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Showing posts from April, 2020

Presentence Jail Credit Available to Those Serving an Unrelated Term of Imprisonment

State v. Abihai (HSC April 28, 2020) Background. Allan Abihai was serving a life term of imprisonment for offenses committed in 1984. In 2014, Abihai left his facility through the work furlough program and did not return. He was apprehended twenty days later on June 29, 2014. After his arrest he was released on his own recognizance and no bail had been set. He was, however, in custody on the old felonies from the ‘80s. On March 17, 2015, he was formally charged with escape in the 2d degree and rearrested. Bail was set at $10,000. At trial, Abihai raised the choice-of-evils defense and presented evidence that he was afraid of repercussions for testifying in a federal criminal trial involving a prison gang. The jury was instructed on the defense, but convicted him of escape in the 2d degree. Prior to sentencing, the Department of Public Safety submitted a certificate of detention showing 1,032 days of pretrial credit starting from his arrest on June 29, 2014. The circuit court im