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Summary 2009 WY 49

Summary of Decision issued April 8, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Hernandez v. State

Citation: 2009 WY 49

Docket Number: S-08-0229

Appeal from the District Court of Natrona County, the Honorable W. Thomas Sullins, Judge.

Representing Appellant Hernandez: Mark Hernandez, pro se.

Representing Appellee State: Bruce A. Salzburg, Wyoming Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Jenny L. Craig, Assistant Attorney General.

Facts/Discussion: Hernandez appeals the denial of a motion to correct an illegal sentence and seeks credit for pre-sentence confinement. Hernandez was sentenced for the felony crime of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. As a result, he was an inmate at the CRC in Casper. He later was charged with failing to return to CRC after a work assignment and received a sentence to run concurrently with the drug conspiracy.

A criminal defendant is entitled to credit against his sentence for the time he was incarcerated prior to sentencing, provided that the confinement was due to his inability and failure to post bond for which he was awaiting disposition. As in the instant case, a defendant is not entitled to credit for time spent in custody when his confinement would have continued despite his ability to post bond.

Conclusion: The district court did not err in denying Hernandez?s motion because he was not entitled to credit against his sentence for pre-sentence confinement.

Affirmed.

C.J. Voigt delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/bvhdzf .

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. Please note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you pinpoint cite to a quote, you should cite to this paragraph number rather than to any page number. If you need assistance in putting together a citation using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library.]

Full post as published by Law Library Letter on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).