Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland

My fiancee went to court for reconsideration/ modification of his sentence and he went for an 8505 review. The 8505 for drug and substance use was first approved and then the day before court the supervisor of the DHHS denied the problem. Now my fiancee had a history of drug problems and thus is the reason he has been jail. Currently, he is served 5 1/2 years on sentence 15 yrs plus 18 months plus 3 1/2 years all consecutive totaling 20 yrs. He currently has over 7 years of good conduct credit days because of all the programs and work he has done.

My first question is there a way to request another 8505 review because we do not agree with the previous one? It stated that the review was to be done and submitted to the court a week after the interview they took an month and submitted it the day prior to court.

Next, the judge made mention in court and on record that my fiancee's sentence was concurrent yet the court documents say consecutive which is the difference from serving 15 yrs and 20 yrs.

Is there a motion that we can submit to get this changed. The judge himself said he would not modify the sentence that he gave him concurrent and yet it is not correct. I paid to get the court documents and his original sentence as consecutive and yet the recent hearing the judge said concurrent.

I would like to know what can be done to help him out.

His original release date was 2/15/2025 now with his good conduct days its 8/30/2018

That is 7 more years is there anything that can be done. In Feb 15 he will have served 6 years day for day plus the 7 years good conduct credit. That leaves 7 years. The court has ordered him to be on 5 years probation.

He has been seen before Judge Eric Johnson. Who spoke very well of my fiancee and stated that he would not be serving as much time as he thought he would be because the sentence is concurrent. He said the only reason he didn't modify the sentence was because he was sentence under the guidelines already and he did that because he didn't believe that the guidelines were right for him. It is clear the judge even believes he should be released soon is there a way to get the consecutive changed to concurrent? which would make him eligible for parole?

Please any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Need Help!!!


Asked on 8/03/10, 5:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Welch William L. Welch, III Attorney

Your fianc�'s lawyer or your fianc� may make a motion to correct the errors you described. You should also know that there are more people who are evaluated pursuant to HG 8-505 and committed to DHMH for treatment pursuant to HG 8-507 than there are slots available. This backlog has resulted in people remaining in prison despite parole eligibility and other credits in order to wait for an available slot to complete the court ordered treatment. In other words an 8-505 can backfire and keep a person incarcerated even longer. Some people with persistent addictions do not care how long they have to wait in prison for treatment. To some others incarceration makes a difference.

Read more
Answered on 8/08/10, 6:37 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Maryland