Youngworth v. US Parole Com'n, C-C-89-0421-P.

• Decision Date: 11 January 1990
• Docket Number: No. C-C-89-0421-P.,C-C-89-0421-P.
• Citation: 728 F. Supp. 384
• Parties: William YOUNGWORTH, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES PAROLE COMMISSION, Julius Lloyd, Warden of the Mecklenburg County Jail, and the United States Marshal's Service, Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina

728 F. Supp. 384

William YOUNGWORTH, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES PAROLE COMMISSION, Julius Lloyd, Warden of the Mecklenburg County Jail, and the United States Marshal's Service, Respondents.

No. C-C-89-0421-P.

United States District Court, W.D. North Carolina, Charlotte Division.

January 11, 1990.

James F. Wyatt, III, Charlotte, N.C., for petitioner.

Sara L. Pressly, Associate County Atty., Charlotte, N.C., Max Cogburn, Asst. U.S. Atty., Asheville, N.C., for respondents.

ORDER

ROBERT D. POTTER, Chief Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

THIS MATTER is before the Court on a Memorandum and Recommendation (hereinafter "M & R"), filed by United States Magistrate Paul B. Taylor on November 17, 1989.

The Court is required, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, to make a de novo review of those portions of the M & R to which objection is made. The M & R recommended granting Petitioner's habeas corpus motion brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Furthermore, the Magistrate recommended Petitioner be given credit for 476 days towards his federal sentence to reflect the time Petitioner served in the Massachusetts state penitentiary as a result of the U.S. Marshal Service's failure to obtain custody of him. The Government objected to these recommendations. The Court did not believe the record before it adequately reflected whether the state sentencing judges intended the state sentences to run concurrent to the federal sentence imposed by this Court. Hence, a hearing was held on January 5, 1990 to determine this issue. In addition to the hearing, the Court has carefully reviewed the M & R, the numerous pleadings, the entire case record and the applicable record.¹

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

For a complete understanding of this matter, it is necessary to highlight the involved and complex procedural history of this case. The most important factual background is summarized below. A time line of events is attached as Appendix A.

Petitioner was indicted in this district on July 9, 1985 for his participation in a conspiracy to distribute heroin (C-CR-85-64). Thereafter, Petitioner was released on bond and returned to his home state of Massachusetts. On June 24, 1986, Petitioner was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts by state police for unlawfully possessing a firearm. Petitioner was convicted on that charge on July 17, 1986 and sentenced to a term of 2½ years with one year of the sentence to be served in the Massachusetts House of Correction.

On April 6, 1987, Petitioner pleaded guilty to two new federal charges in case C-CR-87-28—failure to appear and committing an offense while on pretrial release. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the charges in C-CR-85-64 were dismissed. On April 8, 1987, Petitioner was sentenced to six years in prison for failing to appear and three consecutive years in prison for committing the offense of carrying a firearm while on pretrial release. The six year sentence for failure to appear was reduced to three years on June 2, 1987 pursuant to a successful Rule 35 motion. The Judgment and Commitment Order (hereinafter "J & C") stated that Petitioner was "committed to the custody of the Attorney General or his authorized representative for imprisonment."

Petitioner was returned to Massachusetts to complete the service of his sentence on the gun charge. On June 21, 1987, Petitioner pleaded guilty to the state charge of attempted escape. He received a sentence of six months imprisonment that was to run consecutive to the current state sentence. On June 23, 1987, Petitioner completed serving the first state sentence. However, the U.S. Marshal Service failed to obtain custody of Petitioner despite several detainers the Service had placed upon Petitioner.

On September 21, 1987, Petitioner completed serving his six month sentence for attempted escape. Thereafter, the Massachusetts Parole Board revoked Petitioner's parole on an earlier unrelated case. Petitioner was ordered to serve an additional six months.

Petitioner was again tried and convicted in Massachusetts on February 4, 1988 on charges of larceny, uttering a forged instrument and forgery. The state court sentenced Petitioner to an additional one year term of imprisonment to run consecutive with the other state charges.

On October 12, 1988, Petitioner completed serving all of his state sentences. Thereafter, the U.S. Marshal Service obtained custody of Petitioner and transferred him to a federal penitentiary to begin the service of his six year federal sentence. The sentence was reduced to three years on March 22, 1989 pursuant to a successful 28 U.S.C. § 2255 action.

This action was filed on November 2, 1989 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2255, and 2201-02. On November 17, 1989, Magistrate Taylor issued an M & R recommending that the relief sought by Petitioner be granted. An objection was timely filed by the Government on December 7, 1989.

III. THE PARTIES' CONTENTIONS

A. Petitioner's Contentions

Petitioner asserts that the U.S. Marshal Service was obligated to take custody of Petitioner on June 23, 1987 when Petitioner completed serving the sentence in connection with the state gun charge. According to Petitioner, the sentences in the three state offenses imposed subsequent to the federal sentence were to run concurrent to the federal sentence. Therefore, Petitioner asserts that the U.S. Marshal Service's negligence caused him to languish in a state penitentiary until October 12, 1988. Petitioner argues that he should have been placed in a federal penitentiary on June 23, 1987 upon completion of the state sentence for the gun charge. Petitioner argues that this failure deprived him of 476 days credit towards his federal sentence.

In support of his contention, Petitioner relies on a series of cases that hold that the U.S. Marshal Service is a ministerial officer. As such, the U.S. Marshal Service has no discretion in deciding whether to obtain custody of a person. Because the J & C from this Court placed Petitioner in the control of the Attorney General, the U.S. Marshal Service was required to obtain custody of Petitioner as soon as he completed serving the state sentence on the gun charge. Arguably, the U.S. Marshal Service's failure to carry out their duty placed a ministerial officer in the position of dictating the length of Petitioner's sentence — a power more arbitrary and capricious than any known in the law. Thus, the manner in which Petitioner's sentence has been executed violates duly established laws of the United States contrary to 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3).²

Petitioner's principal evidence that the state court intended the state sentences to run concurrent to the federal sentence is the affidavit of Mr. Edward Perry (attached as Appendix B). Mr. Perry represented Petitioner before the Boston Municipal Court of Massachusetts on the attempted escape charge. The affidavit states that Mr. Perry entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney that provided that the six month sentence would run concurrent to the federal sentence. However, the affidavit does not state whether the plea agreement was binding on the state court or whether the state J & C reflected that the state sentence was to run concurrent to the federal sentence. Furthermore, Petitioner also relies on his own affidavit that states that the state sentences were to run concurrent to the federal sentence (attached as Appendix C).

At the hearing, Petitioner argued that these two affidavits establish that the state courts intended all three state sentences to run concurrently to the federal sentence. According to Petitioner, the Government's failure to rebut the affidavits shifts the burden of proof to the Government. Because the Government has not produced any record to the contrary, Petitioner believes that the Petition is meritorious.

B. The Government's Contentions

The Government's response to the M & R raises several arguments that the Government believes requires the Court to dismiss the Petition. The arguments are as follows:

(1) The Government argues that the Petition fails to name an essential party to this action — the Bureau of Prisons (hereinafter "BOP"). The Government contends that the BOP and not the U.S. Parole Commission as Petitioner contends is responsible for the computation of sentences. Therefore, it is impossible to grant Petitioner the 476 days of credit recommended by the Magistrate.

(2) The Government attacks the jurisdiction of this Court to hear this matter. The Government argues that Petitioner was brought into this district for reasons unrelated to this matter (the bill of indictment dismissed by this Court last term in C-CR-89-81). Petitioner's assignment for service of his sentence is the Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis. Because the proper court to hear a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 action is the court having jurisdiction over either the Petitioner or his custodian, the Government argues that the Court must decline to handle this matter.

(3) The Government next argues that Petitioner has failed to exhaust all of the administrative remedies available through the BOP.

(4) Finally, the Government contends that 18 U.S.C. § 3568 is applicable to this matter. That statute, now repealed but effective for crimes committed prior to November 1, 1987, provides that a person's federal sentence commences to run from the date on which such person is received at the penitentiary. Accordingly, since Petitioner was not delivered to the federal penitentiary until October 12, 1988, his sentence could not commence to run until then making him ineligible for any days of credit prior to that date. The Government also relies on a 1981 unpublished Fourth Circuit opinion that addresses a factually similar situation.

C. Respondent Julius Lloyd's — Warden of the Mecklenburg County Jail — Contentions

Mr. Lloyd was named as a Respondent in this action because he is the current custodian of Petitioner. The Mecklenburg County Jail houses federal prisoners pursuant to a...