Opinion ID: 2548669
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Did the District Court Banish (Sundown) Strickland from Natrona County

Text: [¶36] This issue arises because of this comment from the district court at sentencing: I would ask the order also reflect, if it would, [Prosecutor], that if [Strickland] is released on parole or [i]n any other manner prior to his full service of the sentence imposed here, that the Court requests and recommends that he not be allowed to return to Natrona County, Wyoming. The recommendation is memorialized in the Judgment and Sentence. Strickland contends such a recommendation constitutes an illegal sentence and illegal sentences are, of course, prohibited. An illegal sentence is one that exceeds statutory limits, imposes multiple terms of punishment for the same offense, or otherwise violates constitutions or the law. Bush v. State, 2003 WY 156, ¶8, 79 P.3d 1178, ¶8 (Wyo. 2003). The State focuses on the fact that the district court only articulated a recommendation that is not binding on the parole authority. [¶37] We agree with Strickland that such a strong (it is included in an IT IS ORDERED clause, and the word strongly is used) recommendation in a judgment and sentence exceeds the statutory limits of the sentence that can be imposed. We are not convinced by the State's argument that because it is a mere recommendation it is not unlawful or an abuse of discretion. We consider it significant that the record reflects that Strickland's wife and son live in Natrona County. It has been held that a defendant may be banished from certain areas of a state, but such a condition must be related to the rehabilitative purposes of the sentence. Sanchez v. State, 508 S.E.2d 185, 186-87 (Ga. App. 1998); and see Commonwealth v. Thad T., 796 N.E.2d 869, 880 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003) (banishment from small geographic areas all right if it serves the purposes of probation). A banishment may be deemed so unreasonable as to render the sentence void. See Loving v. Commonwealth, 147 S.E.2d 78, 82-83 (Va. Ct. App. 1966). In a case more concerned with banishment of a defendant from a state or larger geographic region, rather than from a part of a state, it was held that banishment has no rehabilitative role in modern penology and is contrary to public policy. State v. Charlton, 846 P.2d 341, 343-44 (N.M. App. 1992). [¶38] We conclude that portion of the sentence is unlawful and remand the sentence to the district court with directions that the offending paragraph be deleted from the Judgment and Sentence, or that it be justified by clearly articulated findings justifying the restriction on parole or other limited release, as they relate to the purposes of, e.g., parole, work release, or placement in community corrections. In making such a structured examination of the relevant facts, the district court should also take into account where Strickland's wife and son reside.