follows. After Williams failed to report to her supervising agent on May 6, the agent tried to locate her the next day at the Motel 6 in Orange, where she had claimed to reside. The agent spoke with Kathy, the motel’s front desk clerk, who said Williams was not a guest at the motel. On May 13, the court issued a warrant for Williams’s arrest and her parole was suspended. 5 On May 20, Williams was arrested by the police for being a parolee at large.

On the probable cause determination form, a Parole unit supervisor checked a box to retain Williams’s parole hold and ordered that the matter be investigated and a report submitted by May 28.

On May 28—eight days after Williams’s arrest—in the parole violation report, the parole agent and the unit supervisor recommended that Williams be returned to custody for 135 days. The report reflected that an “evidence based tool” called the “parole violation decision making instrument” recommended that Williams be “continue[d] on parole with remedial sanctions,” as opposed to being referred for revocation. But Parole reported it had decided to petition for revocation due to Williams’s “failure to comply with his or her conditions of parole or involvement in criminal behavior,” and to recommend Williams be returned to custody for 135 days. The report identified Williams’s risk level as “high-drug.”

The report described the circumstances of the charge similarly to the May 20 probable cause determination form, but also included the following additional details. On May 20, Tustin Police Detective Breeze was at the Bel Air Motel in response to a suspicious circumstance call for service. Breeze noticed a female standing in the doorway of a motel room. Breeze approached Williams, who immediately went into her room and said she did not *645 want to talk to Breeze. Breeze contacted Kim, the motel manager, who said the occupant of the room was Wendy Williams. A records check revealed Williams was a parolee at large. Williams was arrested and taken to the police station for booking.

The “Parolee Statement” section of the May 28 report stated that, while Williams was being booked at the police station, she told the parole agent that she was sick and unable to report, and promised to report immediately if the parole hold were lifted.

In the “Evaluation” section of the May 28 report, Parole explained the reasons for its recommendation to petition for revocation and a return to custody: “Williams is a habitual absconder with no real desire or intentions to comply with her conditions of parole. Williams travels from Riverside County to Orange County leaving a trail of criminal arrests in both counties. Williams primarily lives out of motels and occasionally the streets. She has been unemployed the vast majority of her adult life. Although she has extremely supportive parents who are willing to assist her, she chooses to live out in the streets bouncing from motel to motel. Remedial sanctions were considered but Williams refused any type of treatment or structured program. This agent recommends that Williams be returned to custody at this time.”

On May 29—nine days after Williams was arrested and placed in jail— Parole petitioned the court for revocation of her parole. 6 The petition stated that on May 20, Parole had established probable cause for the alleged parole violation. Williams’s arraignment was scheduled for June 5—16 days after Williams’s arrest.

On June 5, Williams moved to dismiss the revocation petition for lack of due process and pursuant to section 3044 (which gives a parolee the right to a probable cause hearing within 15 days of arrest). She also sought release from custody pending resolution of the due process and section 3044 issues.

It is undisputed that the court denied Williams’s motion. According to Williams, she then sought to present evidence on probable cause, but the court denied her request “and purported to find probable cause based solely on the ‘information and belief’ Petition for Revocation.” It is undisputed that *646

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re K.M. CA4/2
California Court of Appeal, 2023
People v. Perlas
California Court of Appeal, 2020
Untitled California Attorney General Opinion
California Attorney General Reports, 2019
People v. DeLeon
399 P.3d 13 (California Supreme Court, 2017)
People v. Castel
California Court of Appeal, 2017
People v. Zamudio
California Court of Appeal, 2017
People v. Zamudio
218 Cal. Rptr. 3d 543 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2017)
People v. Tye CA4/3
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Hronchak
2 Cal. App. 5th 884 (California Court of Appeal, 2016)
People v. Morton CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Nunez CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Meza CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Delgado CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Tanner CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Schoen CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Garcia CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Quiroz CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Franco CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Coria CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016
People v. Searles CA2/6
California Court of Appeal, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 Cal. App. 4th 636, 178 Cal. Rptr. 3d 685, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 916, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-superior-court-calctapp-2014.