John Smith v. Warden, State Prison (2011)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

THE COURT:  Thank you, gentlemen.   I have considered the testimony, the exhibits, and the statements of the parties and their attorneys here.   And for the following reasons the petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied.

I believe that the department has correctly calculated the petitioner's sentence.   And I say that, one, because there is a presumption of regularity of state records;  but, two, more importantly, I followed the methodology used by the department and I believe it leads to an accurate result.   For example, if you go through each entry, you will see that the department has correctly adjusted your release date—your new release date to give you credit for the things that you've earned.   For example, if you've earned four days because of your work for seven days a week for four weeks of the month, you will see that the department has advanced your release date by four days in the column “New Release Date.” And so on throughout the entire term of your incarceration they have correctly adjusted your new release date so that it's now April 14, 2013.

Then if we project forward and assume that you continue to earn twelve days good time for, let's say, the next year—and we hope you do continue to behave yourself well—that would give you approximately twelve days a month for twelve months or a hundred forty-four days, which is roughly a third of a year.   It's a little more than a third.

If you then deduct that which you hopefully will earn, from the new release date of April 14, 2013, you come close to—and this is just because I'm approximating—you come close to what the department labels as your estimated release date, which is August 2012.   And so the calculations do add up and I think the department has correctly calculated your release date.

I will add that the petition alleges that you were sentenced under some sixty-five percent law and that you're being treated as an eighty-five percent prisoner.   I find no merit to that allegation.   The eighty-five percent figure refers to parole eligibility for people who commit offenses in the not-too-distant past and does not refer to calculation of your release date based on good time, jail credit, seven-day credit.   I know of no sixty-five percent law.   I think the testimony brought out the fact that people sentenced—people like you sentenced under the older statutes tend to serve roughly two-thirds of their sentence, which is approximately sixty-five percent of their sentence.   So that's where you might have picked up the notion of a sixty-five percent law.   But there is no statute or right to serve sixty-five percent of your sentence.   You have to earn it and you have for the most part.   But I find no merit to the allegation in the petition that you were sentenced under a sixty-five percent law.

So in conclusion, I find that the department has correctly calculated your sentence and that at the current time you are not being held illegally.   And so for those reasons, your petition is denied.

I would add that I do, too, commend you for all the good time and seven-day work credit that you have earned.   I urge you to stay on that course and continue with your good conduct and your hard work because that will prepare you for life on the outside where you will have to work to earn a living and stay out of trouble.   And I do wish you well.

I'll order the court reporter to prepare a transcript of the decision in this case, which will serve as a memorandum of decision, within thirty days.   I'll give you—and you're being handed now your notice of your right to appeal this decision.   And about a judgment file, how should that work for a pro se petitioner?

THE CLERK:  I will talk to Michele.   I'm not sure.

THE COURT:  All right.   I won't make any order in that regard.

So unless there's any correction that needs to be made to my ruling or anything I missed, then we'll conclude matters and I do wish you well, Mr. Smith.

Absent anything further, we'll stand adjourned.

3/4/11

Schuman, J.

Schuman, Carl J., J.