ORIGINAL 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

RACHELL FLORES, 

Petitioner, 

v. 

OP 24-0158 

BRADLEY BRAGG, Lewis and Clark County 

Detention Center, 

Respondent. 

F1179 

MAR 2 6 2024 

Bowen Greenwood 

Clerk of Supreme Court 

State of Montana 

ORDER 

Self-represented Petitioner Rachell Flores has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas 

Corpus for the purpose of bail, citing to § 46-22-103, MCA. 

Flores asserts that she is "requesting a Release of Detention pending appeal 

(46-9-107)." She states that she had a hearing on February 7, 2024, after which she was 

placed in custody. She explains that she seeks her immediate release from jail due to her 

medical conditions and that her court-appointed counsel did not seek release on bond 

pending appeal, pursuant to § 46-9-107, MCA, even though she had asked him to file a 

motion in the Lewis and Clark County District Court. She states that she is a non-violent 

drUg offender and has brain•tumors. She states that she "was sentenced to Elkhorn because 

of [a] positive drug test." Flores requests her release pending appeal from this Court. 

This Court is familiar with Flores's history. See Flores v. State, No. OP 23-0717, 

Order denying writ of habeas cbrpus (Mont. Jan. 2, 2024). We requested and reviewed 

copies of the register of action and sentencing judgment. On February 22, 2024, the District 

Court revoked Flores's suspended sentence, for a second time, after an evidentiary hearing 

concerning probationary violations.' The District Court committed Flores to the 

Department of Corrections for a ten-year term. The court awarded credit for time served 

On July 13, 2023, the District Court first revoked Flores's sentence for absconding and imposed 

a suspended, ten-year sentence to the Montana State Prison. 

03/26/2024

Case Number: OP 24-0158
as well as elapsed time, which totals about eight years, 232 days. The court recommended 

all previous conditions, reiterated her restitution obligation, and recommended placement 

at Elkhorn for treatment, followed by prerelease. 

Montana law limits Flores's remedies here. Section 46-22-103, MCA, provides that 

"[w]hen a person is imprisoned or detained in custody on any criminal charge for want of 

bail, the person is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus for the purpose of giving bail upon 

averring that fact in the person's petition, without alleging that the person is illegally 

confined." Section 46-22-101(2), MCA, states that a habeas corpus relief "is not available 

to attack the legality of an order revoking a suspended or deferred sentence." 

Flores's remedy is not a writ of habeas corpus for the purpose of bail. The District 

Court has sentenced Flores, and there is no want of bail. The court set a bond amount and 

issued arrest warrants twice for both revocations. While a person may be released pending 

an appeal of a justice court or city court decision, pursuant to § 46-9-107, MCA, that 

situation does not apply here. We note that Flores has no appeal pending with this Court. 

Flores was sentenced upon revocation in District Court and, as Flores acknowledges 

in her Petition, her counsel did not tile a motion for release pending appeal in the District 

Court. Flores was a probationer when she violated for the second time within a year. 

Pursuant to § 46-9-107, MCA, the court must consider "that, if released, the defendant is 

not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any person or the community." 

This Court cannot provide the relief that Flores requests. She is not entitled to 

release. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA. She is precluded from challenging her sentence 

upon revocation throu' gh this remedy. With her award of credit, Flores has less than a year 

and a half to serve on this sentence. We point out that if Flores believes an appeal is 

necessary, she may file a timely appeal with this Court before April 22, 2024. M. R. App. 

P. 4(5)(b)(i). Therefore, 

IT IS ORDERED that Flores's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED and 

DISMISSED. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this matter is CLOSED as of this Order's date. 

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The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to: Bradley Bragg, Lewis and 

Clark County Detention Center; counsel of record, and Rachell Flores along with a copy 

of this Court's Appellate Handbook. 

DA I ED this .13 day of March, 2024. 

j e49 7t- ?

Chief Justice 

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