Teasley v. Beck

• Decision Date: 31 December 2002
• Docket Number: No. COA02-212.,COA02-212.
• Citation: 155 NC App. 282,574 S.E.2d 137
• Parties: David TEASLEY, Plaintiff, v. Theodis BECK, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Correction, in his official capacity, and Juanita Baker, Chairman of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in her official capacity; and Elbert Buck, and Charles L. Mann, Sr., Members of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in their official capacities, Defendants. Odell Clinton Bates, Plaintiff, v. Theodis Beck, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Correction, in his official capacity, and Juanita Baker, Chairman of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in her official capacity; and Elbert Buck, and Jewyl Dunn, Members of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in their official capacities, Defendants.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

574 S.E.2d 137

155 NC App. 282

David TEASLEY, Plaintiff, v. Theodis BECK, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Correction, in his official capacity, and Juanita Baker, Chairman of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in her official capacity; and Elbert Buck, and Charles L. Mann, Sr., Members of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in their official capacities, Defendants.

Odell Clinton Bates, Plaintiff, v. Theodis Beck, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Correction, in his official capacity, and Juanita Baker, Chairman of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in her official capacity; and Elbert Buck, and Jewyl Dunn, Members of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, in their official capacities, Defendants.

No. COA02-212.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

December 31, 2002.

George B. Currin, Raleigh, for plaintiffs-appellees.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth F. Parsons, for the State.

BRYANT, Judge.

Theodis Beck, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Corrections (the Department); Juanita Baker, Chairman of the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission (Parole Commission or Commission); and other members of the Commission so designated (collectively defendants) appeal the trial court's order granting declaratory judgment in favor of David Teasley and Odell Clinton Bates (collectively plaintiffs).

Plaintiff Teasley pled guilty to two Class H felonies. On 14 September 1992, Teasley was sentenced pursuant to the "Fair Sentencing Act (the FSA or the Act)," N.C.G.S. §§ 15A-1340.1 to 1340.7 (1988) (repealed effective 1 October 1994), as a habitual felon, and received a Class C felony life sentence.

On 16 October 1989, plaintiff Bates pled guilty to one count each of second-degree murder, a Class C felony, and first-degree burglary. Bates was sentenced, also under the FSA, to life imprisonment for the second-degree murder conviction and a fifteen-year consecutive sentence for his first-degree burglary conviction.

For the purpose of determining plaintiffs' parole eligibility dates, the minimum term of imprisonment for their life sentences was twenty years. Plaintiffs' life sentences were then reduced to ten years, based upon credits for good behavior at a rate of one credit per day of incarceration without a major infraction.

The Parole Commission further reduced Bates' parole eligibility date by only those gain and/or meritorious time credits earned during the pendency of his burglary term. In so doing, the Commission first reduced Bates' burglary sentence to seven and one-half years based upon accumulated good-time credits, then subtracted from the burglary sentence only those gain and/or meritorious time credits earned while serving the last seven and one-half years of his total sentence. In other words, to determine his parole eligibility date, Bates would serve the first ten years of his sentence and then the seven-and-one-half years, minus any gain and/or merit time earned during the burglary sentence. As to both Teasley and Bates, no gain and/or merit time was applied to reduce their life terms.

Teasley and Bates filed separate actions for declaratory relief requesting that the court determine whether, based upon certain Department regulations, gain and/or meritorious time credits should apply to alter the parole eligibility date of their life sentence terms. In the alternative, Bates requested that the court declare him eligible for a reduction in his sentence for good time, gain time and meritorious time earned during his entire incarceration. Plaintiffs' actions were subsequently consolidated for a bench trial.

On 18 September 2001, the trial court concluded that pursuant to the Department's regulations governing "sentence reduction credits," inmates serving life sentences for Class C felonies were eligible to reduce their imprisonment terms by good, gain and meritorious time credits earned during their incarcerations. The trial court further concluded that for purposes of determining Bates' parole eligibility date, Bates was entitled to a reduction in his sentence by all gain and/or meritorious time credits earned during the pendency of his entire incarceration. Defendants now appeal.

The dispositive issues on appeal are: I) whether the Department's "sentence reduction credit" regulations apply to inmates serving Class C life sentences for the purpose of determining their parole eligibility dates; and, if not, II) whether the Commission erred in its practice of applying gain and meritorious time credits to sentences running consecutively to a life term.

Preliminarily we note that plaintiff Teasley obtained eligibility for parole on 26 August 2002, and therefore, any issues of parole eligibility with regard to Teasley are moot. Crumpler v. Thornburg, 92 N.C.App. 719, 723, 375 S.E.2d 708, 711 (1989). Nonetheless, we find the present action "`capable of repetition, yet evading review,'" id. (citation omitted), and therefore, must review it even though the action is moot.

Background

We begin our discussion with an overview of the Department's structure and the statutes and rules giving rise to this appeal. As noted supra, plaintiffs were sentenced pursuant to the FSA, which has subsequently been superseded by the Structured Sentencing Act, effective on or after 1 October 1994.¹ Accordingly, our discussion in the case sub judice is limited to those statutes and regulations that are part of and parcel to the FSA.

The Parole Commission, as its name indicates, is the independent agency within the Department that is responsible for releasing offenders eligible for parole. The Commission consists of one Chairman and two other members, all appointed by the Governor. The Secretary of the Department is also appointed by the Governor, but, unlike the Commission, has no authority over parole eligibility. Rather, the Secretary has the sole authority over the unconditional release of offenders.

Class C felonies may be punishable by life imprisonment. N.C.G.S. § 14-1.1(a)(3). Prisoners sentenced under the FSA are "eligible for release on parole only upon completion of the service of th[e] minimum term or one fifth of the maximum penalty allowed by law ... whichever is less, less any credit allowed under G.S. 15A-1355(c)." N.C.G.S. § 15A-1371(a) (2001)(emphasis added). One fifth of a life term is twenty years. Id.

The statutes at issue in the present appeal are provided below, in relevant part. N.C.G.S. § 15A-1355(c), entitled "Credit for Good Behavior," states:

The Department of Correction and jailers ... must give credit for good behavior toward service of a prison or jail term imposed for a felony that occurred on or after the effective date of Article 81A, as required by G.S. 15A-1340.7. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to persons convicted of Class A or Class B felonies.... The Department of Correction and jailers may give time credit toward service of other prison or jail terms imposed for a felony or misdemeanor, according to regulations issued by the Secretary of Correction as provided by G.S. 148-13. The Department of Correction may give credit toward service of the maximum term and any minimum term of imprisonment and toward eligibility for parole for allowances of time as provided in rules and regulations made under G.S. 148-11 and 148-13.

(Emphasis added.). Section 15A-1340.7 provides:

(a) ... Credit toward the service of the term shall be given for time already served ..., and good behavior in prison or jail as provided by subsection (b) of this section, except that a life term imposed for a Class C felony shall not be subject to subsection (b) of this section but shall be subject to G.S. 148-13(b) for the purposes of good time and gain time deductions....

(b) A prisoner committed to the Department of Correction or a jail to serve a sentence for a felony shall receive credit for good behavior at the rate of one day deducted from his prison or jail term for each day he spends in custody without a major infraction of prisoner conduct rules.

(Emphasis added.). Section 148-13 states:

(b) With respect to prisoners who are serving prison or jail terms for offenses not subject to Article 81A of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes and prisoners serving a life term for a Class C felony, the Secretary of Correction may, in his discretion, issue regulations regarding deductions of time from the terms of such prisoners for good behavior, meritorious conduct, work or study, participation in rehabilitation programs, and the like.

(c) With respect to all prisoners serving prison or jail terms for felonies that occurred on or after the effective date of Article 81A of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes, the Secretary of Correction and local jail administrators must grant credit toward their terms for good behavior as required by G.S. 15A-1340.7. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to persons convicted of Class A or Class B felonies or persons sentenced to a life term for a Class C felony.

(d) With respect to prisoners serving prison or jail terms for felonies that occurred on or after the effective date of Article 81A of Chapter 15A, the Secretary of Correction shall issue regulations authorizing gain time credit to be deducted from the terms of such prisoners, in addition to the good behavior credit authorized by G.S. 15A-1340.7. Gain time credit may be granted for meritorious conduct and shall be granted for performance of regular work and regular participation in study, training, work release, and other rehabilitative programs inside or outside the prison or jail....

N.C.G.S. § 148-13(b)(d).

In conjunction with the FSA, the Secretary promulgated regulations concerning the grant of "sentence reduction credits." 5 N.C. Admin. Code 2B.0110 (Supp. Jan. and Sept. 1995) ...