Under section 558.031.1 (2000) "a person shall receive credit toward the service of a sentence of imprisonment for all time in prison, jail, or custody after the offense occurred and before the commencement of the sentence, when the time in custody was related to that offense." This has been interpreted to mean by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, in Wallingford v. Mo. Dept. of Corrections, that if a defendant is ineligible for bond on a first offense and would have to remain in jail anyway, the the second offense is not related to the first and no credit on the second offense is given for the time served. In this case the defendant was charged with three counts of delivery of controlled substance (offense I) and was convicted on March 17, 2000. His bond for this conviction was set for $200,000.00, which he did not post so he remained in jail pending his appeal. While out on bond and before being convicted on the first offense, the defendant was charged with three additional counts of delivery of controlled substance (offense II). The defendant pled guilty to the second offense on May 11, 2001 and requested credit for the time served from March 17, 2000 to May 11, 2001. The trial court denied the defendant credit and he appealed. The appellate court found that since the defendant was eligible for bond on the first offense (offense I), the second offense (offense II) was related to the first and the defendant was entitled to credit for the time he served. This credit applied to both the first offense (offense I) and the second offense (offense II).
Source: Wallingford v. Mo. Dept. of Corrections, WD66366, (Mo. App. W.D. 03/06/2007)
Comments