| People ex rel. Bleiwas v Commissioner of Correctional Servs. |
| 2005 NY Slip Op 05352 [19 AD3d 899] |
| June 23, 2005 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| The People of the State of New York ex rel. Michael Bleiwas, Appellant, v Commissioner of Correctional Services, Respondent. |
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Peters, J. Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (LaBuda, J.), entered May 20, 2004 in Sullivan County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 70, without a hearing.
Following his 1990 conviction upon his plea of guilty to second degree assault, petitioner was sentenced, in absentia, to a prison term of 2
Respondent issued petitioner various credits for time already served for prior periods of incarceration, including a "prior time credit" reflecting his incarceration for the 1999 indeterminate sentence and applied to his 1990 2
For purposes of determining parole eligibility, Penal Law § 70.30 (1) (a) provides that inmates serving concurrent indeterminate sentences may receive credit against the minimum terms of those sentences for any time served thereunder (see Matter of Latham v New York State Dept. of Correctional Servs., 296 AD2d 675, 675-676 [2002]; People ex rel. Ternaku v Lefevre, 58 AD2d 932, 932 [1977]; see also People v Richardson, 100 NY2d 847, 850, 852 n [2003]). Contrary to petitioner's assertions, there is no requirement, nor was there one under the Penal Law in operation at the time petitioner's 1990 sentence was imposed, that this credit be applied against his maximum prison term as well. Then, as now, maximum terms of imprisonment are satisfied only "by discharge of the term which has the longest unexpired time to run" (Penal Law § 70.30 [1] [a]). In this regard, petitioner's claim that respondent's computation had the effect of converting the minimum and maximum components of his indeterminate 1990 sentence into two consecutive terms totaling in excess of nine years is unfounded and based upon a fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning of these terms within the Penal Law's sentencing provisions (see e.g. Donnino, Practice Commentary, McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book 39, Penal Law § 70.30, at 327-330). Inasmuch as we discern no error in respondent's calculation of petitioner's conditional release and maximum expiration dates and conclude that he received all of the credits to which he was entitled, we decline to disturb Supreme Court's judgment. We have examined petitioner's remaining arguments, including his contention that Supreme Court improperly issued its ruling without considering his reply papers, and determined that they are equally meritless.
Cardona, P.J., Spain, Carpinello and Mugglin, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.