Bosnick v. Lockhart
| Decision Date | 24 September 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-97,84-97 |
| Citation | 677 S.W.2d 292,283 Ark. 206 |
| Parties | , 283 Ark. 533 David BOSNICK, Appellant, v. A.L. LOCKHART, Director, Arkansas Department of Corrections and Arkansas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Appellees. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Nussbaum, Newcomb & Hendrix by Robert A. Newcomb, Little Rock, for appellant.
Steve Clark, Atty. Gen. by Patricia G. Cherry, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellees.
SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION ON DENIAL OF REHEARING
In their petition for rehearing, the appellee argues that it is unclear from our opinion, 283 Ark. 206, 672 S.W.2d 52 (1984) whether parole eligibility is determined under the parole law existing at the time of a defendant's sentencing or that existing when the crime was committed. Furthermore, the appellee states that our opinion is unclear as to the proper method for determining parole eligibility when, as in this appellant's case, consecutive sentences are imposed at different times. The petition for rehearing is denied because we are affirming our earlier holding. However, because the appellee's points have merit, we offer the following clarification.
Our decisions in Davis v. Mabry, Director, 266 Ark. 487, 585 S.W.2d 949 (1979) and Poe v. Housewright, Comm'ner, 271 Ark. 771, 610 S.W.2d 577 (1981) both provide that the parole law in effect when an appellant is sentenced is the statute to be applied to that appellant's application for parole. However, both the Legislature in Ark.Stat.Ann. § 43-2829 (Repl.1977) and the United States Supreme Court in Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 101 S.Ct. 960, 67 L.Ed.2d 17 (1981) have indicated that parole status is more properly governed by the parole statute in effect at the time the crime was committed. We think that the latter is the law and to the extent that they are inconsistent with this viewpoint, we overrule both Davis and Poe. As we said in our original opinion, a parole statute less favorable to those sentenced prior to its passage than the law in effect at the time of sentencing is unconstitutional as an ex post facto law. Central to this argument is the lack of fair notice to a defendant of what parole law will govern his situation. By applying the law in effect when the crime was committed, any possible lack of notice to a defendant is eliminated. Therefore, that is the rule we adopt.
As to the determination of parole eligibility when [283 Ark. 209-B] consecutive sentences are involved, Ark.Stat.Ann. § 43-2829(E) provides that "For parole eligibility purposes, consecutive sentences by one or more courts, or for one or more counts, shall be considered as a single commitment reflecting the cumulative sentence to be served." In treating consecutive sentences as a...
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Proctor v. Payne
...a prayer for mandamus relief. Davis v. Mabry , 266 Ark. 487, 585 S.W.2d 949 (1979), overruled on other grounds by Bosnick v. Lockhart , 283 Ark. 206, 677 S.W.2d 292 (1984).I concur. Josephine Linker Hart, Justice, dissenting.The majority correctly notes that the circuit court’s basis for di......
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...1023 (E.D.Ark.1979); Davis v. Mabry, 585 S.W.2d 949, 952, 266 Ark. 487, 491 (1979), overruled on other grounds, Bosnick v. Lockhart, 283 Ark. 206, 677 S.W.2d 292 (1984). And, in fact, parole may be denied for any number of (largely discretionary) reasons. See generally Greenholtz v. Inmates......
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... ... Graves, 255 Ark. 516, 509 S.W.2d 823 (1973), and have extended that holding to changes in parole laws. Bosnick v. Lockhart, 283 Ark. 206, 672 S.W.2d 52 (1984), reh. den. 283 Ark. 209, 677 S.W.2d 292 (1984). Perhaps all of these decisions could be said to ... ...
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...violation.Affirmed.1 Parole eligibility is determined by the law in effect when the crime is committed. Bosnick v. Lockhart , 283 Ark. 206, 209, 677 S.W.2d 292 (1984). In his arguments raised in the circuit court and on appeal, Wood relied on the regulations of 2015; however, the 2015 regul......