Waters v. City of New York, 96 N.Y.2d 843 (2001)
The calculation of jail time credit is a continuing, non-discretionary, ministerial obligation, and a proceeding to compel its performance is timely if commenced within four months of the respondent’s refusal to perform its duty upon demand.
Summary
Waters sought a recalculation of his jail time credit, arguing that he was not credited for time spent in custody awaiting trial between 1972 and 1975. The Court of Appeals held that the four-month statute of limitations for bringing a CPLR article 78 proceeding did not begin to run when Waters was initially given jail time credit in 1977. Instead, the obligation to calculate jail time credit is a continuing ministerial duty, and the proceeding was timely because it was commenced within four months of the City Commissioner’s failure to respond to Waters’s 1998 request for recalculation. This case clarifies the ongoing nature of the duty to calculate jail time credit accurately.
Facts
Waters was sentenced in California in 1972 to one year to life. He was extradited to New York in December 1972, convicted of murder, and sentenced to 25 years to life. Waters remained in New York custody until May 19, 1975, when he was returned to California. He was paroled from his California sentence on September 19, 1977, and transferred back to New York custody. The City Department of Correction initially calculated 58 days of jail time credit for Waters.
Procedural History
In 1998, Waters requested a recalculation of his jail time credit from the City Commissioner of Correction to account for the two and one-half years he spent in New York awaiting trial. When the Commissioner did not respond, Waters filed a CPLR article 78 petition in February 1999 against the City and State Commissioners, seeking a recalculation. The Appellate Division dismissed the petition as untimely, reasoning that the four-month statute of limitations began to run in 1977. The Court of Appeals reversed.
Issue(s)
Whether the four-month statute of limitations for commencing a CPLR article 78 proceeding to compel the recalculation of jail time credit began to run when the prisoner was initially given jail time credit, or whether the calculation of jail time credit is a continuing ministerial duty such that the statute of limitations begins to run from the refusal to recalculate upon demand.
Holding
No, because the calculation of jail time credit is a continuing, non-discretionary, ministerial obligation, and the proceeding was timely commenced within four months after the City Commissioner’s refusal to recalculate the jail time credit upon Waters’s demand.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court of Appeals reasoned that Correction Law § 600-a and Penal Law § 70.30(3) impose a continuing, non-discretionary, ministerial duty on the City Commissioner to accurately calculate jail time credit. Penal Law § 70.30(3) states that “the maximum term of an indeterminate sentence imposed on a person shall be credited with and diminished by the amount of time the person spent in custody prior to the commencement of such sentence as a result of the charge that culminated in the sentence.” Citing Matter of Harper v Angiolillo, 89 NY2d 761, 765, the court noted that when a person seeks to compel the performance of a purely ministerial act, relief may be sought through mandamus. The court emphasized that CPLR 217(1) requires such a proceeding to be commenced within four months “after the respondent’s refusal, upon the demand of the petitioner * * * to perform its duty.” Because Waters’s proceeding was commenced within four months of the City Commissioner’s failure to respond to his request for recalculation, it was deemed timely. The court distinguished this situation from cases involving discretionary actions, where the statute of limitations would run from the initial determination. The key point is that the duty to calculate jail time credit is ongoing and can be re-triggered by a demand for recalculation.