Brumfield v. Bentley

• Decision Date: 19 October 2015
• Docket Number: CASE NO. 5:14-CV-0365-SLB
• Parties: GEORGE A. BRUMFIELD, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT BENTLEY, Governor; JEFFERSON S. DUNN, Commissioner; MARK BURTON, Director of Central Records, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

GEORGE A. BRUMFIELD, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT BENTLEY, Governor; JEFFERSON S. DUNN, Commissioner;

MARK BURTON, Director of Central Records, Defendants.

CASE NO. 5:14-CV-0365-SLB

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA NORTHEASTERN DIVISION

October 19, 2015

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This case is presently pending before the court on Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, (doc. 1),¹ filed by petitioner George A. Brumfield. Petitioner alleges that he is being held unlawfully by the Alabama Department of Corrections [ADOC] after completion of his sentence. Respondents - Robert Bentley, in his capacity as Governor of Alabama; Jefferson S. Dunn, in his capacity as the Commissioner of ADOC;² and Mark Burton, Director of Central Records - deny petitioner has completed service of his sentences or that he is otherwise entitled to release from the ADOC's custody. (See generally doc. 13.) Upon consideration of the record, the submissions of the parties, and the relevant law, thecourt is of the opinion that the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, (doc. 1), is due to be denied.

I. FACTUAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

While serving a 50-year prison sentence in Louisiana, petitioner was indicted by a grand jury in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, for two rapes occurring in July 1977.³ (See Doc.1 at 2; doc. 13-1 at 6-7.) Arrest warrants were issued for the petitioner on July 2, 1979, based on the indictments. (See doc. 1 at 2.) On January 8, 1981, he was transported from prison in Louisiana and incarcerated in the Tuscaloosa County Jail for trial on the indictments, which were then assigned case numbers CC-81-1 and CC-81-2. (Id.; doc. 13-1 at 6-7.) The two cases were tried separately. On October 6, 1981, petitioner was convicted in case CC-81-2 and sentenced to 20 years. (Doc. 13-1 at 6.) On November 4, 1981, he was convicted in case CC-81-1 and sentenced to 150 years. (Id. at 7.) Neither sentence was to run concurrent with any other sentence, including the Louisiana sentence. (See doc. 13-1 at 1 [citing, inter alia, Ala. Code 14-3-38].)⁴ Petitioner's convictions were affirmed by theAlabama Court of Criminal Appeals. See Brumfield v. State, 453 So. 2d 1097 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984).

Following his convictions, petitioner remained in Alabama. In November 1981, he testified at as hearing on another Alabama inmate's petition for writ of error coram nobis. See Howton v. State, 432 So. 2d 548, 549 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983). He confessed to the assault for which this inmate, Roger Dale Howton, had been convicted. Id. He subsequently recanted his confession at a hearing in February 1982. Id. While in Alabama, he was transferred to the ADOC at the Kilby Prison Hospital on February 1, 1982. (Doc. 13-1 at 9.) He was assigned an inmate number and given a sentence-calculation sheet showing a "sentence computation date" of October 6, 1981, the date of his conviction in case CC-81-2. (Id. at 6, 9.) The sentence-calculation sheet showed petitioner's "short date" for release as January 7, 2066, and a "long date" of January 7, 2151. (Id.) Petitioner was returned to Louisiana from the Fayette County Jail on or about March 10, 1982. (Doc. 1 at 19.) The ADOC lodged a detainer with Louisiana authorities in early 1984.⁵

As petitioner approached the completion of his Louisiana sentence, prison officials in that state sent notice to Alabama, dated June 18, 2007, that petitioner would complete his Louisiana sentence on August 2, 2007. (Doc. 13-1 at 2, 12.) The notice indicated that awaiver of extradition would be sent to the petitioner for his execution. (Id. at 12.) Petitioner did not sign the waiver of extradition, and, on August 16, 2007, Alabama governor Bob Riley signed and sent to Louisiana a Request for Executive Rendition, requesting the return of petitioner to Alabama for the service of his sentence on two counts of rape. (Doc. 1 at 20.) On September 24, 2007, Louisiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco issued her executive warrant "to arrest and aid and assist in arresting said fugitive [petitioner] and to deliver the said fugitive when arrested to" agents of the State of Alabama for return. (Id. at 21.)

Petitioner arrived in ADOC custody on October 3, 2007. (Doc. 13-1 at 13.) ADOC recalculated his sentence. (Id.) He received credit for 422 days of service toward his 20-year sentence and 126 days of service toward his 150-year sentence. (Id.) His Inmate Summary as of 07/13/2011, shows his "short date" for release is August 5, 2091, and his "long date" for release is August 5, 2176. (Id.)

On a date not made clear by the record, petitioner filed his petition for a state writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Limestone County. That court dismissed the petition on December 9, 2011, writing:

This cause comes before this Court on the Petitioner's request for a writ of habeas corpus concerning his claim that he has not been credited with all the time he is due against his two sentences for having committed first-degree rape. The Respondents have filed a motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, motion for summary judgment. Along with this motion, the Respondents have submitted an affidavit and records explaining the Petitioner's convictions and sentences, as well as the calculation of his release date. The Petitioner has filed a response objecting to the Respondents' summary judgment motion.

The Court has undertaken a review of both the Petitioner's claims and the Respondents' arguments and evidence supporting their dispositive motion. After due consideration, the Court has determined that the Petitioner is not entitled to habeas relief. To the extent the Petitioner contends he has been deprived of credit against his current Alabama sentences based on time he served in Louisiana on other felony sentences that he received in that state, he has failed to show any judicial intent that such sentences were to be served concurrently. Likewise, the Petitioner has failed to show that the Respondents have taken incentive time which he has previously earned. Finally, to the extent the Petitioner asserts that Alabama constructively pardoned him by releasing him to the custody of Louisiana in 1982, such argument has no basis in law or fact.

Therefore, the Respondents' motion for summary judgment is due to be GRANTED, and this action is hereby DISMISSED. . . .

(Doc. 13-2 at 2.) The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed summarily the dismissal of the state petition and the Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari review. (Doc. 13-3; doc. 13-4.)

Petitioner filed the instant federal Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on March 4, 2014.⁶ The court entered its order for the respondents to showcause why relief should not be granted on April 11, 2014, and the respondents filed their answer, supported with exhibits, on May 21, 2014. The parties were notified on May 22, 2014, that the petition was ready for summary adjudication, and petitioner was given the opportunity to traverse the answer by the respondents. Petitioner filed his traverse on June 9, 2014.⁷

II. DISCUSSION⁸

In his § 2241 petition, petitioner raises two claims related to the service of his 170-year sentence in Alabama. As to Claim One, he alleges that he "was erroneously released from Alabama prison and is entitled to credit for time spent at large after being erroneously released by State officials." (Doc. 1-1 at 6.) In support of this claim, he alleges that he "was found guilty in Tuscaloosa on October 6, 1981, then on February 2, 198[2] the county jail of Tuscaloosa County[,] Alabama, took [petitioner] to Kilby Correctional Facility to serve his 170 years in Alabama instead of tak[ing him] back to Louisiana prison. [Petitioner's] good time started and should have run while he was at large in the Louisiana prison system." (Id. at 7.) In Claim Two petitioner asserts that he "was released from Alabama Prison Custody of DOC[, which was erroneously done, [and] that his release[ ] was no fault of his own." (Id.) In support of the claim, he states, "The plaintiff was entered into the AlabamaDepartment of Corrections on February 1, 1982 and then ejected from the state by Fayette County, when taken back to the Louisiana Prison. This was done on March 10, 1982." (Id.) The court construes these allegations to state two claims for relief: (1) petitioner was denied "good time" credits against his Alabama sentence while serving his Louisiana sentence because he started serving his Alabama sentence before being returned to Louisiana; and (2) Alabama constructively pardoned him or otherwise lost jurisdiction over him for service of his Alabama sentence when the state returned him to Louisiana after admitting him to the ADOC and commencing his Alabama sentence.

A. "GOOD TIME CREDITS"CLAIM

Petitioner's first claim for habeas relief contends that he has been denied good time credits to which he is entitled against the service of his 170-year sentence. Specifically, he claims that, because his crimes of conviction occurred prior to 1980, he was entitled to both Statutory Good Time [SGT] and Incentive Good Time [IGT] under Alabama law applicable to his convictions, and that these credits accrued on the date he first was admitted to the ADOC on February 1, 1982. Respondents deny petitioner is entitled to any relief on this claim because he was never entitled to IGT and that, in fact, he has been credited with 85 years of SGT, which is all the time to which he is entitled.

Before May 19, 1980, good time credit applicable to service of sentences in Alabama came in two forms, under two distinct statutes. A prisoner sentence for a crime occurring before 1980 could be entitled to both SGT, pursuant to Ala. Code §§ 14-9-1 through 14-9-4(repealed), and IGT under Ala. Code §§ 14-9-20 through 14-9-25 (repealed). Under the SGT statute, a prisoner was automatically credited, on the first day of his sentence, with one day of SGT credit for every day the prisoner was...