Commonwealth v. Holmes

In 1997, Defendant pleaded guilty to a drug-related offense. Defendant was released in 1999 after completing his sentence on that conviction. In 2003, Defendant pleaded guilty to firearm-related offenses. In 2005, while he was incarcerated for his 2003 convictions, Defendant moved to withdraw his guilty plea for the 1997 offense. The motion was allowed, and the 1997 offense was eventually vacated. In 2011, while still incarcerated. Defendant filed a motion seeking credit for the time he had served on the vacated 1997 conviction against the sentences that he was serving on the 2003 convictions. The superior court denied Defendant’s motion, but the Appeals Court granted reversed and granted relief. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the superior court’s order denying Defendant’s motion for credit, holding (1) credit for time served on a vacated conviction cannot be applied against time to be served on new and unrelated sentences; and (2) moreover, allowing credit in this fashion implicates the prohibition against banking time. View "Commonwealth v. Holmes" on Justia Law