People ex rel. Salas v Warden
Annotate this CaseDecided on July 17, 2007
Supreme Court, Bronx County
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, ex rel. JESSE SALAS, Petitioner,
against
Warden, RIKERS ISLAND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY and NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF PAROLE, Respondents.
51377/07
Joseph J. Dawson, J.
Relator Jessie Salas ("Salas") petitions for a Writ of Habeas Corpus on the ground that he is being illegally detained by Respondent Warden due to the failure of Respondent New York State Division of Parole ("Division") to enroll Salas in the Willard Drug Treatment Program. Verified Amended Petition of Eric M. Sokol, Esq. sworn to May 23, 2007 ("Petition") at ¶ 5. The Writ is sustained as set forth below.
On July 7, 2005, Salas was sentenced to a prison term of from two and one-half to five years in Supreme Court, New York County, for Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, Penal Law Section 145.10. Petition, at ¶ 6. On January 24, 2007, Salas was released from prison and put on parole supervision. Affirmation of Andrew Meier, Esq. ("Meier Aff."), Ex. B. On January 28, 2007, Salas was arrested in New York County and sent to Rikers Island pending trial. Meier Aff., at ¶ 5. On January 31, 2007, parole warrant #472788 was lodged against him. Petition, at ¶ 8. On February 15, 2007, Salas pled guilty at a final parole revocation hearing to failing to notify his parole officer of a police contact. Id., at ¶ 9. As a result, his release was revoked and he was restored to parole supervision, conditioned upon his completion of a term of 90 days in the Willard Drug Treatment Program ("Willard"). Meier Aff., Ex. E.
On March 8, 2007, Salas pled guilty to Petit Larceny in New York County and was sentenced to six months incarceration, which was to be served concurrently with the parole matter. Petition, at ¶ 10. Respondents concede that Salas was due to be discharged from prison on the Petit Larceny conviction on May 31, 2007. Meier Aff., at ¶ 9. Apparently, however, Salas has not yet been transferred to Willard and is currently still incarcerated at Rikers pursuant to the parole warrant. Petition, at ¶ 12. [*2]
In response, Respondents contend that the mechanics of transferring a parolee to Willard in this situation are "complex" and require coordination among various state and local agencies. Affirmation of Andrew Meier, Esq. Dated June 13, 2007 ("Meier Aff."), at ¶ 10. Respondents state that three things must occur before a parole violator may be transferred to the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections and then to Willard. First, the Division of Parole must enter the parolees's violation and sentence into NYSPIN. Second, the New York City Department of Corrections must ensure there are no other holds detaining the violator, that is, warrants or open cases. Third, if there are no other holds, then the New York State Department of Corrections will put the parolee's name on a list to transfer the parolee to state prison to be processed before entering into Willard. According to Respondents, this process can take a "matter of weeks" under the best of circumstances. See Meier Aff. at ¶¶ 10-11. In this case, Respondents contend that Salas was not ready to be processed for Willard until June 1, 2007, the day after his prison term for Petit Larceny ended.
The essence of Salas's claim is that he received a six month sentence for Petit Larceny which was to run concurrently with his sentence for the parole violation, and that if he had been promptly enrolled in Willard, he would have been released by now. Petition, at ¶ 12. The problem with this argument, however, is that Willard is not a correctional facility. Correction Law § 70(1) . Accordingly, Salas could not have served his six-month prison term for Petit Larceny at Willard. Rather, Salas had to serve his six-month sentence for Petit Larceny in a correctional facility, and then be transferred to Willard.
Respondents concede that most courts, when faced with a delay in enrolling a parolee into Willard, have sustained the Writ to the extent of directing that the parolee to be transferred to Willard. See Meir Aff., at ¶ 13 and Ex. H.See People ex rel. Cordova v. Warden, (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co. Apr. 28, 1998) (Byrne, J.) (ordering parolee immediately transferred to Willard but refusing to vacate parole warrant even after four month delay); People ex rel. Morejon v. New York State Bd. of Parole, 183 Misc 2d 435, 438-39 (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co. 1999) (Price, J.) (ordering transfer of parolee from custody of New York City Department of Corrections to New York State Division of Parole to determine whether parolee will be placed at Willard after delay of 100 days); People ex rel. Otero v. New York City Dept. of Corrections, (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co. Apr. 14, 1999) (Donnino, J.) (stating vacatur of warrant pursuant to Writ of Habeas Corpus not appropriate remedy for three and one-half month delay in transferring parolee to Willard); People ex rel. Wilson v. New York State Div. of Parole, (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co. Sept. 9, 1997) (Sheindlin, J.) (sustaining Writ to extent of directing that parolee be transferred to Willard within ten days of service of order after delay of "several months"); People ex rel. Berman v. Warden, Rikers Island Correctional Facility, Index No. 51244/05 (Sup. Ct. Bronx Co. May 13, 2005) (Newman, J.) (sustaining Writ unless parolee transferred to Willard within ten days of service of order after delay of approximately five months).
Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the Writ of Habeas Corpus is sustained to the extent that it is hereby ordered that Respondents transfer Salas to Willard within ten business days of service of a copy of this Decision and Order on counsel for Respondents.
The foregoing constitutes the Decision and Order of the Court.
Dated:July 17, 2007
Bronx, New York________________________ [*3]
Joseph J. Dawson, A.S.C.J.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
