Wilwording v. Wyrick

405 F. Supp. 447, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15182
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedNovember 20, 1975
DocketNo. 18049-4
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 405 F. Supp. 447 (Wilwording v. Wyrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilwording v. Wyrick, 405 F. Supp. 447, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15182 (W.D. Mo. 1975).

Opinion

[449]*449FINDINGS, OPINION, AND JUDGMENT GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART THE PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

ELMO B. HUNTER, District Judge.

Petitioner, Alan Daniel Wilwording, in this petition for federal writ of habeas corpus seeks to challenge the constitutionality of disciplinary procedures affecting him in 1969 and resulting in loss of good time and “blood time” credit on his sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment imposed by the Circuit Court of Greene County, Missouri in June 1964. The case is presently before the undersigned Judge upon transfer from Division III of the Court following a remand by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for an evidentiary hearing on the claims raised in petitioner’s application for habeas corpus relief. Wilwording v. Swenson, 502 F.2d 844 (8th Cir. 1974).

The background of this litigation wherein petitioner now seeks the restoration of 66 days good time and 225 days “blood time” which he alleges was unconstitutionally denied him is reported in a series of lengthy opinions by the District Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. That history will not be repeated here or interpreted by the undersigned judge as a part of this opinion. The reader is however referred to the following reported and unreported cases for the background and collateral matters to the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus. Wilwording v. Swenson, 439 F.2d 1331 (8th Cir. 1971); Wilwording v. Swenson, 404 U.S. 249, 92 S.Ct. 407, 30 L.Ed.2d 418 (1971); Wilwording v. Swenson, No. 18049-3, Findings, Conclusions and Judgment filed December 4, 1973; Wilwording v. Swenson, 502 F.2d 844 (8th Cir. 1974); see also Wilwording v. Swenson, Civil Actions Nos. 1490 and 1492 (W.D.Mo.1971); see also Wilwording v. Swenson, 326 F.Supp. 1145 (W. D.Mo.1970); Wilwording v. Swenson, 446 F.2d 553 (8th Cir. 1971).

On April 30, 1975, pursuant to the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Wilwording v. Swenson, 502 F.2d 844 (1974), petitioner was granted a full evidentiary hearing as to his claim relating to the loss of good time which allegedly was deprived him by a denial of due process of law. Petitioner was also afforded a hearing on his claim relating to loss of “blood time” allegedly deprived him by the denial of due process.1 The Court was advised by counsel subsequent to the evidentiary hearing in this cause, that petitioner has been released from the Missouri State Penitentiary on parole. Because the claims herein relate to the duration of petitioner’s sentence, the Court does not deem the issues herein to be moot by reason of petitioner’s present status as a parolee.

The claims of petitioner in the instant cause as presently asserted by him and as interpreted by the various courts which have considered his claims are as follows:

In connection with petitioner’s con-,., finement in maximum security from April 18, 1969 to September 22, 1969 and petitioner’s confinement to “J” Hall and maximum security from October 20, 1969 to February 12, 1971, petitioner was not afforded a hearing of any type to determine whether his commitment to maximum security was justified or proper or based on any evidence in violation of petitioner’s [450]*450rights to substantive and procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
As a result of the confinement in maximum security or J-Hall, petitioner was deprived of good time of 3 days per month, was deprived of the opportunity to earn 15 days per month “blood time”, and petitioner’s institutional record was tainted to effect his parole eligibility consideration.

Prior to the evidentiary hearing in this cause on April 30, 1975, it was stipulated by the parties as follows:

1. That the respondent would not contend that petitioner was foreclosed from raising the claims asserted herein by reason of prior actions brought by petitioner under 42U.S.C. § 1983.
2. That respondent would not raise the defense of petitioner’s failure to exhaust state remedies with respect to his claim that he was denied due process of law in connection with his commitment to maximum security and J-Hall in April and October 1969.
3. That the records of petitioner’s commitment to maximum security and J-Hall in April and September of 1969 and the reasons for that commitment are available to the Board of Parole for use in connection with petitioner’s parole consideration.

In the instant proceeding, petitioner seeks an adjudication that his constitutional right to procedural and substantive due process was violated by his commitment to administrative segregation in maximum security and J-Hall in April and October 1969. As relief, petitioner seeks the restoration of good time credit for twenty-two months at the rate of 3 days per month, credit for “blood time” of 225 days (15 blood donations), and expungement of his record concerning the disciplinary actions and proceedings which resulted in his commitment to maximum security and J-Hall in April and October, 1969.

The evidence received by the Court at the hearing of this petition reveals the following.

Petitioner, Alan Daniel Wilwording, was confined in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri prior to 1969 and at all relevant times mentioned herein was a prisoner confined in the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri in the custody of the Warden of that institution.

Just prior to April 18, 1969, Captain Wyrick, who was at that time Administrative Assistant to Warden Harold R. Swenson and responsible for investigation of assaults, murders, and escape attempts occurring at the penitentiary, received information that Alan D. Wilwording, and at least two other inmates were involved in a plot to escape. Upon receipt of this information, and on April 18, 1969, petitioner and the two or three other inmates suspected were immediately placed in the “Administrative Segregation Unit” or maximum security unit of the penitentiary. Petitioner was not afforded notice of the charges or a hearing or appearance of any kind prior to his placement in maximum security on April 18, 1969. However, on April 22, 1969, petitioner was taken before the “Classification Committee” for a proceeding before that board.2 Following that proceeding, petitioner was classified to and returned to the maximum security unit of the penitentiary where he remained until September 22, 1969 when he was returned to the general population by the Classification Committee.

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Related

Wilwording v. Wyrick
538 F.2d 332 (Eighth Circuit, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
405 F. Supp. 447, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilwording-v-wyrick-mowd-1975.