Evans v. Wilkerson, 79-1052

• Decision Date: 06 September 1979
• Docket Number: No. 79-1052,79-1052
• Citation: 605 F.2d 369
• Parties: James Edward EVANS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. G. C. WILKERSON, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 369

605 F.2d 369

James Edward EVANS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. G. C. WILKERSON, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 79-1052.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued June 6, 1979.

Decided Sept. 6, 1979.

C. John Pleban, St. Louis, Mo., for petitioner-appellant.

James R. Burgess, Jr., U. S. Atty., Robert L. Simpkins, Asst. U. S. Atty., East St. Louis, Ill., for respondent-appellee.

Before TONE and WOOD, Circuit Judges, and WILL, Senior District Judge. ^*

WILL, Senior District Judge.

This is an appeal from the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The undisputed facts are that on July 25, 1969, appellant was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment upon his plea of guilty to violating Sections 2113(a) and (d) of Title 18, United States Code. His sentence began to run in May 1969. In May 1976, appellant was transferred to Magdala Halfway House (Halfway House) in St. Louis, Missouri. At the time of his transfer to the Halfway House, appellant's mandatory release date was August 31, 1976. On July 14, 1976, appellant escaped from the Halfway House with only forty-eight days remaining on his sentence.

On the same day, July 14, 1976, in compliance with United States Bureau of Prisons policy, a formal misconduct report was written and an in absentia hearing was held at the Halfway House. The result of the in absentia hearing was a recommendation that all of appellant's statutory good time and earned time be forfeited as of that date.

More than a year later, on October 16, 1977, appellant was taken into custody and on October 31, was returned to federal custody. On November 12, 1977, he was returned to the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, and on November 14, 1977, was given an initial interview by the Intake Screening Committee, at which time he was given an opportunity to request that the escape charge hearing be conducted at Marion, which he did. No hearing was held at Marion, however, until December 19, 1977, at which time appellant appeared in person before the Institution Discipline Committee.

December 19 was two days after he would have become eligible for mandatory release from custody if the remaining forty-eight days of his original sentence had been commenced to be served on October 31, 1977 when he was returned to federal custody and his good time was not forfeited. At the December 19 hearing, appellant demanded his immediate release, which was denied. The Institution Discipline Committee approved the recommendation of the Halfway House staff and appellant was stripped of all 862 days statutory good time that he had previously accrued and has remained in federal custody.

On March 2, 1978, appellant was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri, St. Louis, for the alleged escape from Magdala on July 14, 1976. On March 29, 1978, the Honorable James H. Meredith, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, dismissed the indictment on the ground that it had been returned in violation of the provisions of the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161. Thereafter, on May 18, 1978, appellant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois. That court denied the petition. We affirm that denial.

Appellant's first contention is that the Bureau of Prisons' policy which provides for an in absentia hearing immediately upon an inmate's escape to be followed by a hearing with him present at some date after his return to custody does not comport with the requirements of due process and, specifically, the holding in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), unless that hearing is held during the period of the defendant's custody on his original sentence less good time. In Wolff v. McDonnell, the Supreme Court held that an inmate's good time may not be forfeited unless he receives a hearing with certain due process features including his presence.

Appellee contends that the policy under which an in absentia hearing is held in which an escapee's good time may be ordered forfeited is valid so long as there is a subsequent due process hearing within a reasonable time after his recapture, even if that hearing is not held prior to what would have been his mandatory release date except for the forfeiture of good time ordered at the conclusion of the in absentia hearing. He points out that, in some cases, the remaining period of good time may be insufficient to enable the orderly convening of a formal due process hearing and that, in the instant case, after arrival of the necessary reports and materials from the Halfway House, the petitioner was given a copy of the incident report on December 16, 1977 and notified that the hearing would be held on December 19. Under these circumstances, appellee urges that there has been no violation of appellant's due process rights.

The Bureau of Prisons Policy Statement 7400.5D outlines the steps which must be taken to forfeit good time. Subsection (e), entitled "Escapes from Community Centers," directs prison officials to conduct a hearing immediately when an escape is involved. It indicates that a hearing may be held in the prisoner's absence and his good time forfeited in whole or in part subject to a later hearing after his recapture or other mitigating factors. The reason for this provision is to avoid the situation where a prisoner escapes at a time near his mandatory release date and upon recapture there is insufficient time to conduct a hearing with him present prior to the mandatory release date. Upon return to federal custody, the prisoner is informed of the good time forfeiture and given an...