Beecroft v. People

In Beecroft v. People, 874 P.2d 1041 (Colo. 1994), the defendant sought presentence confinement credit for time spent in a drug treatment program as a condition of a suspended sentence. The supreme court initially noted that, because time spent in jail, in a DOC facility, or as a resident in a community correctional facility substantially limits an individual's liberty, an offender is entitled to presentence credit for the period he or she was confined. The court stated further that an offender serving in a community correctional facility as a nonresident, like an offender serving a sentence of probation, is not entitled to presentence confinement credit because the offender "enjoys a degree of liberty that enables him to do a wide range of things open to persons who have never been convicted of any crime, including the freedom to be gainfully employed and to be with family and friends and to form the other enduring attachments of normal life." Beecroft v. People, supra, 874 P.2d at 1046. Thus, the court found that, because time spent in a drug treatment program is analogous to probation or non-residential status at a community corrections facility, and not analogous to confinement in a jail, DOC, or residential community corrections facility, the defendant there was not entitled to presentence confinement credit under 16-11-306. Beecroft v. People, supra.