Swicegood v. State, CR-92-0392

Decision Date23 July 1993
Docket NumberCR-92-0392
Citation646 So.2d 158
PartiesPaul SWICEGOOD v. STATE.
CourtAlabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Paul Swicegood, pro se.

James H. Evans, Atty. Gen., and Harry Lyles and Alice Boswell of Dept. of Corrections, for appellee.

MONTIEL, Judge.

Paul Swicegood filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the Barbour Circuit Court. In the petition, the appellant states that he was arrested on June 11, 1988, on the charge of burglary in the third degree and that he was released on bond on September 12, 1988. The appellant alleges that he was sentenced for this offense on March 24, 1989. The appellant states that after his unsuccessful appeal, he was taken into custody on November 20, 1991, and placed in the Jefferson County jail. He states that he remained in that jail until March 24, 1992, when he was transferred to Kilby Prison in Montgomery.

The appellant states that he was properly given credit for the time he spent in jail from June 11, 1988 (the date of his arrest), to September 12, 1988 (the date he was released on bond.) See Ala.Code 1975, § 15-18-5. However, he contends that he was not given credit for the time he spent in the Jefferson County Jail awaiting transfer to Kilby.

" 'A petition for writ of habeas corpus is a proper procedure to test whether the State has properly calculated the amount of time the inmate must serve in prison.' " Boutwell v. State, 488 So.2d 33 (Ala.Crim.App.1986) (quoting Mead v. State, 475 So.2d 645 (Ala.Crim.App.1985)). In its response, which included a motion to dismiss, the State argues that the appellant is not "being denied retroactive incentive deductions in an arbitrary and capricious manner," that the ex post facto clause is not implicated in the denial of "good-time" credit and that the statute authorizing good-time credit does not violate the Equal Protection Clause or the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution or constitute an ex post facto law. The circuit court made the notation "motion granted" on the bottom of the State's response. Clearly, the State failed to respond to the appellant's allegation that he should have, but was not, given good-time credit for the period November 20, 1991 to March 24, 1992.

The State failed to refute the facts alleged by the appellant and, therefore, these alleged facts must be taken as true. Giles v. State, 462 So.2d 1063 (Ala.Crim.App.1985); Boutwell. The circuit court erred by summarily dismissing the petition without holding an...

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39 cases
  • Ex parte Boykins
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • December 20, 2002
    ...correctly calculated the time an inmate must serve in prison. Breach v. State, 687 So.2d 1257 (Ala.Crim.App.1996); Swicegood v. State, 646 So.2d 158 (Ala.Crim.App. 1993). Therefore, the circuit court correctly treated Boykins's petition for writ of certiorari as a petition for writ of habea......
  • Collins v. Alabama Dept. of Corrections, CR-03-0285.
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Alabama
    • May 28, 2004
    ...correctly calculated the duration of an inmate's incarceration. Breach v. State, 687 So.2d 1257 (Ala.Crim.App.1996); Swicegood v. State, 646 So.2d 158 (Ala.Crim.App.1993). However, Boykins argues that his petition does not question whether the State correctly calculated his sentence; instea......
  • Powell v. Lightner
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama
    • April 20, 2015
    ...proper method by which to test whether the State has correctly calculated the time an inmate must serve in prison. Swicegood v. State, 646 So. 2d 158 (Ala. Cr. App. 1993). Section 15-18-5, Ala. Code 1975, requires that a convicted person be "credited with all of his actual time spent incarc......
  • Block v. Alabama Dept. of Corrections, CR-04-1417.
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • August 26, 2005
    ...correctly calculated the duration of an inmate's incarceration. Breach v. State, 687 So.2d 1257 (Ala.Crim.App.1996); Swicegood v. State, 646 So.2d 158 (Ala.Crim.App.1993). However, Boykins argues that his petition does not question whether the State calculated his sentence; instead, he argu......
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