New Case on “Commit No Criminal Offense” Probation Violations Involving a Pending Charge

State v. Hancock, decided this week by the court of appeals, sheds new light on violations of the commit no criminal offense probation condition involving a pending charge. Brian Hancock was sentenced to five years of probation for an offense committed back in 2011. In 2013, his probation officer filed violation reports alleging about a dozen violations. Most of violations were technical violations (things other than a new crime or absconding), including a “not use, possess or control any illegal drug or controlled substance” violation alleged on February 8, 2013. Another violation report, filed on March 27, 2013, alleged (among other things) a violation of the commit no criminal offense condition, referencing the defendant’s pending charges for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, and other crimes—charges that likely arose out of the probation search conducted on February 7 and mentioned in the February 8 violation report. Over two years later, Mr. Hancock had a violation hearing. By then, the probation officer who had filed the violation reports had retired. So, another officer read the violations into the record. The judge found all of the alleged violations (except for an absconding violation, but that’s not important for today’s discussion). The court also checked the box on the AOC-CR-607 indicating that “[e]ach violation is, in and of itself, a sufficient basis upon which this court should revoke probation and activate the suspended sentence.” The judge revoked probation and activated the defendant’s 15–18 month sentence. The defendant appealed. He argued that the trial [...]