Griffin v. State
Griffin v. State
Opinion of the Court
Roderick Griffin sought 638 days of credit for time spent incarcerated before sentencing by way of a motion for credit filed in the
In light of the district court’s concerns, we have revisited our decision in Pangallo, and we now overrule that decision to the extent that it holds that a claim for credit for presentence incarceration is a challenge to the computation of time served. Rather, we now conclude that a claim for credit for presentence incarceration is a challenge to the validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence, which may be raised on direct appeal or in a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus complying with the statutory procedures governing petitions that challenge the validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence. We further conclude that the district court properly determined that Griffin had not demonstrated that he was entitled to the credit that he sought.
FACTS
On March 14, 1998, Griffin, incarcerated pursuant to a Nevada judgment of conviction, escaped from custody at the Pioche Conservation Camp.
Griffin asserted that the State of Nevada lodged a detainer on July 26, 2002, while he was incarcerated in California. Some time after the California conviction was entered, Griffin was transported to Nevada for criminal proceedings on the escape charges. Griffin entered a guilty plea to one count of escape on June 13, 2003, and was sentenced on August 8, 2003, to a term of twenty-four to sixty months in the Nevada State Prison. The district court ordered the term to run consecutively to all prior terms. The judgment of conviction entered on August 25, 2003, specifically provided:
Griffin has been in Nevada 141 days. Griffin was extradited to Nevada under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, having been arrested and placed in custody in California pursuant to charges filed in that state. The Nevada Department of Corrections was notified of his arrest in California and immediately began giving Griffin credit on the term of imprisonment in Case No. C63285 [the Eighth Judicial District Court case]. Therefore, the instant judgment of conviction does not give Griffin credit for time served in Case No. CR-0411003 in the Seventh Judicial District Court as he is receiving credit for the time served in Case No. C63285 in the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada.
It appears that Griffin was then returned to California to finish serving his four-year sentence. Griffin claimed that on August 10, 2004, he was returned to the State of Nevada to serve his remaining time on the Clark County sentence, and “in addition to serve his sentence for the escape charge/conviction.’ ’
On April 15, 2005, Griffin filed a proper person motion for credit for presentence incarceration in the Seventh Judicial District Court, the district court for the county in which he was convicted.
DISCUSSION
In Pangallo, this court determined that a claim for presentence credit was a challenge to the computation of time served, and
Different statutory procedures apply to petitions that challenge the validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence and petitions that challenge the computation of time served. NRS 34.738(1) provides that a petition that challenges the validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence “must be filed with the clerk of the district court for the county in which the conviction occurred.” Under NRS 34.730(3), a petition that challenges the validity of the judgment of conviction or sentence must also be filed with the record of the original proceeding to which it relates and be assigned to the original judge or court, whenever possible. In contrast, any other petition, including a petition that challenges the computation of time served, must be filed as a separate action “with the clerk of the district court for the county in which the petitioner is incarcerated.”
These distinctions between the two types of petitions raise a procedural dilemma under our holding in Pangallo. Because the judgment of conviction is required to set forth the exact amount of credit for presentence incarceration, the remedy for a claim that a petitioner did not receive the proper amount of credit is to amend the judgment of conviction to include the proper amount of credit.
Another distinction between the two types of petitions pertains to who must respond to the petition. NRS 34.730(2) requires service of a petition upon the attorney general when that petition challenges the computation of time served, while a petition that challenges the validity of the judgment of conviction must be served upon both the attorney general and the district attorney in the county in which the petitioner was convicted. NRS 34.745(2) further provides that the attorney general only responds to a petition that challenges the computation of time served. However, either the district attorney or attorney general may be ordered to respond to a petition that challenges the validity of the judgment of conviction or sentence.
The language of NRS 34.724 also suggests that a claim for pre-sentence credit was never intended to be interpreted as a challenge to the computation of time served. NRS 34.724(2)(c) provides that a petition for a writ of habeas corpus “ [i] s the only remedy available to an incarcerated person to challenge the computation of time that he has served pursuant to a judgment of conviction.”
Another significant distinction between the two types of petitions involves the procedural time bar. Pursuant to NRS 34.726(1), the procedural time bar applies to “a petition that challenges the validity of a judgment or sentence.” It does not, however, apply to a petition that challenges the computation of time served.
Pangallo’s characterization of a claim for presentence credit as a challenge to the computation of time served has been further called into question by this court’s recent holding in Johnson v. State.
Having thoroughly reviewed the relevant procedural statutes and case law, we conclude that Pangallo was improvidently decided. Therefore, we overrule Pangallo to the extent that it holds that a claim for presentence credit is a challenge to the computation of time served. Rather, we now hold that a claim for presentence credit is a claim challenging the validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence.
Because our decision in this respect was unforeseeable, we further conclude it will not apply to Griffin because he was not aware that he was required to follow the additional procedures required by our ruling to properly set forth his claim for review. Henceforth, however, a claim for presentence credit should be raised on direct appeal or in a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed in compliance with the requirements set forth in NRS chapter 34. Notably, a defendant seeking presentence credit by way of a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus must file the petition in the district court for the county in which the defendant was convicted and verify the petition.
Because our decision overruling Pangallo has prospective effect only, we have reviewed the merits of Griffin’s claim for presen-tence credit. We conclude that Griffin did not demonstrate that he was entitled to the credit that he sought in the instant case. NRS 176.055(2)(b) provides that a defendant convicted of a subsequent offense which was committed while he was “[i]mprisoned in . . . state prison ... is not eligible for any credit on the sentence for the subsequent offense for the time he has spent in confinement which is within the period of the prior sentence.” Griffin was in custody and serving a term of imprisonment when he committed the instant offense of escape. Thus, he was not entitled to any credit in this case for time spent in confinement within the period of his prior sentence. The district court expressly determined that Griffin was given credit on the prior sentence, and Griffin did not demonstrate that he did not receive the full amount of credit that he was entitled to.
We overrule this court’s decision in Pangallo to the extent that it holds that a claim for presentence credit is a challenge to the computation of time served. Rather, we now conclude that a claim for presentence credit is a challenge to the validity of the judgment of conviction and sentence. The claim may be raised on direct appeal or in a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus in compliance with the procedural requirements of NRS chapter 34. We affirm the order of the district court denying the motion for credit because Griffin did not demonstrate that he was entitled to the credit sought.
112 Nev. 1533, 930 P.2d 100 (1996).
120 Nev. 296, 298 & n.4, 89 P.3d 669, 670 & n.4 (2004).
Griffin was in custody at the Pioche Conservation Camp pursuant to a judgment of conviction from the Eighth Judicial District Court. Although the record does not contain a copy of that judgment of conviction, Griffin’s subsequent 2003 Lincoln County judgment of conviction states that he escaped from custody at the Pioche Conservation Camp after having been convicted and sentenced in Case No. 63285 in the Eighth Judicial District for the felony offenses of attempted possession of a stolen vehicle, robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, burglary, and attempted burglary.
Griffin was incarcerated at the Nevada State Prison in the First Judicial District Court at the time that he filed his motion.
112 Nev. at 1535, 930 P.2d at 102. NRS 34.724(2)(c) provides that a post-conviction petition for a writ of habeas corpus “[i]s the only remedy available to an incarcerated person to challenge the computation of time that he has served pursuant to a judgment of conviction.”
NRS 34.738(1); NRS 34.730(3).
See NRS 176.105(1)(d) (providing that the judgment of conviction must set forth “[t]he exact amount of credit granted for time spent in confinement before conviction, if any”).
NRS 3.220 (providing that the district court judges possess equal coextensive and concurrent jurisdiction and power); Rohlfing v. District Court, 106 Nev. 902, 906, 803 P.2d 659, 662 (1990) (recognizing that district court judges lack the jurisdiction to review acts of other district court judges).
NRS 34.738(2), (3).
Compare NRS 34.745(1), with NRS 34.745(2).
106 Nev. 75, 79, 787 P.2d 396, 398 (1990).
The rebuttable presumption of laches, set forth in NRS 34.800(2), also only applies to a petition that challenges the validity of a judgment of conviction and sentence.
As discussed earlier, pursuant to NRS 176.105(1)(d), the judgment of conviction is required to set forth the exact amount of presentence credit.
Id. at 297-98, 89 P.3d at 669-70. Johnson was convicted of two counts of uttering a forged instrument (counts 1 and 2) and one count of principal to commit uttering a forged instrument (count 3). Johnson was sentenced to concurrent terms of twelve to forty-eight months and eighteen to forty-eight months for counts 1 and 2 and a consecutive term of eighteen to forty-eight months for count 3. The district court ordered that credit of 128 days should be applied to only count 1.
Id. at 298 n.4, 89 P.3d at 670 n.4 (citing Franklin v. State, 110 Nev. 750, 877 P.2d 1058 (1994), overruled on other grounds by Thomas v. State, 115 Nev. 148, 979 P.2d 222 (1999)).
See NRS 34.730(1); NRS 34.738(1).
See NRS 34.726(1).
See id.
See Hathaway v. State, 119 Nev. 248, 252-54, 71 P.3d 503, 506-07 (2003) (holding that a claim that was reasonably available to a petitioner during the one-year period must be raised within that period or the petitioner must demonstrate good cause for the failure to do so).
See NRS 176.105(1)(d).
See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984); Warden v. Lyons, 100 Nev. 430, 683 P.2d 504 (1984).
See NRS 34.810(1)(a) (limiting the scope of a habeas corpus petition challenging a judgment of conviction based upon a guilty plea to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and challenges to the validity of the guilty plea); NRS 34.810(1)(b) (providing that a petitioner must demonstrate good cause for raising a claim in a habeas corpus petition that could have been raised on direct appeal).
See NRS 34.735; Hargrove v. State, 100 Nev. 498, 686 P.2d 222 (1984).
Reference
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- RODERICK GRIFFIN v. THE STATE OF NEVADA
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- Published