Royce

The issue on appeal is whether Louis F. Royce, a State prisoner, is entitled to credit towards service of a 1971 State prison sentence from which he escaped in 1973, or whether he must serve the time owed on that sentence upon the expiration of State prison sentences imposed for unrelated crimes in 1982. A detainer relating to Royce’s obligation to serve the remainder of the 1971 sentence was first filed in 1986. There is no controlling statute. We are guided, therefore, by “considerations of fairness and a proper sense of justice.” Chalifoux v. Commissioner of Correction, 375 Mass. 424, 427…