Opinion ID: 2527149
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sentencing Credit

Text: [¶ 8] Swain contends his sentence is illegal because the district court did not give him credit for the time he served in the Laramie County Detention Center on the three probation revocation actions. 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. 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). [¶ 9] Our recent decision in Jackson v. State, 2009 WY 82, 209 P.3d 897 (Wyo.2009), governs our disposition of Swain's claim. In Jackson, we held that the 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, overruling Halbleib v. State, 7 P.3d 45 (Wyo.2000) (denying credit on the grounds that pre-revocation confinement is due solely to acts or omissions constituting the violation of the conditions of probation and can never be directly attributable to the underlying offense). Jackson, ¶¶ 10-12, 209 P.3d at 900-01. In reaching this result, we stated: [T]here are situations where the incarceration is directly attributable to the act that violates the conditions of probation rather than the underlying criminal charge. The most obvious are those situations where a defendant is arrested and charged with committing a new crime. But there are also circumstances where a defendant is alleged to have violated probation conditions by committing acts that are not otherwise criminal. For example, probationers are frequently barred from leaving a defined geographic location, drinking alcohol, contacting the victim of the underlying crime, and so on. Violating these conditions may be the direct cause of the probationer's detention, but it is indisputable that the State would be unable to incarcerate the probationer for these acts absent the conviction for the underlying crime. Under those circumstances, we are forced to conclude that pre-revocation incarceration is attributable to the underlying crime. Id., ¶ 11, 209 P.3d at 900. [¶ 10] We concluded in Jackson that credit was warranted because the sole reason for Mr. Jackson's detention was the allegation he violated the conditions of his probation. Mr. Jackson was not charged with a separate criminal offense as a result of the facts alleged in the petition, and the only allegation resolved in the State's favor supporting the probation revocation was that Mr. Jackson absconded from supervision. Under the specific facts of the case, we determined the time Mr. Jackson was detained pending resolution of the probation revocation proceedings was a direct result of the underlying criminal conviction, and he was entitled to credit for the time incarcerated against his minimum and maximum sentence on the underlying sentence. Id., ¶ 14, 209 P.3d at 901. [¶ 11] In the instant case, like Jackson, the sole basis for Swain's detention in each of the revocation proceedings was the accusation he had violated one or more conditions of his probation. No additional criminal charges were filed against Swain based on the alleged violations, and the justification for revoking probation was basically that Swain absconded from supervision and failed to report to and complete the Cheyenne Transitional Center's program and the Transitions Residential Program. Without doubt, the State could not have arrested and detained Swain for these acts absent his conviction for the underlying crime. Under the circumstances, we must also conclude the time Swain spent in custody pending resolution of the three revocation proceedings was directly attributable to his underlying battery conviction and, consequently, he is entitled to credit against the underlying three-to-five-year prison sentence. Accordingly, we reverse his sentence and remand the matter to the district court with instructions to give Swain credit against his minimum and maximum sentence for the pre-revocation incarceration time. [1]