A defendant who is committed to jail or prison for at least six days is entitled to earn conduct credits under Penal Code section 4019 if he or she was confined in actual custody on the matter for at least four days awaiting the sentencing or other commitment. The defendant was in custody for five days before he was released on his own recognizance. He ultimately pleaded no contest and was granted probation, to serve 365 days in jail as a condition. The court granted him credit for five days in actual custody, but gave him no conduct credits. The Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of conduct credits. It concluded that Penal Code section 4019, subdivision (e) (“No deduction may be made under this section unless the person is committed for a period of six days or longer”) was the more specific section and thus prevailed over subdivision (f) (“It is the intent of the Legislature that if all days are earned under this section, a term of six days will be deemed to have been served for every four days spent in actual custody”). The Supreme Court held that subdivision (f) makes it clear that a defendant who receives a commitment (i.e., a sentence or other order to serve time in custody) of at least six days is entitled to earn up to two days conduct credits under section 4019, as long as he or she was in actual custody for at least four creditable days at some point prior to the commitment order.
Case Summaries