Court Opinion

ID: 9369442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-08 20:05:56.698056+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:15.067133
License: Public Domain

02/07/2023

            IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA                                Case Number: OP 23-0052

                                        OP 23-0052

 DENNIS WILLIAM BLACKWELL,                                                   FEB 0 7 2023
                                                                           Bowen Greenwood
                                                                         Clo ck of supreme Court
             Petitioner,                                                     State of Montana

       v.
                                                                     ORDER
 JIM SALMONSEN, Warden,
 Montana State ftrison,

             Respondent.

       Representing himself, Dennis William Blackwell has filed a Petition for Writ of
Habeas Corpus, indicating that his sentences are illegal. He provides the cause numbers,
requesting dismissal of his cases and to "have the paperwork shredded."
       This Court does not expunge records. Sections 46-32-102 and 46-32-105, MCA
(Eff. until June 30, 2023). Upon review of his Petition, it is not readily apparent whether
the Attorney General was served with a copy of his Petition because no box is checked by
the name and address.
       Blackwell challenges his sentences dating back some twenty years. Referencing a
case "[b]ack in 1998," he states that his public defender "told [him] to throw away [his]
speedy trial rights [and] plead guilty . . . ." He contends that his other cases, dating back
to 2017 and 2019, are invalid and illegally prosecuted. Blackwell provides no supporting
documentation.
       This Court secured copies of Blackwell's judgments. On June 30, 2003, the
Yellowstone County District Court revoked Blackwell's sentence for a 2002 conviction of
partner or family member assault (PFMA) and imposed a five-year term with two years
suspended to the Department of Corrections (DOC) (Cause No. DC 01-0998). Blackwell
did not appeal. On November 9, 2018, the Yellowstone County District Court sentenced
Blackwell for criminal possession of dangerous drugs to the DOC for three years (Cause
No. DC-17-1446). Blackwell did not appeal his conviction and sentence. On March 26,
2019, the Powell County District Court sentenced Blackwell for escape to a three-year term
to run consecutively to his other sentence (Cause No. DC-19-12). Blackwell did not
appeal.
       The District Courts convicted Blackwell upon his guilty pleas. Blackwell cannot
challenge his pleas now. "[A] defendant waives the right to appeal all nonjurisdictional
defects upon voluntarily and knowingly entering a guilty plea, including claims of
constitutional violations which may have occurred prior to the plea." State v. Pavey, 2010
MT 104, ¶ 11, 356 Mont. 248, 231 P.3d 1104 (internal quotation omitted). Blackwell's
sentences are facially valid.
       Blackwell comes too late to this Court to bring his challenges that are not remedied
by a writ of habeas corpus. He did not raise his claims concerning his pleas or the
prosecution in a timely appeal. Section 46-22-101(2), MCA. He is procedurally barred to
challenge a sentence of revocation through this remedy. Section 46-22-101(2), MCA. We
note that Blackwell has since discharged his sentence of revocation, imposed in 2003, and
that he is not incarcerated because he has been granted parole.
       Blackwell has not demonstrated illegal incarceration. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA.
Therefore,
       IT IS ORDERED that Blackwell's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED
and DISMISSED.
       The Clerk of the Supreme Court is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel
of record along with a copy of his Petition and to Dennis William Blackwell at his last
known address.
                        04""
       DATED this ti        day of February, 2023.

                                                                  Chief Justice
                                             2
    ).4 M Alt,

       Justices

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