United States v. Richard Wilson (503 U.S. 329)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 24, 1992 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 503 U.S. 329 · 112 S. Ct. 1351
- Decided
- March 24, 1992
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. A defendant convicted of a federal crime has a right under 18 U. S. C. § 3585(b) to receive credit for certain time spent in official detention before his sentence begins. In this case, we must decide whether the District Court calculates the credit at the time of sentencing or whether the Attorney General computes it after the defendant has begun to serve his sentence. I In the summer and early fall of 1988, respondent Richard Wilson committed several crimes in Putnam County, Tennessee. The precise details of these crimes do not concern us here. It suffices to state that Tennessee authorities arrested Wilson on October 5, 1988, and held him in jail pending the outcome of federal and state prosecutions. After certain preliminary proceedings, Wilson eventually pleaded guilty to various federal and state criminal charges. On November 29, 1989, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee sentenced Wilson to 96 months’ imprisonment for violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U. S. C. § 1951. The District Court denied Wilson’s request for credit for time served during his presentence state custody. On December 12, 1989, a Tennessee trial court sentenced Wilson to several years’ imprisonment for robbery and two other felonies. In contrast to the District Court, the state court granted Wilson 429 days of credit…
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