State Ex Rel. Linehan v. Wood
Can I rely on this case?
Citation treatment has not been reviewed for this case. The notes below come from the citation graph and the Minnesota Revisor's amendment records, not from a review of how later courts treated this decision.
(as of 9/30/2026)
Last cited by a Minnesota appellate court in 2019, among the opinions in this site’s citation index.
Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
See our Terms of Use before relying on these notes. Report an error
Cases that cite this one
3 later published cases cite this decision.
- State v. Roy (Minn. 2019)
- State of Minnesota v. Armando Jesus Pedraza (Minn. Ct. App. 2015)
- Delahoussaye v. State (S.C. 2006)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
We granted the state’s petition for review in order to decide whether the Court of Appeals erred in awarding a prisoner, Dennis Darol Linehan, credit against his Minnesota sentence for time spent in prison in Michigan for a Michigan offense that Linehan committed after escaping from prison in Minnesota. We reverse the Court of Appeals and reinstate the decision of the trial court.
Linehan pleaded guilty in 1965 to kidnapping. The charge was based on Linehan’s taking a 14-year-old girl from her home for the purpose of raping her. During the course of that crime, Linehan strangled the girl, causing her death. Linehan was sentenced to a 40-year prison term, with a scheduled expiration date of October 28, 1992. In 1975 Linehan escaped from Still-water and went to Michigan, where he was convicted of attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl and was sentenced to a concurrent term of 6½ to 10 years. Minnesota authorities declined to extradite Linehan and try him for escape but did file a detainer. In 1980, after completing his Michigan term, Linehan was returned to Minnesota to finish his Minnesota sentence, now with a scheduled expiration date that was revised upward to take account of the time between his escape from and return to prison in Minnesota.
In 1985 Linehan petitioned for habeas corpus seeking credit against his Minnesota sentence for time served in prison in Michigan. The trial court denied the petition, relying on State v. Willis, 376 N.W.2d 427 (Minn. 1985); State v. Brown, 348 N.W.2d 743 (Minn. 1984); and State v. Bentley, 329 N.W.2d 39 (Minn. 1983).
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, reversed, relying primarily on State v. Dulski, 363 N.W.2d 307 (Minn. 1985). State ex rel. Linehan v. Wood, 394 N.W.2d 152 (Minn.App. 1986). The dissent argued that the cases relied upon by the trial court controlled. 394 N.W.2d at 155-56.
We believe that the trial court was correct in concluding that under Willis, Brown and Bentley, Linehan is not entitled to credit for time spent in prison in Michigan.
Reversed and decision of trial court reinstated.
Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.