Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-03136/USCOURTS-ca10-90-03136-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Robert L. Matthews
Appellee
Joe Willie Parker
Appellant
United States Parole Commission
Appellee

Document Text:

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS ;>eals 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

JOE WILLIE PARKER, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

NOV 2 - 1990 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

v. 

U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION; 

ROBERT L. MATTHEWS, Warden, 

Defendant-Appellee. 

No. 90-3136 

(D.C. No. 88-3272) 

(Dist. Kansas) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before LOGAN, SEYMOUR, and TACHA, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

Joe Willie Parker petitioned prose for a writ of habeas 

corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (1988) alleging that his due 

process rights were violated when the United States Parole 

Commission improperly computed his parole date under the 

*This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case, 

res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-3136 Document: 010110047485 Date Filed: 11/02/1990 Page: 1 
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Guidelines. The district court denied relief and denied Parker's 

request for leave to appeal in forma pauperis. We grant Parker's 

request for in forma pauperis status and affirm the district 

court. 

While on parole following a federal conviction, Parker was 

charged with violating parole by possessing a firearm (a sawed-off 

shotgun), cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. While in custody 

awaiting trial on the firearms offense, Parker was involved in a 

forcible escape. He was subsequently convicted for the federal 

firearms violations. 

The Parole Commission set Parker's presumptive parole date 

for the new firearm conviction at 108 months, within the 84-108 

month range calculated by the Commission. This range was 

determined by assessing 48-60 months for possession of the 

shotgun, plus a range of 36-48 months for the forcible escape.

1 

Although Parker concedes that the Commission can use the escape 

charge in calculating his parole, he contends that this charge 

cannot be used in calculating his offense severity rating because 

he has not been convicted of escape. Alternatively, Parker 

asserts that the Commission calculated the escape range 

incorrectly, arguing that the offense severity rating of the 

escape incident should have been a category three resulting in a 

range of 18-24 months. We disagree with both contentions. 

1 Parker is to serve the remainder of his original sentence 

after he has served his sentence on this firearm conviction. 

-2-

Appellate Case: 90-3136 Document: 010110047485 Date Filed: 11/02/1990 Page: 2 
' 

The law is clear that the Commission can use conduct for 

which a defendant has not been convicted in calculating his 

offense severity rating. See~, Briggs v. United States Parole 

Comm'n, 736 F.2d 446, 449 (8th Cir. 1984); Robinson v. Hadden, 723 

F.2d 59, 62 (10th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 906 (1984); 

Young v. United States Parole Comm'n, 682 F.2d 1105, 1108 (5th 

Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1021 (1982); Arias v. United States 

Parole Comm'n, 648 F.2d 196, 199-200 (3d Cir. 1981). 

The offense behavior severity index for escape is found at 28 

C.F.R. § 2.20, Chap. 6, subchap. B616 (1989), and provides as 

follows: "If [the escape is] in connection with another offense 

for which a severity rating can be assessed, grade the underlying 

offense and apply the rescission guidelines to determine an 

additional penalty. Otherwise, grade as Category Three." In this 

case, Parker's escape was in connection with the charge for 

possessing a sawed-off shotgun. The Commission determined that 

this offense has a severity rating of five, see id. chap. 8, 

subchap. B812(b), and Parker does not disagree. Thus, under 

subchap. B616, the range for Parker's escape is determined by 

looking to the range for a severity rating of five in the 

rescission table found at 28 C.F.R. § 2.36 (1989). That range, as 

found by the Commission, is 36-48 months. 2 

2 The Commission originally erred by referring to the 

found in the table at§ 2.20 rather than to the range in 

rescission table at§ 2.36 as directed by subchap. B616. 

error was corrected before Parker filed this appeal. 

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range 

the 

That 

Appellate Case: 90-3136 Document: 010110047485 Date Filed: 11/02/1990 Page: 3 
Accordingly, the judgment is AFFIRMED. The mandate shall 

i ssue forthwith. 

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Entered for the Court 

Stephanie K. Seymour 

Circuit Judge 

Appellate Case: 90-3136 Document: 010110047485 Date Filed: 11/02/1990 Page: 4