Beecroft v. People

• Decision Date: 16 May 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93SC357,93SC357
• Citation: 874 P.2d 1041
• Parties: Karl BEECROFT, Petitioner, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Respondent.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 1041

874 P.2d 1041

Karl BEECROFT, Petitioner, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Respondent.

No. 93SC357.

Supreme Court of Colorado,

En Banc.

May 16, 1994.

Rehearing Denied June 6, 1994.

Cherner and Blackman, Barbara S. Blackman, Denver, for petitioner.

Gale A. Norton, Atty. Gen., Stephen K. ErkenBrack, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Timothy M. Tymkovich, Sol. Gen., John Daniel Dailey, Deputy Atty. Gen., Robert Mark Russel, First Asst. Atty. Gen., Wendy J. Ritz, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for respondent.

Justice ERICKSON delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari to review People v. Beecroft, 862 P.2d 973 (Colo.App.1993), which held that a suspended sentence conditioned on drug treatment in a Cenikor facility does not constitute "confinement" for purposes of section 16-11-306, 8A C.R.S. (1986). ¹ As a result of this holding, the court of appeals concluded that the defendant, Karl Beecroft, is not entitled to confinement credit for the time he spent at Cenikor. ² We agree with the court of appeals and accordingly affirm.

I

On September 9, 1990, Beecroft was charged with one count of theft from the elderly, ³ and one count of conspiracy to commit theft from the elderly. ⁴ The prosecution later added three habitual criminal charges to the information. ⁵ Beecroft pleaded guilty to one count of theft from the elderly and the remaining charges against him were dismissed. The trial court sentenced Beecroft to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for a period of six years and a period of parole. ⁶ At the sentencing hearing, Beecroft informed the court that he was addicted to cocaine and requested he be admitted to the Cenikor drug treatment program. The trial court suspended his sentence for two years on the condition that he successfully complete drug treatment at Cenikor. ⁷ The Probation Department supervised Beecroft's treatment.

On April 5, 1991, the Probation Department filed a complaint to vacate Beecroft's suspended sentence. The complaint alleged that Beecroft had violated the terms of his suspended sentence by failing to obtain counseling and treatment for his drug addiction and by leaving the Cenikor facility without permission. The district court held a hearing on the possible revocation of Beecroft's probationary status on April 15, 1991. At the hearing, a Cenikor representative stated that Cenikor would allow Beecroft to return to the program if he agreed to receive treatment at the Cenikor facility in Houston, Texas. Beecroft agreed to relocate to the Houston facility and the Probation Department withdrew the complaint. The trial court issued an amended mittimus sentencing Beecroft to the DOC for a period of six years, suspended sentence, and conditioned the sentence on two years of treatment at Cenikor. The new mittimus was entered nunc pro tunc October 22, 1990, the day of the original mittimus.

Beecroft entered the Houston facility on April 16, 1991. On June 6, 1991, he called the Denver Probation Department and explained he was unable to comply with the program and was leaving. Beecroft's probation officer told him he had one week to return to Denver. Upon arriving in Denver, Beecroft was admitted into the Denver Cenikor facility.

On June 21, 1991, the Denver Probation Department filed a second complaint to vacate Beecroft's suspended sentence. The complaint alleged that Beecroft continued to have frequent and serious compliance problems. At a hearing on October 15, 1991, Beecroft admitted violating the terms of his suspended sentence. Beecroft's attorney requested that his client receive credit for the time he spent in the Cenikor program:

Beecroft did do seven months in Cenikor. Now, I have explained to him--he wants me to ask you for credit for time served for that Cenikor time. I have explained to him that that was something that he did while he was on probation. Even if it was a condition of probation, it was not exactly like Community Corrections time in that [he received] credit for Community Corrections time and that is treated as custody or confinement. But this was a condition of probation, so that he is not--I think it was in the discretion of the Court to grant him that time or not.

The trial court denied Beecroft's request for credit for the time he spent at Cenikor stating:

Very frankly, looking at this whole pattern, Mr. Beecroft, it is apparent to me you're just a con man and a scamster. You're overdue at Canon City. You have lied, cheated, and stolen your way through life and conned people and scammed people. And I knew I was getting conned when I put you on probation, but I thought since you had convinced these cops that you had earned the right for another chance, even though you had two prior felony convictions, I relented and gave you this chance, and you promptly blew it.

The court resentenced Beecroft to the DOC for a term of six years and a period of parole.

Beecroft, through counsel, filed a motion to reconsider sentence. Subsequently, he also filed a pro se "motion for time spent in community corrections." The trial court denied both motions. Beecroft appealed ⁸ and the court of appeals affirmed the trial court's decision and concluded that the time Beecroft spent in the Cenikor program was the equivalent of probation. Because an offender is not entitled to presentence-confinement credit for time spent on probation, the court of appeals held that Beecroft was not entitled to confinement credit for the time spent in drug rehabilitation. ⁹

II

Beecroft claims that he is entitled to receive presentence-confinement credit, pursuant to section 16-11-306, 8A C.R.S. (1986), for the time he served in the Cenikor program. ¹⁰

Section 16-11-306 provides:

A person who is confined for an offense prior to the imposition of sentence for said offense is entitled to credit against the term of his sentence for the entire period of such confinement. At the time of sentencing, the court shall make a finding of the amount of presentence confinement to which the offender is entitled and shall include such finding in the mittimus. Such period of confinement shall be deducted from the sentence by the department of corrections.

§ 16-11-306, 8A C.R.S. (1986 & 1993 Supp.). ¹¹

In order to receive presentence-confinement credit, an offender must have been actually confined and there must have been a substantial nexus between the confinement and the charge for which the sentence is ultimately imposed. People v. Hoecher, 822 P.2d 8, 12 (Colo.1991); see also Schubert v. People, 698 P.2d 788, 795 (Colo.1985). The parties do not dispute that Beecroft's treatment at Cenikor was substantially connected to the charge for which he was ultimately sentenced. Therefore, the sole question presented for review is whether the time spent in drug treatment constitutes "confinement" within the meaning of section 16-11-306. ¹²

A

Time spent in jail or a DOC facility constitutes "confinement" under section 16-11-306. E.g., Santisteven v. Johnson, 751 P.2d 621, 625 (Colo.1988); Castro v. District Court, 656 P.2d 1283, 1284 (Colo.1982); see also People v. Freeman, 735 P.2d 879, 881 (Colo.1987) (noting confinement in a jail facility becomes part of the time served on the convicted person's sentence); People v. Chavez, 659 P.2d 1381, 1383-84 (Colo.1983) (recognizing that time served in jail constitutes confinement).

An offender is entitled to credit for time spent in jail or a DOC facility even if the time is a condition of probation. See People v. Murray, 805 P.2d 1175, 1176 (Colo.App.1990) (recognizing presentence-confinement credit for time spent in county jail as a condition of probation); see also Massey v. People, 736 P.2d 19, 21 (Colo.1987) (holding that if an offender is sentenced to a term of probation that is subsequently revoked, periods of incarceration must be credited against the offender's sentence). Similarly, the fact that a probationer served time in a county or municipal jail in conjunction with a work release program under section 16-11-212(1), 8A C.R.S. (1986), does not alter the result that the probationer is entitled to confinement credit for the time spent in jail or a DOC facility. People v. Lee, 678 P.2d 1030, 1031 (Colo.App.1983).

In each of these cases, the common factor is that the offender was sentenced to spend time in jail or a DOC facility. Because these facilities substantially limit an individual's liberty, the offenders were entitled to credit for the time they were so confined.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from time spent in jail or a DOC facility is time spent on probation that is not conditioned on residency in a penal institution. A sentence of probation is not a form of imprisonment. See People v. Flenniken, 749 P.2d 395, 399 (Colo.1988); People v. McDaniels, 844 P.2d 1257, 1258-59 (Colo.App.1992). Therefore, if probation is revoked, the time served on probation need not be credited against the new sentence. See Gehl v. People, 161 Colo. 535, 538, 423 P.2d 332, 334 (1967); see also People v. Radar, 652 P.2d 1085, 1086-87 (Colo.App.1982) (holding that an offender is not entitled to presentence-confinement credit for time served in community corrections as a condition of probation if he is later rejected by community corrections and his probation is revoked).

A direct sentence to community corrections is an intermediate penalty, more severe than probation, but less harsh than incarceration in jail or in a DOC facility. See Wilson v. People, 747 P.2d 638, 639-40 (Colo.1987); People ex rel. Van Meveren v. District Court, 195 Colo. 34, 36, 575 P.2d 4, 6 (1978). When an offender is sentenced to community corrections as a resident, the sentence is a term of imprisonment, but one served in a local facility rather than in a DOC facility. See People v. Galvin, 835 P.2d 603, 605 (Colo.App.1992); People v. Saucedo, 796 P.2d 11, 12 (Colo.App.1990). Accordingly, if an offender spends time in a community correctional facility as a resident, the...