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State v. Hackett1/24/2005
d 572, 573 (Ct. App. 2001). The courts will reject a meaning when to accept such would lead to a result so plainly absurd that the Legislature could not possibly have intended it. Id. at 313, 543 S.E.2d at 573-74. In interpreting statutes, the court's "sole function is to determine and, within constitutional limits, give effect to the intention of the legislature, with reference to the meaning of the language used and the subject matter and purpose of the statute." State v. Cobb, 355 S.C. 98, 101 n.4, 584 S.E.2d 371, 373 n.4 (2003); State v. Ramsey, 311 S.C. 555, 561, 430 S.E.2d 511, 515 (1993).
The trial court logically determined Hackett should not receive credit against the five-year probationary period when he was not under the supervision of a probation officer. Hackett habitually violated the terms of his probation, and while he may have been spared the court's harsh decision to revoke probation on two occasions, the court properly determined probation should be tolled during the time between the issuance of the probation arrest warrant on January 5, 1995 and the time Hackett actually appeared before the court on that warrant on February 5, 1999. Clearly, Hackett was not reporting and was not under probationary supervision during this time period, and the time during which he absconded from supervision should not be included within the five-year probationary period to which he was sentenced. To allow a probationer who is initially spared from revocation of probation to then abscond from supervision and to escape any further punishment, free and clear of all consequences, as long as he manages to elude apprehension for a set amount of time would lead to an absurd result.
We find further support for our position in the federal case law arena. In United States v. Green, 429 F. Supp. 1036 (W.D. Tex. 1977), Green asserted that a probationary period running past five years from the start of her probation was in violation of the federal statute that provided, "The period of probation, together with any extension thereof, shall not exceed five years." Id. at 1038. The district court held her contention must fall because the period of time during which Green was in violation of her probation tolled the running of the probationary term. Id. There, the court found, "It would be unreasonable to conclude that a probationer could violate conditions of probation and keep the clock running at the same time, thereby annulling both the principle and purpose of probation." Id. Additionally, in the fourth circuit's opinion in United States v. Workman, 617 F.2d 48 (4th Cir. 1980) the court, in discussing prior decisions regarding the computation of the federal five-year limitation period of probation, noted as follows: "The unifying principle implicit in the resulting decisions is that a probationer can not obtain credit against the five-year period for any period of time during which he was not, in fact, under probationary supervision by virtue of his own wrongful act." Id. at 51. It observed the focus was not on a simple mathematical computation of a five-year period from the beginning date of probation, but was on whether the probationer's wrongful acts resulted in termination of probationary supervision. Id.
Finally, we note that in the Florida case of Ware v. State, 474 So.2d 332 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1985), the Florida District Court of Appeal was also faced with the novel issue of whether probation may be tolled during the period of time a probationer absconds from supervision. There, the appellant's three year probationary period began on May 7, 1979. On July 23, 1980, an affidavit of violation of probation was filed alleging appellant had absconded from jurisdiction. On April 6, 1984, appellan
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