Morris v. Baker
| Decision Date | 06 March 2018 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 14-6785 (NLH) |
| Parties | BRENT MORRIS, Petitioner, v. RENEE BAKER, Warden, Nevada Department of Corrections and THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW JERSEY, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey |
Northern Nevada Correctional Center
P.O. Box 700
Carson City, NV 89702
Petitioner Prose
Brian Uzdavinis
Office of the Attorney General
P.O. Box 086
Trenton, NJ 08625
Counsel for Respondents
Petitioner Brent Morris ("Petitioner"), a prisoner presently incarcerated at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, Nevada, has filed a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (the "Petition"). ECF No. 1. Mr. Morris's sole grievance raised in the Petition is that his New Jersey state sentence failed to account for time during which he was incarcerated pre-trial on a New Jersey detainer while he was in the state of Nevada. By order of Court, Respondents filed an Answer to the Petition (the "Answer"), ECF No. 6, and supplemental exhibits, ECF No. 14. Petitioner filed a reply to the Answer (the "Reply"). ECF No. 8. The Court requested supplemental briefing regarding whether the Petition is now moot because the Petitioner has fully served the sentence at issue, ECF No. 15, which the parties provided, ECF Nos. 16, 17. The Petition is ripe for disposition. For the reasons stated below, the Petition will be denied.
In 2013, Petitioner faced various state felony charges arising from his conduct at the craps tables of various Atlantic City, New Jersey, casinos. ECF No. 1, Pet. at 3. Petitioner pled guilty on March 4, 2013, to four counts of violations of N.J.S.A. 5:12-113, swindling and cheating in the third degree, contained in three separate state indictments lodged against him. Id.; ECF No. 7-3, Indictments; ECF No. 7-5, Plea Agreement. Petitioner alleges that his guilty plea agreement contained the following:
The prosecutor has agreed to recommend for dismissal: all remaining counts . . . 4 years NJSP concurrent to any other state's sentence. Credit for time served in ACJF or on NJ detainer out of state (Nevada or Michigan). Counsel to provide info. Forfeiture ofall $ seized. Restitution of $34,620.
ECF No. 1, Pet. at 3. See also ECF No. 7-5, Plea Agreement.
At sentencing on April 19, 2013, Petitioner objected to the proposed calculation of the discretionary jail time credits, presenting the following argument, as recited in the Petition:
The language of the negotiated plea agreement signed by all parties on March 4, 2013 clearly states that I am entitled to receive additional jail credits for any detainers filed against me during the time I was arrested in Michigan and Nevada. I was arrested on September 22, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. While I was incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, officials in New Jersey lodged a detainer against me on . . . June 30, 2010 and also on December 10, 2010 . . . pursuant to a bench warrant and a detainer signed by you, Judge, on the same date of December 10, 2010. . . . I am entitled to the 940 days of jail credits calculated from the date September 22, 2010, my arrest date in Las Vegas Nevada, to the present time of sentencing, which is today, April 19, 2013.
ECF No. 1, Pet. at 6. Petitioner went on to state that he was informed at the time he entered into the plea agreement that he would be entitled to these credits, and he questioned why no one explained to him at the time of his plea agreement that he would not be entitled to the disputed jail credits. Id. at 5.
As Petitioner states in his Petition, "Petitioner's sole contention on appeal is that he was denied the benefit of his plea bargain because Judge Donio [the trial court and sentencing judge] failed to award him 940 discretionary jail credits forthe time he spent in confinement in the state of Nevada."1 Id. at 5-6. Petitioner calculates the time he is allegedly owed from the date he was arrested in Nevada in September 2010. Id. at 4. As a result of the denial of these jail credits, Petitioner states that his sentence is unconstitutional in violation of the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Id. at 3.
In his supplemental brief addressing whether his Petition is now moot because he has served his sentence at issue, Petitioner asserts that "[e]ven though collateral consequences are not presumed, Petitioner may still avoid a finding of mootness if he can show a continuing injury, or collateral consequences, that is sufficient." ECF No. 17, Pet'r Suppl. Br. at 4. Petitioner does not identify any injury or collateral consequence to him personally, but suggests that "there is more at stake than the completion of his New Jersey prison sentence of 4 years; at stake is the honor of the government, public confidence in the fair administration of justice, and the efficient administration of justice." Id. at 5.
A thorough review of the record reveals the following timeline of events prior to and after Petitioner's sentencing in New Jersey.2 Petitioner was initially arrested and jailed in Atlantic County on May 27, 2010, for conduct occurring on that day as well as on March 14 and 15, 2010. ECF No. 7-3, Indictments; ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 8. He posted bail on June 10, 2010, for the aforementioned offenses but failed to appear later that month for an unspecified hearing on the charges. ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 8. Thus, on June 30, 2010, a New Jersey bench warrant was issued for Petitioner. Id. That warrant, however, only covered the Eastern United States. ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 8. See also ECF No. 14-2, Atlantic County Memorandum Regarding Territorial Limits for Bench Warrants Based on Degree of Offense.
Thereafter, he was separately arrested and detained in the Clark County Jail in Nevada on September 22, 2010, for an outstanding Michigan warrant and, at some point, charges in Nevada. ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Hr. at 8. Although in custody, the Petitioner was beyond the territorial limits of the June 30 warrant and detainer. See ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 8; ECF No.14-2, Memorandum. While incarcerated in Nevada, another New Jersey bench warrant was signed on December 10, 2010, but which warrant was still limited territorially to the Eastern United States. ECF No. 14-3, Bench Warrant.
On March 18, 2011, Petitioner was found guilty after trial in Nevada on Nevada state charges and eventually sentenced to eight to twenty years' imprisonment. ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 8. At some point, the Atlantic County authorities discovered Petitioner's presence in the state of Nevada, and on August 14, 2012, requested that the December 10, 2010, warrant be extended to cover the forty-eight (48) contiguous states. ECF No. 14-4, Request to Extend Territorial Limits; ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 9. Petitioner remained in the custody of Nevada until January 2011, when he was transferred to the Atlantic County Justice Facility, in Mays Landing, New Jersey. ECF No. 14-7, Interstate Agreement on Detainers Regarding Brent Morris.
On March 4, 2013, Petitioner signed his plea agreement, which recommends concurrent four-year sentences of imprisonment and jail time credit for time spent in the Atlantic County Justice Facility or out-of-state on a New Jersey detainer. ECF No. 7-5, Plea Agreement. That day, the trial court accepted his guilty plea. ECF No. 7-6, Plea Tr. at 9:3-5. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 12, 2013. At that hearing,counsel for Petitioner raised the issue of the calculation of his jail time credits to be applied to Petitioner's four year sentence stipulated in his plea agreement.3 ECF No. 7-7, Hr'g Tr. at 3. Instead of issuing the sentence that day, the trial court directed Petitioner to submit a letter brief on the jail credit calculation and reset the sentencing for April 19, 2013. Id. at 4.
On April 19, 2013, the trial court advised Petitioner that the court had considered the calculation of jail time credits and concluded that he was only entitled to approximately 260 days of jail time credits from August 14, 2012, the date on which his New Jersey detainer was extended to cover his presence in Nevada, through the date of the sentencing hearing. ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 2. The trial court also repeatedly advised Petitioner that if he did not want to accept that calculation, he could withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial. Id. at 2, 23, 26. At no point did Petitioner withdraw his guilty plea; in fact, he stated his intent to proceed with sentencing and challenge the calculation of the jail time credits on appeal. Id. at 7, 17, 26. The trial court awarded Petitioner jail timecredit of 271 days, for his prior incarceration from the day his New Jersey bench warrant took effect in Nevada on August 14, 2012, through the date of sentencing, April 19, 2013, along with concurrent four-year sentences of imprisonment for the four counts to which Petitioner pled guilty. ECF No. 7-8, Sent'g Tr. at 30-32; ECF No. 7-4, Judgements of Conviction.
After sentencing, Petitioner appealed only the calculation of his jail credits to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Docket No. A-4928-12. ECF No. 6, Answer at 3. On February 11, 2014, the Appellate Division affirmed the sentence but remanded the matter to the trial court for entry of corrected Judgments of Conviction to reflect the proper amount of jail credits or gap time credits per New Jersey statute. ECF No. 7-10, Order. This was due to a prior miscalculation at sentencing which New Jersey acknowledged during oral argument before the Appellate Division. ECF No. 7-9, App. Tr. at 3:4-12.
Petitioner filed a petition for certification with the Supreme Court of New Jersey, requesting review of the Appellate Division's decision, Docket No. 74,163. ECF No. 14-10. The Supreme Court of New Jersey denied...
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