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Parole Legal Updates

HOWES, WARDEN v. FIELDS
Respondent Fields, a Michigan state prisoner, was escorted from his prison cell by a corrections officer to a conference room where he was questioned by two sheriff’s deputies about criminal activity he had allegedly engaged in before coming to prison. At no time was Fields given Miranda warnings or advised that he did not have to speak with the deputies. As relevant here: Fields was questioned for between five and seven hours; Fields was told more than once that he was free to leave and return to his cell; the deputies were armed, but Fields remained free of restraints; the conference room door was sometimes open and sometimes shut; several times during the inter- view Fields stated that he no longer wanted to talk to the deputies, but he did not ask to go back to his cell; after Fields confessed and the interview concluded, he had to wait an additional 20 minutes for an escort and returned to his cell well after the hour when he generally retired. more >

AB 109
In earlier 2011, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assembly Bill (AB) 109 and AB 117, historic legislation that will enable California to close the revolving door of low-level inmates cycling in and out of state prisons. It is the cornerstone of California’s solution for reducing the number of inmates in the state’s 33 prison to 137.5 percent of design capacity by June 27, 2013, as ordered by the Three-Judge Court and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. All provisions of AB 109 and AB 117 are prospective and implementation of the 2011 Realignment Legislation will begin October 1, 2011. No inmates currently in state prison will be transferred to county jails or released early. more >

Valdivia Remedial Plan For Parole Revocation
In compliance with a federal judge's order in the case of Valdivia v. Schwarzenegger (previously Valdivia v. Davis), the state recently submitted a plan to reform the parole revocation process. The court found that the current system unfairly denied parole violators their rights to a probable cause hearing and a speedy trial. We believe that the implementation of this plan will generate significant costs for the state and possibly for local governments, as well. We recommend that the California Department of Corrections and the Board of Prison Terms report to the Legislature on the full fiscal impacts of this plan. more >

The Hunter Decision
Hunter argued that the trial court erred in denying a motion to suppress evidence seized in a warrantless search of his storage unit while he was incarcerated for parole violations, but before his parole was formally revoked. Hunter also argued that inculpatory statements he made to a police detective after learning that items had been seized from the storage unit should have been suppressed as the product of the warrantless search. more >

Samson v California
This case was decided by the United States Supreme Court on June 19, 2006. The court upheld the State of California's standard for parole searches. The Reyes decision is the standard in California for Parole searches. Officers do not need probable cause nor reasonable suspicion to conduct a parole search. This type of search is not a violation of the parolee's fourth amendment rights. more >

People v. Baker
While conducting a parole search of a vehicle, may officers search a woman’s purse if the parolee was a man? FACTS: During a traffic stop in Kern County, an officer learned that the driver was on parole. Having decided to conduct a parole search of the vehicle, he asked the passenger, Wendy Baker, to exit. When Baker stepped from the car, she left her purse on the floorboard. In the course of the search, the officer searched the purse and found methamphetamine. Baker was arrested for possession. more >

Original Crawford Decision Overturned Decision