Writesman v. Ala. Dep't of Corr..

• Decision Date: 25 June 2010
• Docket Number: CR–09–0830.
• Citation: 54 So.3d 450
• Parties: James WRITESMANv.ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

54 So.3d 450

James WRITESMAN

v.ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.

CR–09–0830.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

June 25, 2010.

James Writesman, pro se.Kim T. Thomas, gen. counsel, and Albert S. Butler, asst. gen. counsel, Alabama Department of Corrections, for appellee.MAIN, Judge.

James Writesman, an inmate incarcerated at Fountain/J.O. Davis Correctional Facility, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging a miscalculation of his minimum release date because he was not credited for the time he spent in jail in foreign states awaiting his return to Alabama. After the Alabama Department of Corrections (“DOC”) responded, the circuit court dismissed Writesman's petition. This appeal followed.

The record indicates that Writesman was convicted of four counts of second-degree theft of property and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 18 years with 85 days of jail credit on each count: Jefferson County cases numbered CC–1989–2355, CC–1989–2356, CC–1989–2357, and CC–1989–2358, and a start date for the sentences of October 2, 1989.¹ It further shows he was paroled on October 12, 1992, and was declared delinquent on March 15, 1993, for failure to report. He was subsequently arrested in Tennessee on December 14, 1996, and returned to the DOC on December 21, 1996. It also shows he escaped from work release on September 11, 2000. He was thereafter captured and placed in jail in Florida on September 28, 2001, and was not returned to the DOC's custody until January 17, 2002.

In his petition, Writesman claimed he is owed 7 days of credit from December 14, 1996, to December 21, 1996, while he was incarcerated in Tennessee and to 3 months and 15 days of credit from September 28, 2001, to January 17, 2002, while in prison in Florida.² The DOC moved to dismiss Writesman's petition. In support of its motion to dismiss, the DOC attached the affidavit of Mark Bruton, its correctional records assistant director, which provided that Writesman was not entitled to any credit for the periods of incarceration in Tennessee and Florida before his return to Alabama and showed the calculation for the total number of days of “dead time” as 5 years, 1 month, and 12 days (3 years, 9 months, and 6 days plus 1 year, 4 months, and, 6 days), with a minimum release date of August 18, 2012. (C. 23–25.) ³

The Escambia Circuit Court, the circuit court in the county where Fountain/J.O. Davis Correctional Facility is located, was the proper venue for Writesman's petition for habeas corpus, and it had the authority to issue a writ of habeas corpus. See Ex parte Culbreth, 966 So.2d 910 (Ala.2006). This Court has jurisdiction to consider Writesman's appeal of the circuit court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the DOC's calculation of the time he must serve in prison. See § 12–3–9, Ala.Code 1975 (“The Court of Criminal Appeals shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction of all misdemeanors, ... habeas corpus and all felonies, including all post-conviction writs in criminal cases.”). A petition for a writ of habeas corpus is the proper method by which to test whether the DOC has correctly calculated the time an inmate must serve in prison. See Austin v. Alabama Dep't of Corr., 975 So.2d 398 (Ala.Crim.App.2007). Before an amendment effective September 1, 1999, § 15–22–32, Ala.Code 1975, stated:

“Whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that a prisoner who has been paroled has violated his parole, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, at its next meeting, shall declare such prisoner to be delinquent, and time owed shall date from such delinquency. The warden of each prison shall promptly notify the board of the return of a paroled prisoner charged with violation of his parole. Thereupon, such board, or a single member of such board, shall, as soon as practicable, hold a parole court at such prison or at such other place as it may determine and consider the case of such parole violator, who shall be given an opportunity to appear personally or by counsel before such board and produce witnesses and explain the charges made against him. The board shall, within a reasonable time, act upon such charges and may, if it sees fit, require such prisoner to serve out in prison the balance of the term for...