Title: MATTHEW WAYNE BAKER v. THE STATE OF WYOMING

State: wyoming

Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court

Document:

MATTHEW WAYNE BAKER v. THE STATE OF WYOMING2011 WY 53Case Number: No. S-10-0265Decided: 03/24/2011NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in Pacific Reporter Third. Readers are requested to notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002, of any typographical or other formal errors so correction may be made before final publication in the permanent volume.
OCTOBER 
TERM, A.D. 2010

MATTHEW WAYNE 
BAKER,

Appellant 
(Defendant),

 
 
v.

 
 
THE STATE OF 
WYOMING,

Appellee 
(Plaintiff).

 
 
Appeal 
from the District Court of Weston County

The 
Honorable John R. Perry, Judge

 

Representing 
Appellant:

Matthew 
Wayne Baker, pro se.

 
 
Representing 
Appellee:

Bruce A. Salzburg, 
Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael 
Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Justin A. Daraie, Assistant Attorney 
General.

 
 
 
 
Before KITE, C.J., 
and GOLDEN, HILL, VOIGT, and BURKE, JJ.

 
 
BURKE, 
Justice.

 
 

[¶1]        
Appellant, 
Matthew Wayne Baker, acting pro se, 
challenges an order from the district court denying him credit against a prison 
sentence for time spent in a community corrections facility as a condition of 
probation.  Appellant also contends 
he is due credit for time spent in jail after violating the terms of his 
probation, in addition to the credit the district court granted for this 
time.  We conclude the district 
court properly granted credit for the time served subsequent to the probation 
violations, but erred in failing to award credit to Appellant for the 207 days 
spent in a community corrections facility.  
Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part, and remand the case 
to the district court for entry of an order consistent with this 
opinion.

 
 
ISSUE

 
 

[¶2]      
Whether the district 
court properly credited Appellant's prison sentence with time served prior to 
imposition of the sentence when the court (1) granted credit for time spent in 
jail subsequent to Appellant's probation violations and (2) denied credit for 
time spent at a community corrections facility as a condition of 
probation.

 
 
FACTS

 
 

[¶3]        
In 2005, Appellant 
pled guilty to charges of forgery, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 
6-3-602(a)(ii), and misdemeanor interference with a peace officer, in violation 
of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-5-204(a).  On 
March 23, 2006, Appellant was sentenced to 30 days in jail for the misdemeanor 
interference offense and 30 to 60 months in prison for the forgery offense, 
which was suspended in favor of five years of probation.  Appellant received credit against the 
30- to 60-month prison sentence for seven days spent in pre-sentence 
confinement.

 
 

[¶4]        
On June 13, 2007, 
Appellant was arrested and incarcerated for violating the terms of his 
probation.  The following day, the 
district court issued an Order Revoking Probation, but reinstated Appellant's 
probation on the condition that he participate in a rehabilitation program at 
the Casper Re-Entry Center (CRC).  
Appellant was incarcerated for 36 days between June 13, 2007, the date of 
his arrest for the probation violation, and July 19, 2007, when he was 
transported to the CRC.  Appellant 
successfully completed his program at the CRC on February 11, 2008, 207 days 
after his arrival at the facility.  Appellant's probation continued after he 
was released from the CRC.

 
 

[¶5]        
On October 16, 2008, 
Appellant was again arrested for violating the terms of his probation.  He was detained in county jail until 
November 25, 2008, when the district court issued an order revoking Appellant's 
probation and imposing the original 30- to 60-month prison term.  Appellant was incarcerated for 40 days 
between October 16, 2008, and November 25, 2008.  The district court ordered that 
Appellant receive "credit for seventy-six (76) days previously served, for time 
served off the minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment."  Although the court did not explain how it 
arrived at the 76-day figure, it was presumably the sum of Appellant's 36-day 
period of incarceration subsequent to his first probation violation and 
Appellant's 40-day period of incarceration subsequent to his second probation 
violation.

 
 

[¶6]        
On June 9, 2010, 
Appellant filed a Motion to Correct an Illegal Sentence pursuant to W.R.Cr.P. 
35(a), asserting that he was entitled to credit for 365 days for time spent at 
the CRC as well as the time he was detained during his probation revocation 
actions.1  In the State's response to Appellant's 
motion, it argued that Appellant was not under official detention during the 
time spent at the CRC because he could not be charged with escape from that 
facility.  The State asserted that 
Appellant was not entitled to credit for time spent at the CRC but acknowledged 
that Appellant should receive credit for an additional seven days for the time 
served during the original criminal prosecution.    

 
 

[¶7]        
The district court, 
in an Order Correcting Sentence, agreed with the State and granted Appellant an 
additional seven days of credit against his reinstated prison term.  The district court stated as follows: 

 
 
            
It appearing to the Court that an error was made in the computation of 
time served in the Disposition On Order Revoking Probation dated November 16, 
2008 and filed herein on December 4, 2008 in that the Defendant was given 
seventy-six (76) days credit for time served off the minimum and maximum terms 
of imprisonment.  The Defendant had 
served 83 days.

 
 
The court did not 
grant Appellant credit for the 207 days he spent at the CRC.  This appeal followed.  

 
 
STANDARD OF 
REVIEW

 
 

[¶8]        
"A sentence that does 
not include proper credit constitutes an illegal sentence. Whether a sentence is 
illegal is a question of law, which we review de novo."  Swain v. State, 2009 WY 142, ¶ 8, 220 P.3d 504, 506 (Wyo. 2009) 
(citing Beyer v. State, 2008 WY 137, ¶ 7, 196 P.3d 777, 780 
(Wyo. 2008); Manes v. State, 2007 WY 6, ¶ 7, 150 P.3d 179, 181 (Wyo. 2007)).

 
 
DISCUSSION

 
 

[¶9]        
Appellant 
contends he is entitled to credit against his sentence for time served during 
his probation revocation actions and for time spent in the Casper Re-Entry 
Center.  With regard to the total 
number of days for which he is entitled to credit, he states "[t]he record is 
unclear but it is an estimated (243) days +/-."  The State concedes, in its "Brief of 
Appellee Recognizing Error," that Appellant "should have received 207 days of 
credit for time served as a resident [at the CRC], in addition to the 83 days 
the district court has already awarded."  
Indeed, it is well-established that a person residing in a community 
correctional program is in official detention, and that time spent in a 
community corrections facility must be counted against a sentence that is 
imposed upon violation of the terms of probation.

 
 
[U]nder 
the Wyoming Adult Community Corrections Act, "the sentencing court may, as a 
condition of probation, order that [an eligible] offender participate in a 
residential or nonresidential adult community correctional program."  Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-18-108(a) . . . . 
 But the legislature also provided 
that a person in a community correctional program is in official detention, and 
may be charged with escape from the program.  Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-18-112.  Based on these explicit statutory 
provisions, we have recognized that a person participating in a community 
corrections program may be treated as both on probation and in detention.  Peper v. State, 768 P.2d 26, 29 (Wyo. 1989).    

 
 

Endris 
v. State, 
2010 WY 73, ¶ 17, 233 P.3d 578, 582 (Wyo. 2010) 
(emphasis omitted).  Further, 
because absenting oneself from a community corrections facility may lead to an 
escape charge, we have held that time spent as a resident in such a facility 
"must be counted against a sentence that is later imposed upon violation of 
probation."  Prejean v. State, 794 P.2d 877, 879 (Wyo. 1990); see also Hernandez v. State, 2009 WY 49, ¶ 4, 205 P.3d 183, 183-84 (Wyo. 2009) 
(involving an escape charge arising from the defendant's failure to return to 
the Casper Re-Entry Center).

 
 

[¶10]     
The 
State concedes that the CRC is a community corrections facility.  It acknowledges that the CRC was 
formerly known as Community Alternatives of Casper, which we have previously 
recognized as a community corrections facility.  In YellowBear v. State, 874 P.2d 241 (Wyo. 1994), we held 
as follows:

 
 
When 
a probationer is ordered to attend a community correctional program as a 
condition of his probation, a charge of escape from official detention will lie. 
 Peper v. State, 768 P.2d 26, 29 (Wyo. 1989).  The probationer is entitled to 
receive a credit toward his sentence for the time he spent attending the 
program.  Prejean v. State, 794 P.2d 877, 878-79 (Wyo. 1990). 
 Appellant was at Community 
Alternatives from October 9, 1992, until March 19, 1993, except for the time he 
spent attending his second Thunder Child treatment program.  Because Appellant was in official 
detention while he was at Community Alternatives, he would be entitled to 
receive a credit toward his sentence of an additional 161 days minus the number 
of full days he spent attending his second Thunder Child treatment program.         

 
 

Id. 
at 246 (footnote omitted).

 
 

[¶11]     
The 
State also does not dispute that Appellant is entitled to credit received for 
the time spent in jail during his probation revocation actions.  As the State acknowledges, we have 
previously held that "time spent in custody awaiting disposition of probation 
revocation proceedings must be credited against the probationer's underlying 
sentence if the incarceration is directly attributable to the underlying 
criminal conviction."  Swain, ¶ 9, 220 P.3d  at 506.  We have also stated that "[i]t is well 
established that a defendant is entitled to credit for time spent in 
pre-sentence confinement against both the minimum and maximum sentence if he was 
unable to post bond for the offense of which he was convicted."  Barnes v. State, 2008 WY 6, ¶ 29, 174 P.3d 732, 740 (Wyo. 2008).  

 
 

[¶12]     
Appellant 
"estimates" he is entitled to credit for "243 days +/-," which amounts to 36 
days additional to his 207-day tenure at the CRC.  The 243-day figure appears to be based 
either on the argument that he did not receive credit for his confinement 
subsequent to the first probation violation, or the argument that he was not 
given sufficient credit for the time he was detained subsequent to the second 
probation violation.  However, the 
record does not support either of these contentions.

 
 

[¶13]     
With 
regard to the argument that Appellant did not receive credit for time served 
subsequent to the first probation violation, the record reveals that this time 
was credited against Appellant's sentence.  
Although the district court did not explain how it arrived at its 
calculations for time served in either the Order Revoking Probation, granting 
credit for 76 days, or the Order Correcting Sentence, granting credit for 83 
days, the record indicates that Appellant's 36-day confinement subsequent to the 
first probation violation was included in each of these calculations.  In the State's response to Appellant's 
Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence, it computed Appellant's credits as 
follows:

 
 
7          
days original sentence

1          
day first probation violation (June 13, 2007)

35        days 
first probation violation (June 14 to July 19, 2007)

40        days 
next probation violation (October 16 to November 25, 2008)

83        days 

 
 
It 
is clear that the district court accepted these figures in granting Appellant 
credit for 83 days of time served in the Order Correcting Sentence.  The record establishes that Appellant 
received credit for each of the periods of incarceration during his probation 
revocation actions. 

 
 

[¶14]     
Appellant 
also appears to contend that he began his confinement for the second probation 
violation sometime in September of 2008.  
Appellant, however, does not provide a specific date on which he believes 
his confinement began.  Again, the 
record does not support Appellant's contention.  Rather, the record indicates that a 
warrant for Appellant's arrest was issued on October 16, 2008.  There is simply nothing in the record to 
indicate that Appellant was confined prior to October 16, 2008 for the second 
probation violation.

 
 

[¶15]     
We 
hold that Appellant should have been granted credit against his sentence for the 
207 days spent at the CRC, in addition to the 83 days granted in the district 
court's Order Correcting Sentence.  
Appellant, however, is not entitled to additional credit for the time he 
was detained during his probation revocation actions, as the district court has 
already accounted for that time.  We 
reverse to the extent set forth above and remand to the district court for entry 
of an order granting Appellant credit against the minimum and maximum terms of 
Appellant's sentence for the 207 days spent in the CRC.

 
 
FOOTNOTES

 
 

1Appellant does not 
explain, and the record does not reveal, how he arrived at the 365-day 
figure.  In any event, Appellant 
does not claim on appeal that he is entitled to credit for 365 
days.