State v. Vasquez
| Citation | 142 Idaho 67,122 P.3d 1167 |
| Decision Date | 22 June 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 30769.,30769. |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Daniel Elias VASQUEZ, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender; Erik R. Lehtinen, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant.
Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Jessica M. Lorello, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent.
Daniel Elias Vasquez appeals from his judgment of conviction and sentences for burglary and grand theft, contending that the district court erred in denying his motion for credit for time served. Specifically, Vasquez contends he is entitled to prejudgment credit to his Washington County sentence for the time he was incarcerated in the Payette County jail. We affirm.
In February 2003, Vasquez was arrested in Payette County for possession of a controlled substance. One month later, while still incarcerated in the Payette County jail, Vasquez was served with an arrest warrant for property crimes committed in Washington County. Vasquez was sentenced for the Payette County charge on July 10, 2003. On that same day, Vasquez was transported to Washington County where he was arraigned on the Washington County charges. On August 11, 2003, Vasquez was sentenced on the Washington County charges. His Washington County sentences were ordered to run concurrently with one another and with the sentence imposed in the Payette County case. Vasquez was credited only for the thirty-two days he served in the Washington County jail.
Vasquez subsequently filed a motion for credit for time served seeking additional credit on his Washington County sentences for the time he served in the Payette County jail. The district court denied the motion and Vasquez appeals. On appeal, Vasquez contends he is entitled to prejudgment credit for the time he spent incarcerated in the Payette County jail because his incarceration in the Payette County jail was for both the Payette County charge and the Washington County charges.
The question of whether a sentencing court has properly awarded credit for time served to the facts of a particular case is a question of law, which is subject to free review by the appellate courts. State v. Hale, 116 Idaho 763, 779 P.2d 438 (Ct.App.1989). The award of credit for time served is governed by I.C. § 18-309 which provides in part:
In computing the term of imprisonment, the person against whom the judgment was entered, shall receive credit in the judgment for any period of incarceration prior to entry of judgment, if such incarceration was for the offense or an included offense for which the judgment was entered.
The statute's phrase "if such incarceration was for the offense or an included offense for which the judgment was entered" means that the right to credit is conferred only if the prejudgment incarceration is a consequence of or attributable to the charge or conduct for which the sentence is imposed. State v. Horn, 124 Idaho 849, 850, 865 P.2d 176, 177 (Ct.App.1993); Hale, 116 Idaho at 765, 779 P.2d at 440. Thus, there must be a causal effect between the offense and the incarceration in order for the incarceration to be "for" the offense, as the term is used in I.C. § 18-309.
Although Vasquez argues that this Court should use a causation test to determine whether he is entitled to prejudgment credit for time served in the Payette County jail, he fails to cite in his opening brief State v. Horn, 124 Idaho 849, 865 P.2d 176, a case directly on point, for application of this test.1 In Horn the defendant, like Vasquez, was being confined in a county jail for one charge when he was served with an arrest warrant from a different county for an unrelated charge. Specifically, Horn was serving time in the Gem county jail awaiting disposition of a criminal charge in that county when he was served with an Ada County arrest warrant. After Horn was served with the Ada County arrest warrant, he was transferred to several other counties where he was charged with other unrelated crimes. Following disposition of these charges, Horn was incarcerated at the Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI). When the court finally sentenced Horn for the Ada County charge, the court ordered the Ada County sentence to run concurrently with the sentences Horn was serving for convictions in the other counties; the court did not, however, credit Horn for his incarceration at ISCI or in the various county jails.
Horn filed a motion for credit for time served, seeking credit for the time that elapsed between service of his Ada County arrest warrant and the date he was sentenced. Horn argued that he was in "de facto custody of Ada County from the time of service until final sentencing." The Court of Appeals rejected this claim, holding that Horn did not meet the "causation test." Horn did not meet this causation test because Horn was already being detained as a consequence of charges in other counties when the Ada County arrest warrant was served and because the Ada County warrant had no effect upon his liberty when he was already subject to confinement for the charges arising in other counties. Horn, at 850-51, 865 P.2d at 177-78
Just as Horn failed to meet the causation test, so also has Vasquez failed to meet the causation test. Vasquez, like Horn, was already serving time in one county (Payette) when he was served with an arrest warrant from another county (Washington) on unrelated charges. The Washington charges, therefore, had no effect upon Vasquez's liberty because he was already subject to confinement for charges arising in Payette County. Accordingly, Vasquez was not entitled to credit on his Washington County sentences for time served in Payette County.2
In addition to his causation argument, Vasquez asserts that State v. Hernandez, 120 Idaho 785, 820 P.2d 380 (Ct.App.1991) mandates he receive credit on his Washington County sentences for time served in the Payette County jail because the sentences imposed in each county were ordered to run concurrently. In support of his argument Vasquez relies on the court's statement in Hernandez: "In the case of concurrent...
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State v. Owens, 41174.
...18–309 does not allow the defendant to receive credit for more time than he has actually been in confinement); See also State v. Vasquez, 142 Idaho 67, 69, 122 P.3d 1167, 1169 (Ct.App.2005) (holding that “where two or more charges form multiple bases for the defendant's presentence confinem......
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State v. Owens
...not allow the defendant to receive credit for more time than he has actually been in confinement); See also State v. Vasquez, 142 Idaho 67, 69, 122 P.3d 1167, 1169 (Ct.App.2005) (holding that "where two or more charges form multiple bases for the defendant's presentence confinement, the def......
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State v. Owens
...not allow the defendant to receive credit for more time than he has actually been in confinement); See also State v. Vasquez, 142 Idaho 67, 69, 122 P.3d 1167, 1169 (Ct.App.2005) (holding that “where two or more charges form multiple bases for the defendant's presentence confinement, the def......
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State v. Young
...by the appellate courts." State v. Taylor , 160 Idaho 381, 384–85, 373 P.3d 699, 702–03 (2016) (quoting State v. Vasquez , 142 Idaho 67, 68, 122 P.3d 1167, 1168 (Ct. App. 2005) ). III. ANALYSIS At issue are the district courts' orders denying Appellants' Idaho Criminal Rule 35 motions seeki......