Cotton v. Ellsworth
| Decision Date | 20 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 48A04-0204-CV-185.,48A04-0204-CV-185. |
| Parties | Zettie COTTON, Appellant-Respondent, v. Edward ELLSWORTH, Appellee-Petitioner. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
Douglas R. Long, Anderson, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Janet L. Parsanko, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Zettie Cotton1 (the "Indiana Department of Correction" or the "DOC"), appeals the trial court's decision granting Edward Ellsworth's writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the trial court's interpretation of IC XX-XX-X-X.3, the educational credit time statute, is erroneous because it ignores the statute's unambiguous language.
We affirm.
Ellsworth was convicted of robbery and sentenced to a thirty-year term of imprisonment in the DOC. During his incarceration, he was awarded an associate's degree and on April 6, 1998, the DOC therefore subtracted one year of educational credit time according to statute. The version of the statute then in effect required the credit time to be subtracted from an inmate's total sentence. Because inmates, like Ellsworth, in credit Class I earn one day of credit for each day they actually serve with good behavior,2 the effect of the one-year credit from Ellsworth's total sentence was the advancement of his projected release date by six months. In 1999, the legislature amended the statute to require that educational credit time be subtracted from an inmate's projected release date, effectively reducing the amount of time the inmate is actually required to serve by the full amount of the credit.
In January and June 2000, Ellsworth earned and was awarded two bachelor's degrees from Indiana University. In accordance with the statute, the DOC gave Ellsworth two years of credit time for each of these degrees and subtracted the total four years of credit from Ellsworth's projected release date. Later that same year, Ellsworth completed a substance abuse program which entitled him to ninety days of credit time and the DOC granted this time as well.
In March 2001, DOC staff realized that the total educational credit time granted to Ellsworth exceeded the four-year maximum permitted by statute. The DOC therefore revoked the credit time in excess of four years. Part of the four years of credit that the DOC allowed Ellsworth to retain was the one year of credit for the associate's degree earned under the prior version of the statute. Because this one year was subtracted from Ellsworth's total sentence, in spite of his multiple educational achievements, the net result of his educational credits was to advance his projected release date by three and one-half years, not the four-year maximum allowed by the statute. When Ellsworth learned of this result, he attempted to return his associate's degree so that he could gain the full credit time benefit of his second bachelor's degree, but the awarding institution refused to accept the returned degree.
Ellsworth filed a writ of habeas corpus arguing that he was entitled to release according to the appropriate calculation of his educational credit time, which would advance his projected release date four years (the statutory maximum). The DOC opposed the petition, contending that Ellsworth's interpretation was contrary to the plain meaning of the statute.
After a hearing, the trial court entered an order finding that Ellsworth was entitled to the ameliorative effects of the 1999 revision of the statute and requiring the DOC to release him. The DOC now appeals.3
The DOC argues that the trial court's decision is contrary to the plain, unambiguous language of the statute. The instant case involves a question of statutory interpretation. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law reserved for the courts. Indiana Family & Soc. Servs. Admin. v. Radigan, 755 N.E.2d 617, 620 (Ind.Ct.App.2001); South Bend Tribune v. South Bend Cmty. Sch. Corp., 740 N.E.2d 937, 938 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). Appellate courts review questions of law under a de novo standard and owe no deference to a trial court's legal conclusions. Radigan, 755 N.E.2d at 620; South Bend Tribune, 740 N.E.2d at 938; Wayne Metal Prods. Co., Inc. v. Indiana Dep't of Envtl. Mgmt., 721 N.E.2d 316, 317 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), trans. denied (2000).
Our initial inquiry is whether the statute is clear and unambiguous on its face. Radigan, 755 N.E.2d at 622. When a statute is clear and unambiguous on its face, this court does not interpret the statute. South Bend Tribune, 740 N.E.2d at 938; Wayne Metal Prods.,721 N.E.2d at 317. Instead we must hold the statute to its clear and plain meaning. South Bend Tribune, 740 N.E.2d at 938. Construction is warranted only where a statute is susceptible to more than one interpretation. Radigan, 755 N.E.2d at 622. In such cases, we must ascertain the legislative intent and interpret the statute so as to effectuate that intent. Id.; Diaz v. State, 753 N.E.2d 724, 729 (Ind.Ct.App.2001),trans. denied; Wayne Metal Prods.,721 N.E.2d at 317.
Words and phrases in a single section are construed together with the other parts of the same section and with the statute as a whole, in order that the spirit and purpose of the statute is carried out. Radigan, 755 N.E.2d at 622. Moreover, we view the statute within the context of the entire act rather than in isolation. Id. Finally, where a statute is reasonably susceptible to more than one interpretation, we must consider the consequences of a particular construction. Id.
In pertinent part, IC XX-XX-X-X.3 provides that:
Prior to 1999, subsection (e) required the credit time to be subtracted from the "period of imprisonment imposed on the person by the sentencing court" rather than the "minimum release date of the sentence imposed by the court." Subsection (h) provides that the former version of the statute should continue to be applied to credit time earned prior to the amendment.
The trial court determined that Ellsworth was entitled to the ameliorative effect of the 1999 amendment to the educational credit time statute. Under the doctrine of amelioration, a defendant who is sentenced after the effective date of a statute providing for more lenient sentencing is entitled to be sentenced pursuant to that statute rather than the sentencing statute in effect at the time of the commission or conviction of the crime. DeSantis v. State, 760 N.E.2d 641, 645 (Ind.Ct.App. 2001), adopted on trans. 778 N.E.2d 787 (Ind.2002); Renfroe v. State, 743 N.E.2d 299, 300-01 (Ind.Ct.App.2001). Although the doctrine of amelioration does not strictly apply in cases involving post-sentence education credit, as opposed to a substantive sentencing provision, this court has applied the principle to avoid subjecting an inmate to an amendment to the statute that would effectively deprive him of credit time. See Renfroe, 743 N.E.2d at 301. But see Winbush v. State, 776 N.E.2d 1219, 1225 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), trans. denied (2003) ( courts' disinclination to extend doctrine of amelioration beyond strict sense of doctrine: amendment to statute is ameliorative only if maximum penalty under new version of statute is shorter than maximum penalty under old version of statute i.e., where maximum sentence is reduced).
We likewise hold that Ellsworth should receive the benefit of the 1999 amendment to the statute under the limited circumstances presented here, where he was entitled to credit time in excess of the statutory maximum for degrees earned after the statutory change. The DOC maintains that the plain meaning of subsection (h) of the statute requires it to deduct Ellsworth's credit for his associate's degree from his "total period of imprisonment" because he completed it before...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Reis
...that statute rather than the sentencing statute in effect at the time of the commission or conviction of the crime." Cotton v. Ellsworth, 788 N.E.2d 867 (Ind. App.2003) (citing DeSantis v. State, 760 N.E.2d 641, 645 (Ind.Ct.App.2001)) (emphasis added) (other citation omitted). See People v.......
- Litchfield v. State
- Collins v. State
-
BUDD v. State of Ind.
...to avoid subjecting an inmate to an amendment to the statute that would effectively deprive him of credit time. Cotton v. Ellsworth, 788 N.E.2d 867, 871 (Ind.Ct.App.2003). To determine whether the doctrine of amelioration should apply, we must examine the legislature's intent. Lunsford, 640......