Legal Definitions - dead time

In legal terms, dead time refers to a period of time that, for various reasons, is not credited towards a person's criminal sentence or a specific legal deadline. It is essentially time that is disregarded or "lost" when calculating the total duration of a sentence or the fulfillment of a legal obligation.

• Example 1: Parole Revocation

  Imagine a person, Alex, who is released from prison on parole. A condition of Alex's parole is to regularly report to a parole officer and avoid any new criminal activity. If Alex fails to report for several months and is later found to have committed a new, minor offense, their parole might be revoked. When Alex is sent back to prison, the several months they spent out on parole, during which they violated the conditions, could be declared dead time. This means those months will not count towards their original sentence, and Alex will have to serve the full remaining portion of their sentence from the point of re-incarceration, effectively losing the time they spent on parole.

• Example 2: Escape from Custody

  Consider a prisoner, Ben, who escapes from a correctional facility. Ben manages to evade capture for six months before being apprehended. During those six months, Ben was not in lawful custody. Upon recapture, the six months Ben spent as an escapee would be considered dead time. This period will not be credited towards Ben's original sentence, and Ben will resume serving their sentence from the date of recapture, without any reduction for the time spent at large.

• Example 3: Bail Violation and Re-arrest

  Sarah is arrested for a crime and released on bail while awaiting trial, with a condition that she not leave the state. If Sarah violates this condition by fleeing to another state and is later re-arrested and brought back, the time she spent out of state while violating her bail conditions might be deemed dead time. If she is subsequently convicted and sentenced, that period of time spent violating her bail may not be credited against her final sentence, meaning she would serve the full sentence without that period counting as time served.