State v. LeDeau, DA 08-0349.
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Montana |
| Citation | 2009 MT 276,215 P.3d 672 |
| Docket Number | No. DA 08-0349.,DA 08-0349. |
| Parties | STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Adam LeDEAU, Jr. Defendant and Appellant. |
| Decision Date | 18 August 2009 |
v.
Adam LeDEAU, Jr. Defendant and Appellant.
[215 P.3d 673]
For Appellant: Jim Wheelis, Chief Appellate Defender; Tammy Hinderman, Assistant Appellate Defender, Helena, Montana.
For Appellee: Steve Bullock, Montana Attorney General; Mark W. Mattioli, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana.
Justice JOHN WARNER delivered the Opinion of the Court.
¶ 1 Adam LeDeau pled guilty to sexual assault in the Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Custer County. He was sentenced to the Department of Corrections for 15 years with all but five years suspended. LeDeau was released on parole a few months before he discharged the unsuspended portion of his sentence. Shortly after his release, LeDeau admitted to violating the conditions of his parole and it was revoked.
¶ 2 The District Court also revoked the suspended portion of LeDeau's sentence and then committed him to the custody of the Department of Corrections for ten years with five years suspended. LeDeau appeals raising the following two issues:
¶ 3 1. Was LeDeau's constitutional right to be free from double jeopardy violated when his parole and his suspended sentence were revoked based on the same conduct?
¶ 4 2. Did the District Court exceed its statutory authority when it revoked LeDeau's suspended sentence before he started serving the suspended portion of his sentence?
¶ 5 In early 2004, LeDeau pled guilty to sexual assault in violation of §§ 45-5-502(1) and -502(3), MCA. The District Court sentenced him to the Department of Corrections for 15 years with all but five suspended.1 LeDeau was released on parole October 30, 2007. While on parole, LeDeau was fired from his job and failed to inform his parole officer, failed to inform the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Department of his employment change, had unapproved contact with his 17-year-old daughter, began living with his girlfriend and allowed his then 18-year-old daughter to stay with him periodically, and was suspended from sex offender treatment.
¶ 6 LeDeau's parole officer filed a report of violation with the Board of Pardons and Parole in December 2007. LeDeau admitted to the alleged violations. The parole board revoked his parole in January 2008. He was sent to Warm Springs to serve the remainder of the unsuspended portion of his sentence, which would discharge in March 2008.
¶ 7 In February 2008, before he began serving the suspended portion of his sentence, the State petitioned to revoke LeDeau's suspended sentence alleging the same violations used to revoke his parole.
¶ 8 LeDeau denied the alleged violations of his suspended sentence. On the day of the hearing, LeDeau filed a motion to dismiss the petition. He argued his suspended sentence could not be revoked before he had begun serving it, that revocation was barred by collateral estoppel and the doctrine of separation of powers, and that his right to effective assistance of counsel had been violated when he previously admitted the alleged violations because he did not have counsel during the parole revocation proceedings. The motion was briefed. The District Court denied the motion to dismiss.
¶ 9 The District Court based its determination that LeDeau had violated the terms of his suspended sentence, in part, on his previous admission of the alleged violations. The District Court sentenced LeDeau to the Department of Corrections for ten years with five suspended, with a strong recommendation
that he be placed in a pre-release program.2
¶ 10 We exercise plenary review over questions of constitutional law, including those related to double jeopardy claims. State v. Martinez, 2008 MT 233, ¶ 16, 344 Mont. 394, 188 P.3d 1034 (citing State v. Smith, 2000 MT 57, ¶ 13, 299 Mont. 6, 997 P.2d 768). This Court may review claimed errors implicating a criminal defendant's fundamental constitutional rights, even if no contemporaneous objection is made, when failure to do so may result in a manifest miscarriage of justice, leave unsettled the fundamental fairness of the proceedings, or compromise the integrity of the judicial process. State v. Taylor, 2009 MT 161, ¶ 11, 350 Mont. 447, 208 P.3d 422.
¶ 11 The issue of whether a district court has acted within its statutory authority in revoking a suspended sentence presents a question of law over which we exercise plenary review. Martinez, ¶ 16 (citing State v. Van...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State Of Mont. v. Haagenson, DA 09-0471.
...it is necessary to dispel the notion, argued by the State, that the issue raised by Haagenson has already been decided in State v. LeDeau, 2009 MT 276, 352 Mont. 140, 215 P.3d 672. In LeDeau, the offender (LeDeau) argued that revoking both his parole and his ensuing suspended sentence based......
-
State v. Cook, DA 11–0058.
...of the State's petition conformed to our then-existing interpretation of § 46–18–203(2), MCA. See e.g. Stiffarm, ¶ 10; State v. LeDeau, 2009 MT 276, ¶¶ 19–21, 352 Mont. 140, 215 P.3d 672; State v. Morrison, 2008 MT 16, ¶¶ 13–18, 341 Mont. 147, 176 P.3d 1027. Procedural statutes in effect at......
-
State v. Torres, DA 12–0212.
...occasions declined to exercise plain error review of double jeopardy claims raised for the first time on appeal. See State v. LeDeau, 2009 MT 276, ¶ 18, 352 Mont. 140, 215 P.3d 672 (declining to review statute-based double jeopardy claim) (overruled in [369 Mont. 528]part on other grounds);......
-
State v. Johnson, DA 22-0051
...original 9 sentence two years into an offender's failed attempt to comply with the conditions of a suspended sentence); State v. LeDeau, 2009 MT 276, ¶ 17, 352 Mont. 140, 215 P.3d 672 rev'd on other grounds State v. Stiffarm, 2011 MT 9, 359 Mont. 116, 250 P.3d 300 (restating the related con......