WPCx >?/F/XBxu ^8-?߻*iyžf:):Ko! N eΝ)W/F N2nwir9R;#~:KZeP,6GU♉M|0 6gKt3Q%Ά^:&x-;t !!JWU̘'e #fN*-ȱZe5`m2_1p^>l椹v    0      8   )  DavidsonChancery ,$    0      8   )  No.972957III   TENNESSEEDEPARTMENTOF  )   @      H!  #    CORRECTION,     8   )     0      8   )   Respondent/Appellee. 8   )  @U U APPEALEDFROMTHECHANCERYCOURTOFDAVIDSONCOUNTY \T @#ATNASHVILLE,TENNESSEE B: @ THEHONORABLEELLEN_HOBBS_ԀLYLE,CHANCELLOR  MICKEYA.BROWN   #130138 r!j NortheastCorrectionalCenter X"P P.O.Box5000 >#6 MountainCity,Tennessee37683 $$   ProSe/Petitioner/Appellant  %! PAULG.SUMMERS &# AttorneyGeneralandReporter ' $ MICHAELL._HAYNIE_ )"& AssistantAttorneyGeneral n*f#' 425FifthAvenueNorth T+L$( Nashville,Tennessee372430488 :,2%)  AttorneyforRespondent/Appellee  -&* @$AFFIRMEDANDREMANDED 0).   0      8     BENH._CANTRELL_, P4H-2   0      8     PRESIDINGJUDGE,M.S. 65..3 CONCUR: 706 KOCH,J. 817 CAIN,J.  928 _ XX@tt(OPINION XXԈ    0 ATennesseeprisoninmatefiledaPetitionforaDeclaratoryJudgment,   insistingthathewasentitledtobeimmediatelyreleasedbecauseoftheearlier h ` expirationofaconcurrentFloridasentence.Thetrialcourtdismissedthepetitionfor 4, failuretostateaclaim.Weaffirm.   @- I.      0 MickeyBrownwasservinga30yearsentenceinaFloridaprison.In <4 1985,hewasextraditedtoTennesseetofacechargesrelatedtoanincidentthathad  occurredin1979(therecorddoesnotrevealwhetherhewasonparoleatthetimeof  the1979offense).Pursuanttoapleaagreement,hepledguiltytoassaultwithintent  tocommitmurder,andwassentencedtotwentyyearsinprison,withthesentenceto ld beservedconcurrentlywithhisFloridasentence. 8!0   0 TheTennesseesentencewasorderedtobeginonthedayhesignedthe $  pleaagreement,July26,1985.Mr.BrownwasreturnedtoFloridatocontinueserving &" bothsentences.WhentheFloridasentenceexpiredonDecember3,1991,Mr.Brown h(`!$ wasreturnedtoTennesseetoserveouttheremainderofhistwentyyearsentence. 4*,#&   0 OnSeptember3,1997,Mr.BrownpetitionedtheDepartmentof -&* Correctionforadeclaratoryorder,askingtobereleasedfromcustody.Heargued /(, thatitwasaviolationofhispleaagreementforTennesseetoimprisonhimafterhe d1\*. hadcompletedhisFloridasentence.Thepetitionwasdenied. 03(,0   0 HethenfiledaPetitionforDeclaratoryJudgmentintheChanceryCourt 6/4 ofDavidsonCounty,pursuanttoTenn.CodeAnn.45225.Thecourtfoundhis 816 argumentstobewithoutmerit,andonMay26,1998,itdismissedthepetitionfor  failuretostateaclaimuponwhichreliefcanbegranted.Thisappealfollowed.  @- II.  l d   0 Mr.Brownhasraisedonlyoneissueonappeal:whetherhis20year   TennesseesentenceautomaticallyexpiredonDecember3,1991,whenhis30year   Floridasentenceexpired.Thoughhedividesthisissueintothreesubissues,Mr.   Brownsentireargumenthangsontheslenderthreadofadefinitionof concurrent tl sentencesthatisfoundinboththeFifthandSixthEditionsofBlacksLawDictionary @8 (1979and1990respectively)asfollows:  0  Twoormoretermsofimprisonment,allorpartofeachterm  isservedsimultaneouslyandtheprisonerisentitledto  dischargeattheexpirationofthelongesttermspecified.  0   0 BlacksLawDictionaryisavaluabletoolforunderstandingthelaw,and @ 8 isfrequentlycitedbyourcourts.Acomputersearchdoneinpreparationforwriting " thisopinionturnedup211publishedTennesseecasesinwhichthephrase Blacks #  LawDictionaryappears. %"   0 Howeverthedefinitionsfoundinthatworkarenotbindingonthecourts. H)@"& InthiscaseitappearstousthattheeditorsoftheabovementionededitionsofBlacks + $( havegonebeyondthegenerallyaccepteddefinitionofconcurrentsentences,which ,%* isfoundinotherscholarlyworks.Forinstance,inBallentinesLawDictionary(3rdEd. .', 1969)suchsentencesaredefinedsimplyas sentencesofimprisonmentforcrimein 0x). whichthetimeofeachistorunconcurrentlywiththeothers,andnotseriatim.See L2D+0 alsoWordsandPhrases(1983),ADictionaryofModernLegalUsage(2dEd.1995). 4-2   5.4   0 ThedefinitionMr.BrownreliesuponrefersustothecaseofLillemoev.  Tahash,159N.W.2d99(Minn.1968).   #  1      ׀Interestingly,theLillimoecasedidnotinvolve   concurrentsentencingatall,asMr.Lillemoestwofiveyeartermsweretobeserved   consecutively.However,inthecontextofadiscussionofthedifferencebetween t l consecutivesentencing(inwhichonesentencebeginswhenanotherends)and @8 concurrentsentencing,thecourtdidstatethatinconcurrentsentencing,thesentence    expiresattheterminationofthelongeroftwoterms,159N.W.2dat102.Weregard   thisstatementaspuredicta,sinceitwasnotrelevanttotheissuesbeforethecourt.     0 Wedonotdenythatwhentwoconcurrentsentencesofdifferentlengths <4 beginatthesametime,andareservedunderthesamesentencecalculationscheme,  releasecanbereliablyexpectedtooccurupontheexpirationofthelongersentence.  Butwhentwosuchsentencesbeginatdifferenttimes,theresultcanbedifferent.We  note,however,thatinalmostallcasestheprisonerwillreceiveadistinctadvantage ld fromservinghissentencesconcurrentlyratherthanconsecutively,evenwhenthe 8 0 sentencesdonotbeginatthesametime. "   0 TheappelleehasdirectedourattentiontoaColoradocasethatnicely %" summarizesthecommonlyunderstoodmeaningofconcurrentsentences: h'` $ 0  Whentwosentencesrunconcurrently,itmerelymeansthat, 4),"& foreachdayincustodywhileservingbothsentences,the *#' inmatereceivescredittowardeachsentence.Concurrent +#( sentencesdononecessarilybeginandendatthesametime +$) Єtheysimplyruntogetherduringthetimetheyoverlap. ,%* 0 Bullardv.DepartmentofCorrections,949P.2d999,1002(Colo.1997). .',   0 IntheBullardcase,thecourtalsonotedthattheterminationofthefirst 22*+0 sentencehasnoeffectontheunservedpartofthesecondsentence.949P.2dat 4,2 1003.Webelievethatthisisthecorrectinterpretation. 5.4 Ї@zz, III.    (      0 Thejudgmentofthetrialcourtisaffirmed.Remandthiscausetothe   ChanceryCourtofDavidsonCountyforfurtherproceedingsconsistentwiththis x p opinion.Taxthecostsonappealtotheappellant. D<   0      8   _________________________________ tl   0      8   BENH.CANTRELL, ZR   0      8   PRESIDINGJUDGE,M.S. @8 CONCUR:  _____________________________ VN WILLIAMC.KOCH,JR.,JUDGE < 4 _____________________________ #  WILLIAMB.CAIN,JUDGE $! _  %"   kbXX @.