Court Opinion

ID: 9575505
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:14:24.279622+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:48:16.616855
License: Public Domain

Allen, P.J.
(dissenting). I agree that the sentences imposed do not shock the conscience of this *591Court. I disagree that it is necessary to remand to the trial court on the question of whether defendant is entitled to credit for the time defendant spent at Rubicon House and the Bay Fresh Start program. That question has been decided in three published decisions of this Court holding that time spent at Bay Fresh Start is sufficiently restrictive to amount to confinement in the county jail. People v Winchell, 143 Mich App 164; 371 NW2d 514 (1985); People v Burton Smith, 143 Mich App 782; 372 NW2d 660 (1985). Squarely on point is this Court’s statement in People v Greene, 145 Mich App 580, 583; 378 NW2d 553 (1985):
A review of the record shows that Bay Fresh Start is funded by the Department of Corrections, The program is designed to strictly regiment and control the residents’ activities. We feel that such a restrictive environment is tantamount to confinement, and, as such, defendant is entitled to credit for time served at Bay Fresh Start.
Implicit in the majority opinion is the assumption that a program of rehabilitation and a highly restrictive setting are mutually exclusive. I do not agree. Nor do I accept what I perceive is the underlying rationale of the majority, viz.: that if credit for time spent is given in the instant situation, defendants will have little incentive to complete a court-ordered rehabilitation program. In my opinion the incentive to complete the program would still be great where, if a defendant does not complete the program, he will be cited for violation of probation and incarcerated. Further, I don’t see where a trial judge would have a disincentive to use such programs if credit were given. I would affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences but allow credit for time spent at Rubicon House and the Bay Fresh Start program.