Court Opinion

ID: 9918919
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-16 22:06:41.311399+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:06:33.806406
License: Public Domain

01/16/2024

             IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
                                                                                            Case Number: OP 24-0009

                                        OP 24-0009

                                                                     FILED
 JARED MATTHEW EVES,
                                                                      J A N 1 6 L024
               Petitioner,                                          Bowen Greenw000
                                                                  Clerk of Suprerne Court
                                                                     State of Montane

        v.
                                                                     ORDER
 JEFF PFLUG, MONTANA STATE
 HOSPITAL,

               Respondent.

        Jared Eves petitions this Court for habeas corpus relief, indicating that the
Department of Corrections (DOC) incorrectly calculated his sentence which illegally
extends his parole eligibility and discharge dates. Eves adds that he has access to only this
form.
        Eves seeks his release from the Montana State Hospital and provides, "they let 7
months go by before they said [he] was unfit to proceed[;] [he thinks] they should've put
[him] in the [psych] ward first and foremost." He challenges his present placement
"because they said [he] was unfit to proceed but as a kid they said it was O.K. to be
incarcerated." He states that "[his] probation hearing was for April 29th and [he] did not
take it. They gave me a release date of January and hive pushed it out for March and this
is why it is illegal."
        Eves includes a copy of a September 6, 2023 Ineligibility Notice from the Board of
Pardons and Parole (Board). This notice explains why Eves's appearance before the Board
was moved from October 2023 to January 2024. Before Eves appears, he must have 120
days free of major disciplinary violations. Admin. R. M. 20.25.305(5) (2012). In his
instant Petition, Eves states that he was in "locked seclusion for days [at] a time[—] this
was for fighting." The Board changed his appearance date based on the disciplinary matter
and advised Eves that he would be placed on the hearing schedule in January, "assuming
no further disciplinary violations have occurred." Eves does not indicate whether he has
had additional violations.
       Habeas corpus allows an applicant an opportunity to challenge collaterally the
legality of his present incarceration. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA. Eves will have an
appearance before the Board when he can show 120 days of clear conduct. "Parole is a
matter of grace, not of right, and whether a convict is behind walls or walking the streets
on parole, he remains subject to the sentence imposed and to the regulatory action of the
parole authorities." Miller v. State, 2020 MT 318, ¶ 13, 402 Mont. 337, 477 P.3d 1107
(citation omitted). Eves has not demonstrated illegal incarceration by virtue of the Board's
regulatory decisions.
       IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Eves's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is
DENIED and DISMISSED.
       The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to
Jared Eves personally.
      DATED this 1L, day ofJanuary. 2024.

                                                          470ge)?
                                                             Chief Justice

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