by Jess Taylor
WOODLAND – An inmate at the Monroe Detention addressed those in a Yolo County Superior Courtroom here Monday about a letter he had issued to the courthouse, where he insists his listed release date, and credits, are incorrect.
In fact, all participants in the review for the defendant there seemed to have different dates for when their prison release is set.
Judge Paul Richardson, Deputy Public Defender Lisa Lance, and Probation Officer Flores were not given copies of the defendant’s letter to the courthouse, which created confusion among the parties.
Given permission to address the court orally, the defendant explained that their sentence was six years and four months. This sentencing came after pleading no contest to charges of burglary, grand theft auto, and writing worthless checks back in 2017.
While serving their sentence, the defendant was notified that they had 40 months remaining in their prison sentence but believed they had only 111 days left until their release because of their good time credits.
According to the defendant’s statement, their release date should have been in April of 2020, but their completion date is set sometime in 2024. The prosecution had estimated that theirs was set for release in 2024, while PD Lance believed it to be in June of 2021.
There was a long conversation between the judge and public defender as to what the letter to the courthouse contained. The two of them seemed slightly aggravated to not have received copies for the defendant’s review. Without it, it was difficult for those in the courtroom to see the discrepancies that the defendant said are listed in their letter—of which they said there were quite a few during their statement.
After some time trying to delegate the next steps, the prosecution suggested that probation be contacted to send a memorandum regarding the defendant’s credits and release date. Judge Richardson agreed with this suggestion, mentioning that probation is much more organized with their records and will have a more accurate release date.
The court will reconvene to address this issue when probation responds, in about three to four weeks.
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