Opinion ID: 550909
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 1985 Parole Revocation Hearing

Text: 11 The district court held that the parole warrant's failure to notify Camacho that his street time was subject to forfeiture was cured by the Commission's probable cause letter, mailed to Camacho before the hearing, which gave notice of possible forfeiture. 5 In Bowen v. United States Parole Comm'n, 805 F.2d 885, 887 (9th Cir.1986), we held that language identical to that contained in the probable cause letter sent to Camacho before his 1985 parole revocation hearing provided adequate notice that street time might be revoked. Bowen v. United States Parole Comm'n controls on this issue. We, therefore, affirm the denial of Camacho's petition for a writ of habeas corpus based on his 1985 parole revocation.II. 1981 Parole Revocation Hearing
12 The Commission violated Camacho's due process right to adequate notice of the possible consequences of his parole revocation hearing when it failed to notify him before his 1981 parole revocation hearing that the street time from his 1979-81 parole was subject to forfeiture. Jessup v. United States Parole Comm'n, 889 F.2d 831, 835 (9th Cir.1989) (Jessup ); Vanes v. United States Parole Comm'n, 741 F.2d 1197, 1201-02 (9th Cir.1984). The district court correctly granted Camacho's petition for habeas relief on that basis. 13 The district court remanded the matter to the Commission for a new parole revocation hearing conducted pursuant to all applicable due process requirements, based on our holding in Boniface v. Carlson, 856 F.2d 1434 (9th Cir.1988) (Boniface  ), and did not directly restore the forfeited street time. Camacho contends that the district court violated his right to equal protection in providing the remand remedy because it failed to follow two contemporary district court decisions, Jessup v. United States Parole Comm'n, CIV 87-945 TUC-RMB (D.Ariz. Mar. 10, 1988), and Poma v. Carlson, CIV-88-246-PHX-EHC (D.Ariz. Aug. 9, 1988), which granted automatic restoration of street time forfeited after inadequately noticed revocation hearings. This contention is without merit. 14 In Jessup, we reversed the district court's award of automatic restoration of forfeited street time credits and held that a new revocation hearing, rather than an automatic restoration of street time credits, was the appropriate remedy for due process violations that result from inadequate notice. 889 F.2d at 835. In so holding, we approved of the remedy granted in Boniface, 856 F.2d at 1436, on which the district court relied when it denied Camacho's request for automatic restoration of street time in this case. 6 We based our holding in Jessup on the principles underlying the requirement of adequate notice of possible street time revocation. We explained: 15 This remedy is consistent with the reason for reversal. The basis for our holdings that due process requires notice prior to the revocation of street time is the Supreme Court's ruling, in Morrissey v. Brewer, [408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972),] that due process requires notice to a parolee ... prior to revocation so that he may be prepared to respond. Where Morrissey has been violated, this court has held that the district court should require the [Parole] Commission to hold a new revocation hearing and to provide [the petitioner] with notice of the information and witnesses which the Commission weighs against him. 16 Jessup, 889 F.2d at 835 (citations omitted) (quoting Vargas v. United States Parole Comm'n, 865 F.2d 191, 195 (9th Cir.1988)). 7 17 The district court correctly relied on Boniface and remanded the case for a new parole revocation hearing, giving Camacho the remedy to which he was entitled. The fact that two other district courts, without the benefit of our decisions in Boniface and Jessup, granted the automatic restoration remedy in different cases does not entitle Camacho to that relief. Cf. Beck v. Washington, 369 U.S. 541, 554-55, 82 S.Ct. 955, 962-63, 8 L.Ed.2d 98 (1962) (lack of uniformity in state court decisions does not form basis for equal protection clause violation).
18 Camacho also challenges the remand remedy on due process grounds. He contends that a new hearing will not redress the due process violation he suffered in 1981 because nine years have passed since that violation and, therefore, he will be unable to prepare an adequate defense to the charges that will be made against him at a new revocation hearing. We did not address in Jessup or Boniface the question whether delay rendered inadequate the remedy of a new parole revocation hearing and required outright restoration of street time credits in those cases. See Jessup, 889 F.2d at 835; 8 Boniface, 856 F.2d at 1436. Although we conclude that, in some circumstances, delay may require automatic restoration of street time in lieu of a new hearing, we hold that, in this case, Camacho is only entitled to the remand remedy he received. 19 The Supreme Court made clear in Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. at 488, 92 S.Ct. at 2603, that a parolee's due process rights are violated when a parole revocation hearing is not held within a reasonable period after the parolee is taken into custody. 9 Applying this principle in cases where habeas petitioners challenged parole revocation hearings based on delay, we, along with other circuits, have held that a due process violation occurs only when [the petitioner] 'establishes that the Commission's delay in holding a revocation hearing was both unreasonable and prejudicial.'  Vargas v. United States Parole Comm'n, 865 F.2d at 194 (quoting Sutherland v. McCall, 709 F.2d 730, 732 (D.C.Cir.1983)); see also Hopper v. United States Parole Comm'n, 702 F.2d 842, 847 (9th Cir.1983); Heath v. United States Parole Comm'n, 788 F.2d 85, 89 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 953, 107 S.Ct. 443, 93 L.Ed.2d 391 (1986). 20 In this case Camacho does not argue that delay invalidated his 1981 parole revocation hearing. Rather, he contends that, because of delay, the remedy of remand for a new hearing upon proper notice is inadequate. We based our holding in Jessup on the principles underlying Morrissey v. Brewer. See Jessup, 889 F.2d at 835. We see no reason why the same due process analysis employed in Morrissey should not apply here. A petitioner who was denied due process because of the inadequacy of the notice of his parole revocation hearing and now challenges the adequacy of the remedy (a properly noticed rehearing), because the rehearing comes so long after the events giving rise to the revocation, has the same concerns about delay as the petitioner whose original hearing was delayed. The test, we conclude, is the same: a petitioner challenging the remand remedy under Jessup must demonstrate both that the delay is unreasonable and that he or she will be prejudiced by the delay. 21 Applying this test, we hold that due process considerations do not require restoration of street time in lieu of noticed rehearing in Camacho's case. Camacho himself was the primary cause for the delay he now contends will violate his due process rights. He did not appeal the 1981 forfeiture until 1987. Much of the delay he now challenges is attributable to his failure to act. The delay here was, therefore, not unreasonable. See Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2191, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972) (explaining that, in determining whether delay denies a defendant the right to a speedy trial, a factor to be considered is the cause of the delay); Hanahan v. Luther, 693 F.2d 629, 634 (7th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1170, 103 S.Ct. 815, 74 L.Ed.2d 1013 (1983) (same); cf. Spotted Bear v. McCall, 648 F.2d 546, 547-48 (9th Cir.1980) (holding that a prisoner could not claim prejudicial delay in challenging validity of parole revocation hearing where delay was due to the petitioner's detention in state facilities based on his state crimes). 22 The remedy of remand for a properly noticed hearing is appropriate in this case, despite the time elapsed since the initial 1981 violation.