No. 89-167 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

1989 

STATE OF MONTANA, 

Plaintiff and Respondent, 

-vsI - RONALD RQGERS rC . 

. -J 

i- , 

1-1 Defendant and Appellant. - - f 

1- J 

APPEAL,/$ROM:' ~istrict Court of the ~hirteenth ~udicial ~istrict, 

P-.-, :" In and for the County of Yellowstone, 

k *- 

. The Honorable Robert Holmstrom, Judge presiding. 

COUNSEL OF RECORD: 

For Appellant: 

Gary E. Wilcox, Billings, Montana 

For Respondent: 

Hon. Marc ~acicot, Attorney General, Helena, Montana 

Kathy Seeley, Asst. Atty. General, Helena 

Harold Hanser, County Attorney; avid Hoefer, Deputy, 

Eillings, Montana 

Filed: 

submitted on ~riefs: June 30, 1989 

Decided: September 27, 1989 a 

Clerk 
Justice William E. Hunt, Sr. delivered the Opinion of the 

Court. 

Defendant, Ronald Rogers, appeals the decision of the 

District Court for the Thirteenth Judicial ~istrict, 

Yellowstone County, revoking his suspended sentence that was 

entered on June 26, 1987 and ordering instead that he serve 

ten years in the Montana State Prison with only six years 

suspended. We affirm. 

The County Attorney of Yellowstone County, Montana 

filed an information on December 17, 1986, charging Ronald 

Rogers, the defendant, with two felony counts of sexual 

assault and one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure. 

Rogers pled guilty on June 5, 1987 to all three counts. On 

June 26, 1987, the District Court for the Thirteenth Judicial 

~istrict, Yellowstone County, sentenced Rogers to ten years 

imprisonment for each count of sexual assault, the sentences 

to run concurrently with all but thirty days suspended for 

each count. The District Court also sentenced Rogers to six 

months for indecent exposure and suspended this sentence in 

its entirety. 

The conditions of Rogers1 suspended sentence included: 

1. The defendant shall not frequent any 

place where intoxicating liquor or beer 

is the chief item of sale nor shall he 

use intoxicants or beer; nor shall he 

purchase, use, possess, give, sell or 

administer any narcotic or dangerous 

drugs or have in his possession same 

without proper prescription by a doctor. 

9. The defendant shall continue with 

mental health counseling, at his own 

expense, as approved and monitored by the 
Adult probation and Parole ~ield 

Services. 

Rogers subsequently signed an acknowledgement of acceptance 

of terms and conditions of probation which stated, in part: 

The conditions of said probation have 

been read by the undersigned and are 

fully understood, and the undersigned 

does hereby covenant that he will 

strictly carry out and follow the terms 

of said probation. 

The Deputy County Attorney filed a petition on December 

5, 1988 for revocation of the order suspending Rogers' 

sentence. The ~istrict Court held a hearing on the petition 

to revoke on January 31, 1989 and subsequently revoked 

Rogers' suspended sentence and ordered that he serve ten 

years in the Montana State Prison with only six years 

suspended. 

The sole issue on appeal is whether the ~istrict Court 

abused its discretion when it revoked Rogers' suspended 

sentence and imposed a four year sentence of incarceration. 

Rogers argues that he substantially complied with the 

terms and conditions of his probation and that his violations 

were only technical and were therefore not sufficient grounds 

for revocation of his suspended sentence. The record reveals 

that Rogers violated the terms and conditions of his 

suspended sentence by drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. 

Rogers was also terminated from the sexual offender treatment 

program because he was diagnosed by his counselor as too 

dangerous to be treated on an outpatient basis. 

Under SS 46-18-201(1) (b) and 46-18-202, MCA, a district 

court has the power to suspend a sentence and impose 

conditions for probation and other conditions it considers 

necessary to obtain the objectives of rehabilitation and the 

protection of society. A district court also has the 
discretion, under 5 46-18-203(1), MCA, to revoke a suspended 

sentence. This section provides: 

(1) A judge, magistrate, or justice of the peace 

who has suspended the execution of a sentence or 

deferred the imposition of a sentence of 

imprisonment under 46-18-201 or his successor is 

authorized in his discretion to revoke the 

suspension or impose sentence and order the person 

committed. He may also, in his discretion, order 

the prisoner placed under the jurisdiction of the 

department of institutions as provided by law or 

retain such jurisdiction with his court. 

A district court's decision to revoke a suspended sentence 

cancels a prior act of grace and is within the court's 

discretion. State v. Kern (1984), 212 Mont. 385, 388, 695 

P.2d 1300, 1301; State v. ~obinson (19801, 190 Mont. 145, 

149, 619 P.2d 813, 815. 

In Robinson, we stated that when a district court 

revokes a suspended sentence all that is required is that the 

district court must be reasonably satisfied that the 

probationer's conduct has not been what he agreed upon when 

he was given the suspended sentence. We further stated that 

the probationer was expected to walk the "straight and 

narrow" and conduct himself in a manner which would justify a 

district court's leniency. ~obinson, 190 Mont. at 148-49, 

619 P.2d at 815. 

On review, this Court's role is to determine whether the 

District Court abused its discretion when it revoked Rogers' 

suspended sentence. The record clearly demonstrates, and 

Rogers does not deny, that he did violate the conditions of 

his suspended sentence by drinking alcohol and smoking 

marijuana. Although Rogers argues that these violations were 

merely technical violations, we nonetheless agree with the 

~yoming Supreme Court's statement that " En] o violation of a 

probation agreement is minor . . . ." ~ollins v. State (Wyo. 
1986), 712 P.2d 368, 371. Therefore, in light of the record, 

the ~istrict Court did not abuse its discretion when it 

revoked Rogers' suspended sentence. A 

Af firmed. 

w@;L

.- Justices