Court Opinion

ID: 9947910
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-05 21:07:23.842793+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:28:44.656744
License: Public Domain

1-3                                             03/05/2024

            IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
                                                                                     Case Number: DA 24-0103

                                       DA 24-0103

 CITY OF BILLINGS,

             Plaintiff and Appellee,

       v.                                                          ORDER

 GREGORY DEAN LEHMAN,                                                    FILED
             Defendant and Appellant.                                     MAR - 5 2024
                                                                        Bowen Greenwood
                                                                      Clerk of Supreme Court
                                                                         State of Montana

       Self-represented Appellant Gregory Dean Lehman has filed a Petition seeking relief
from his October 26, 2021 sentence upon revocation issued in the Municipal Court for the
City of Billings. The Clerk of the Supreme Court deemed his Petition as one for an
Out-of-Time Appeal, pursuant to M. R. App. P. 4(6). Lehman has since filed a Motion to
Reduce the Time for Transmission of the Record.
       Lehman acknowledges that his original criminal case dates to October 27, 2020.
He includes a copy of the plea agreement and written judgment wherein the Municipal
Court imposed a jail term of six months with all but ninety days suspended for the first
misdemeanor and suspended six-month jail term for the other six counts. On October 26,
2021, the court revoked his suspended term, noted credit for time served, and imposed
consecutive six-month terms.
       In his Petition, Lehman raises several issues, including appointment of counsel, the
right to be heard, the right to object to audio-video communication, and the pronouncement
of sentence. He argues that he has an illegal sentence because he should have received
twelve days of elapsed time. He contends that his right to be free from double jeopardy
has occurred because he has received "multiple punishment for the same offense."
       It is not readily clear whether Lehman initially sought relief in the Yellowstone
County District Court from the Municipal Court decision. Lehman's remedy for relief
would have been to raise these issues in a timely appeal to the Yellowstone County District
Court where the District Court would have appellate jurisdiction over the Municipal Court.
Sections 46-17-404, and 3-5-303, MCA. Under Montana law, Lehman would need to
appeal his 2021 sentence upon revocation to the District Court within ten days of the court's
judgment. Section 46-17-311(1), (2), (4), MCA; see also § 3-6-110, MCA.
       Upon review of Lehman's attachments, he includes a partial copy of an "Order,
Post-Conviction Relief" presumably from the District Court. We secured copies of two
register of actions from the District Court for petitions for post-conviction relief, filed on
April 22, 2022, and September 6, 2022, respectively. We requested copies of the court's
final orders. On March 31, 2023, the District Court issued an Order Denying Petition for
Post-Conviction Relief, Denying Motion to File Untimely Appeal, and Granting the City's
Motion to Dismiss in both of his civil cases. The court stated that Lehman had filed
numerous documents under multiple cause numbers with various titles. The court noted
that the Municipal Court "specifically asked Lehman what he had done to violate his
sentence. Lehman told the [Municipal Court] that he had contact with a minor, whom he
believed to be 14 years old, through the jail communication system when he knew he was
not supposed to have contact with minors." The District Court pointed out that Lehman's
petition "fails on its face because it is based on a sentence imposed by the [Billings
Municipal Court], and Lehman did not appeal his conviction[,]" pursuant to
§ 46-21-101(2), MCA, precluding postconviction consideration because not all appeal
remedies have been exhausted. Regardless, the District Court reviewed his raised issues.
       M. R. App. P. 4(6) allows this Court to grant an out-of-time appeal "[i]n the
infrequent harsh case and under extraordinary circumstances amounting to a gross
miscarriage of justice[d" "Extraordinary circumstances do not include mere mistake,
inadvertence, or excusable neglect." M. R. App. P. 4(6).
       This Court concludes that Lehman has not demonstrated extraordinary
circumstances and that denial of his Petition will not result in a gross miscarriage ofjustice.
M. R. App. P. 4(6). Lehman may petition this Court for a writ of habeas corpus if he wants
to pursue his claim for elapsed time. Accordingly,

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       IT IS ORDERED that Lehman's Petition, deemed a Petition for Out-of-Time
Appeal, is DENIED and DISMISSED.
       IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Lehman's Motion to Reduce the Time for
Transmission of the Record is DENIED as moot.
       The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to
Gregory Dean Lehman along with a copy of M. R. App. P. 14(5) and this Court's form for
a petition for a writ of   beas corpus.
       DATED this          day of March, 2024.

                                                            Chief Justice

                                                              Justices

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