Does the Mandatory Sentence for Driving Under Influence Include a Credit for Time Served Voluntarily In Inpatient Alcohol Rehabilitation ?

In Commonwealth v. Conahan, 527 Pa. 199, 589 A.2d 1107 (Pa. 1991), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that the mandatory sentence for driving under the influence, 75 Pa.C.S. 3731, did not preclude a credit for time served voluntarily in inpatient alcohol rehabilitation. Conahan, 589 A.2d at 1110. However, the underlying crime in Conahan was not DUS but DUI, which, as the Court noted, is specifically exempted from the requirement that IP be prohibited where a mandatory minimum sentence exists. 589 A.2d at 1110 n.1. See also 42 Pa.C.S. 9763 (c) (stating that a defendant convicted of DUI may be sentenced to IP in a residential inpatient program or residential rehabilitation center or by house arrest or electronic surveillance combined with drug and alcohol treatment). Likewise, Decker, Mincone, and Cozzone are distinguishable because the underlying crimes in those cases are DUI violations. Decker, 640 A.2d at 1322; Mincone, 592 A.2d at 1375; Cozzone, 593 A.2d at 861. Similarly, Shartle is not a DUS case. Shartle, 652 A.2d at 877 (concluding trial court did not err in denying defendant credit against her sentence for reckless endangerment for time spent under house arrest prior to preliminary hearing).