Court Opinion

ID: 9955025
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-27 15:12:35.751933+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:13.692480
License: Public Domain

ORIGINAL                              03/26/2024

             IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
                                                                                           Case Number: OP 24-0158

                                          OP 24-0158

 RACHELL FLORES,                                                     F1179
              Petitioner,                                             MAR 2 6 2024
                                                                    Bowen Greenwood
                                                                  Clerk of Supreme Court
        v.                                                           State of Montana
                                                                        ORDER
 BRADLEY BRAGG, Lewis and Clark County
 Detention Center,

              Respondent.

       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.
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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