Filed: Nov. 28, 2011
Latest Update: Feb. 22, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 10-15960 NOVEMBER 28, 2011 Non-Argument Calendar JOHN LEY _ CLERK D.C. Docket No. 5:08-cv-00279-WTH-DAB JULIAN BUTLER, Petitioner-Appellant, versus WARDEN, FCC COLEMAN - MEDIUM, Respondent-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (November 28, 2011) Before EDMONDSON, BARKETT and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 10-15960 NOVEMBER 28, 2011 Non-Argument Calendar JOHN LEY _ CLERK D.C. Docket No. 5:08-cv-00279-WTH-DAB JULIAN BUTLER, Petitioner-Appellant, versus WARDEN, FCC COLEMAN - MEDIUM, Respondent-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (November 28, 2011) Before EDMONDSON, BARKETT and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:..
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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 10-15960
NOVEMBER 28, 2011
Non-Argument Calendar
JOHN LEY
________________________ CLERK
D.C. Docket No. 5:08-cv-00279-WTH-DAB
JULIAN BUTLER,
Petitioner-Appellant,
versus
WARDEN, FCC COLEMAN - MEDIUM,
Respondent-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
________________________
(November 28, 2011)
Before EDMONDSON, BARKETT and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Julian Butler, a pro se federal prisoner, appeals the district court’s denial of
his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
Construing Butler’s brief liberally, he contends that the district court erred in
refusing to modify his federal sentence to reflect the time that he spent in state
prison. Below, Butler asserted that he was entitled to a nunc pro tunc designation
stating that his federal sentence commenced on either of the dates he was
sentenced in state or federal court, rather than the day he was turned over to
federal authorities after having served his state sentence. Alternatively, Butler
argued that, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b), the district court should have credited
his federal sentence with the amount of time he spent in state custody beyond his
state sentence.
Like other questions of law, we review de novo the availability of habeas
relief under § 2241. Darby v. Hawk-Sawyer,
405 F.3d 942, 944 (11th Cir. 2005).
“A sentence to a term of imprisonment commences on the date the defendant is
received in custody awaiting transportation to, or arrives voluntarily to commence
service of sentence at, the official detention facility at which the sentence is to be
served.” 18 U.S.C. § 3585(a).
However, when the federal government takes possession of a state prisoner
pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum, the state’s custody is not
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interrupted, and thus the prisoner’s federal sentence does not begin to run until he
is turned over to federal authorities after having served his state sentence. See
Causey v. Civiletti,
621 F.2d 691, 693 (5th Cir. 1980) (“The law is clear in this
Circuit that, if a defendant is in state custody and he is turned over to federal
officials for federal prosecution, the state government’s loss of jurisdiction is only
temporary . . . A writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum is only a ‘loan’ of the
prisoner to another jurisdiction for criminal proceedings in the receiving
jurisdiction.”); see also United States v. Evans,
159 F.3d 908, 912 (4th Cir. 1998)
(“A federal sentence does not begin to run, however, when a prisoner in state
custody is produced for prosecution in federal court pursuant to a federal writ of
habeas corpus ad prosequendum. Rather, the state retains primary jurisdiction over
the prisoner, and federal custody commences only when the state authorities
relinquish the prisoner on satisfaction of the state obligation.”).
The manner in which a state chooses to impose and execute its sentences does
not affect the sovereign right of the United States to impose and execute its sentences
in the manner deemed appropriate by the federal courts and federal authorities. See,
e.g., Finch v. Vaughn,
67 F.3d 909, 915 (11th Cir. 1995) (collecting cases). When
computing a federal sentence:
[a] defendant shall be given credit toward the service of a term of
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imprisonment for any time he has spent in official detention prior to the date
the sentence commences –
(1) as a result of the offense for which the sentence was imposed; or
(2) as a result of any other charge for which the defendant was arrested
after the commission of the offense for which the sentence was
imposed;
that has not been credited against another sentence.
18 U.S.C. § 3585(b). A prisoner cannot, however, receive double credit for detention
time. See Dawson v. Scott,
50 F.3d 884, 887 n.4 (11th Cir. 1995).
Here, the court did not err in denying Butler’s nunc pro tunc request that his
federal sentence be made retroactive to any date earlier than July 21, 2006.
Because Butler was not in federal custody until that date, and the sentencing court
ordered that his sentence run consecutive to any state sentence, the district court
properly concluded that Butler’s sentence should be calculated beginning on that
date.
However, the district court was bound to calculate a sentence in accordance
with 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b). Because Butler was arrested on the state charges after
commission of the federal offense, if he was detained without credit towards any
sentence prior to serving his federal sentence, he would be entitled to credit on his
federal sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b)(2). In this case, though the record
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indicates that Butler received a total sentence of 30.3 months’ imprisonment, the
record does not clearly show what sentences Butler received in each of his four
concurrent state judgments. Because the length of one particular sentence – case
number CRC0207264CFANO – will affect whether Butler is entitled to credit on
his federal sentence, we vacate and remand with instructions to expand the record
and calculate any potential uncredited days of detention.
AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART.
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