New York Court Orders the Release of a Man Illegally Imprisoned

A New York court has mandated the release of a man who was imprisoned for violating release conditions that were illegally imposed on him by the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS).

Joaquin Brunson, while imprisoned at New York’s Five Points Correctional Facility, filed a petition in the Seneca County Supreme Court to vacate the five years of post-release supervision (PRS) illegally imposed on him by the DOCS. The court granted his petition on May 13, 2008, ordering the DOCS to release him immediately.

Pleading guilty to three counts of robbery, Brunson had been sentenced to three concurrent terms of five years each on October 5, 2000. The DOCS administratively imposed the PRS before Brunson was released from prison on August 9, 2004. On April 9, 2007, he was returned to prison for violating the terms of his PRS.

The supreme court, in granting the petition, held that PRS is statutory, and “... is a judicial function that can only be [imposed] by the sentencing judge.” The respondent argued that since PRS is statutorily mandated in Brunson’s case, the case must be remanded back to the sentencing court for resentencing. The supreme court stated that Brunson was being illegally detained, and therefore, the court was mandated by statute to release him.

However, the court did not preclude Brunson from being resentenced to PRS, stating that the burden was “… upon the Attorney General, or the District Attorney of the sentencing county, to provide notice of the error to the sentencing court.” See: People ex rel. Brunson v. Lempke, 20 Misc. 3d 316 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2008), 2008 NY Misc. LEXIS 2780.

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