Court Opinion

ID: 9726177
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:35:47.724868+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:23.840156
License: Public Domain

ROUSE, J.
I concur, only because I am satisfied that this absurd result is mandated by the statute in question and by the cases which interpret that statute.
The correctional institution at Pleasanton enjoys a reputation as one of the most comfortable facilities in the federal penal system. It is located 33 miles from the town of Martinez where the Contra Costa County jail, the “receiving state” facility, is situated. Given these circumstances, it is reasonable to assume that, pending final disposition of her case in the California courts, and for purely humanitarian reasons, it would be appropriate for the receiving state custodian to permit the defendant to return to her more commodious surroundings at Pleasanton where she was undoubtedly involved in rehabilitation programs which are not available at the Contra Costa County jail. Alas, there is nothing in this *533record to support such an assumption; nor is there any indication of a predetermined arrangement with the federal custodian for her detention in the federal facility, pending final disposition of state charges, as seems to be contemplated by section 1389, article V, subdivision (a), of the Penal Code. On the other hand, I find nothing in the record which suggests (nor does she claim) that the temporary return of Mrs. Reyes to the Pleasanton facility, while awaiting final disposition of the state charges, in any way discouraged “the expeditious and orderly disposition of such charges. ...” (Pen. Code, § 1389, art. I.) Thus, we exalt form over substance.
Jail and other detention or correctional facility custodians will be well advised to take note of this case lest they be led down the garden path by transferring custody of a prisoner to a “sending state” before final disposition of the local proceedings.
Respondent’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied January 3, 1980.