Caton v. State

Defendant was convicted of burglary with habitual criminal enhancement and sentenced to ten to twenty years’ imprisonment with credit for time served. The State discharged Defendant from the custody of the Department of Correctional Services after erroneously calculating good time on the ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. The district court granted the State’s motion to secure an arrest warrant, and Defendant was subsequently brought back into the Department’s custody. Defendant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that in calculating his mandatory discharge date, the Department’s reliance on State v. Castilla violated the prohibition against ex post facto laws. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the State. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Department did not violate Defendant’s due process rights when it calculated his mandatory discharge date in accordance with the calculation method set forth in Castillas. View "Caton v. State" on Justia Law