Court Opinion

ID: 9905331
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-29 00:07:20.020628+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:01.307489
License: Public Domain

11/28/2023

          IN TEIE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
                                                                                     Case Number: OP 23-0681

                                       OP 23-0681
                                                                        FILED
 DANIEL R. WOOD,                                                        NOV 2 8 2023
                                                                      Bowen Greenwood
             Petitioner,                                            Cleric of Supreme Court
                                                                       State of 'Montana

 v.                                                                ORDER

 BRIAN GOOTKIN,

             Respondent.

      Daniel R. Wood has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, explaining that he
has an unlawful criminal sentence revocation. He raises several issues: (1) Wood "claims
that the Montana Court was bound by state law to honor the Denver court's order'merging
the sentences[;]" (2) he contends that the 2014 and 2017 sentences upon revocation impose
a longer term of commitment than the original sentence, exceeding statutory parameters;
(3) Wood requests credit for time served from March 20, 2008 to June 8, 2012; and (4)
Wood claims that the State "perpetuated an unreasonable delay in the execution of warrants
issued in March 2008[,]" thereby delaying his revocation hearings until 2014. Wood states
that "[s]eemingly, these 2004 sentences.are never going away."
      Wood provides his sentencing history along with some attachments. This Court
secured copies of his sentencing judgments. In 2004, Wood had three, pending criminal
cases in the First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County (collectively, "Montana
sentences"). On November 4, 2004, the District Court sentenced Wood to the Department
of Corrections (DOC) for two eight-year terms with five years suspended for felony forgery
and felony issuing a bad check to run concurrently with each other (Cause No. BDC 2004-
138). The court awarded credit for time served from May 29, 2004 to June 24, 2004 and
July 7, 2004 to November 4, 2004, or 148 days.
       The District Court sentenced him to the DOC for felony intimidation for an eight-
year term with five years suspended (Cause No. CDC 2004-126) and for an eight-year,
DOC term with five years suspended for felony forgery (Cause No. CDC 2004-286). AII
sentences were to run concurrently with each other and with the sentence above. The court
awarded the same credit for time served: May 29, 2004 to June 24, 2004 and July 7, 2004
to November 4, 2004.
       In 2008, Wood found himself charged with a new offense there. On July 28, 2008,
after he entered a guilty plea in May to theft, the Denver County, State of Colorado, District
Court imposed a sixteen-year sentence to the Department of Corrections ("Colorado
sentence"). The court awarded 100 days of credit for time served. This court stated: "5
YEARS MANDATORY PAROLE.                      CONCURRENT TO MONTANA CASE
NUMBERS DC25004-126, DC25004-130 AND DC25004-286[J"                            (Emphasis in
original): Wood attaches copies of the arrest warrants, issued on March 6, 2008, in his
three case's in the Lewis and Clark County District Court.
       On July 17, 2014, the Lewis and Clark County District Court held a hearing on the
State's Petition to Revoke. The District Court revoked all three sentences. In Cause No.
BDC 2004-138, even though the underlying convictions were for forgery and issuing a bad
check, on page two, the court revoked the sentence for felony intimidation and imposed a
five-year, suspended DOC sentence. The sentence was to run concurrently with his other
Montana sentences and consecutively to the Colorado sentence. The court awarded time
for credit served ofJuly 14, 2014 to July 17, 2014. There is no mention of the 2004 credit
for time served.
      In Cause No. CDC 2004-126, the court revoked his sentence for felony intimidation
and irnposed a five-year, suspended DOC sentence. The sentence was to run concurrently
with his other Montana sentences and consecutively to the Colorado sentence. The court

  While the Colorado had mistaken the cause numbers in its Judgment, Wood, at the time, only
had three cases in Montana for which he was sentenced. For the Montana sentences, the cause
numbers should have been CDC 2004-126, BDC 2004-138, and CDC 2004-286.

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awarded time for credit served of: July 6, 2004 to November 22, 2004 and July 14, 2014
to July 17, 2014. There is no mention of credit for May 29, 2004 to June 24, 2004, and the
other dates from 2004 do not match any dates in the original judgment.
       In Cause No. CDC 2004-286, the District Court sentenced Wood upon revocation
for felony forgery to the DOC for a suspended, five-year term. The court ran this sentence
concurrently with his Montana sentences and consecutively to the Colorado sentence. The
court awarded time for credit served ofJuly 14, 2014 to July 17, 2014. There is no mention
of credit for 2004 jail time: May 29, 2004 to June 24, 2004, and July 6, 2004 to November
22, 2004.
       In the fall of 2017, the State charged Wood with felony criminal possession of
dangerous drugs with intent to distribute as well as misdemeanor criminal possession of
drug paraphernalia in the Lewis and Clark County District Court. The court sentenced him
to , the DOC for a five-year tenn for the felony and dismissed the misdemeanor (2017
sentence).2 The court awarded credit for time served from October 13, 2017 to December
6, 2017.
       On December 6, 2017, Wood appeared in the Lewis and Clark County District Court
for another hearing on the State's Petition to Revoke for his Montana sentences. The court
imposed a suspended, five-year sentence to the DOC for felony forgery (Cause No. BDC
2004-138) and awarded no credit for time served. The court stated that the sentence would
run consecutively to his 2017 sentence and concurrently with his other sentences upon
revocation. The court imposed a suspended, five-year DOC commitment upon revocation
for felony intimidation and awarded no credit for time served (Cause No. CDC 2004-126).
The sentences were run the same. Lastly, the court imposed upon revocation a five-year
suspended term for felony forgery (common scheine) to the DOC (Cause No. 2004-286).
The court stated how the sentences would run, but it did not mention any award of credit

2On January 10, 2018, the District Court amended its Judgment to make clear that the sentence
was for the felony offense, as it mistakenly had misdemeanor.

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from any year.3
       We conclude that Wood ho presented a compelling argument and that he may
demonstrate facially invalid sentences upon revocation for his 2004 cases from the Lewis
and Clark County District Court. We point to the statutory scheme for sentencing upon
revocation. This Court has explained before that "sentencing upon the revocation of a
suspended or deferred sentence is particularly and expressly governed by § 46-18-203,
MCA, and not § 46-18-401, MCA, which is a general provision goveming sentencing. (A
particular statutory provision is paramount to a general provision.         Section 1-2-102,
MCA)." State v. Seals, 2007 MT 71, ¶ 15, 336 Mont. 416, 156 P.3d 15. Pursuant to § 46-
18-203(7)(a)(iii), MCA, the court only has authority to impose a sentence either originally
imposed or lesser than the original upon revocation. Seals, ¶ 17. See also Boggs v.
McTighe, No. OP 19-0313, Order granting petition for rehearing on writ of habeas corpus
(Mont. Jul. 23, 2019) and State v. Adams, 2013 MT 189, ¶¶ 18-20, 371 Mont. 28, 305 P.3d
808.
       Wood's Petition raises several issues, and we deem it appropriate to require a
response to address the following: upon consideration of giving full faith and credit to the
Colorado judgment, whether Wood's Montana sentences merged with the Colorado
sentence; when was Wood served with the March 6, 2008 arrest warrants and whether the
records or recollections of probation or other circumstances as to delay in service support
credit for the elapsed time between the warrant and service; whether the Lewis and Clark
County District Court erred when it ran a sentence upon revocation consecutively to the
Colorado sentence; and what credit for tiine served or other elapsed time is Wood entitled
to in either of his 2014 sentences upon revocation or his 2017 sentences upon revocation.
Accordingly,

3 On June 6, 2018, the Yellowstone County District Court issued a Judgment imposed concurrent,
three-month terms of jail time for two misdemeanor offenses. The court also imposed a five-year
DOC term for criminal possession of dangerous drugs to run concurrently with his 2017 sentence
from Lewis and Clark County. The court awarded credit for time served.

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      IT IS ORDEREb that:
   1. Wood's underlying criminal cases, BDC 2004-138, CDC 2004-126, CDC 2004-286
      and CDC 2017-441, in the Lewis and Clark County District Court are HELD IN
      ABEYANCE, pending resolution of this original proceeding;
   2. the Attorney General or counsel for the Department of Corrections is GRANTED
      thirty days from the date of this Order in which to prepare, file, and serve a written
      response together with appropriate documentary exhibits and sentence calculation;
      and
   3. counsel from the Appellate Defender Division is APPOINTED for Daniel R. Wood
      in this proceeding and for any supplemental briefing.
      The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to: the Honorable Kathy Seeley,
District Court Judge; the Honorable Michael F. McMahon, District Court Judge; Angie
Sparks, Clerk of District Court, under Cause Nos. BDC 2004-138, CDC 2004-126, CDC
2004-286, and CDC 2017-441, and for distribution to counsel of record in these underlying
criminal cases; counsel of record; Chad M. Wright, Appellate Defender Division, and
Daniel R. Wood personally.
      DATED this 20 4:r-day of November, 2023.

                                                                 Justice

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