State v. Legg

• Decision Date: 05 February 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-344.,02-344.
• Citation: 2004 MT 26,84 P.3d 648,319 Mont. 362
• Court: Montana Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Charles LEGG, Defendant and Appellant.

84 P.3d 648

2004 MT 26

319 Mont. 362

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Charles LEGG, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 02-344.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs November 21, 2002.

Decided February 5, 2004.

For Appellant: Raymond G. Kuntz, Red Lodge, Montana.

For Respondent: Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Cregg W. Coughlin, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, A.W. Kendall, County Attorney, Red Lodge, Montana.

Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 The defendant, Charles Legg (Legg), appeals from the sentence imposed by the Montana Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, Carbon County, following his plea of guilty to the offense of sexual assault, a felony in violation of § 45-5-502, MCA (2001). We affirm.

¶ 2 Legg raises numerous issues on appeal, which we restate as follows:

¶ 3 1. Did the District Court err in failing to exclude evidence contained in the presentence investigation report?

¶ 4 2. Did the District Court adequately state its reasons for Legg's sentence in its oral pronouncement of sentence?

¶ 5 3. Did the District Court adequately state its reasons for Legg's sentence in its written judgment?

¶ 6 4. Did the District Court adequately consider the presentence investigation report's recommendations for the least restrictive environment at sentencing?

¶ 7 5. Did the District Court err in not applying the exceptions to the mandatory minimum sentence?

¶ 8 6. Does Legg's fifty-year sentence violate statutory sentencing policy?

¶ 9 7. Did the District Court err in failing to designate an offender level?

¶ 10 8. Did the District Court violate Legg's substantive due process rights in sentencing him to fifty years in State prison?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 11 On February 5, 2001, R.G. reported to the Carbon County Sheriff's Department that his nine-year-old daughter, N.J.G., had been sexually assaulted by Charles Legg. The following day, Carbon County Undersheriff Bob Reed (Reed) conducted a videotaped interview of N.J.G., who reported that Legg had been sexually assaulting her since June 2000. N.J.G. disclosed to Reed that the assaults occurred on the ranch where Legg and she and her family lived and worked. According to N.J.G., Legg took her to places where they were alone, including her house, the shop, barn, cookhouse, and a friend's house. There, Legg touched her "private parts," which she identified as her buttocks, breasts, and vaginal area. N.J.G. additionally reported that Legg kissed her mouth, put his hands under her clothing, and rubbed her breasts and buttocks.

¶ 12 On February 9, 2001, Deputy Sheriff Hanly Loyning interviewed Legg concerning the allegations of sexual assault. Legg confessed that he had, on approximately twenty different occasions, touched the sexual or other intimate parts of N.J.G. for the purpose of arousing his or her sexual response or desire. Legg was subsequently arrested and charged with sexual assault, a felony, in violation of § 45-5-502, MCA.

¶ 13 After receiving appointed defense counsel, Legg was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault. At the request of his defense counsel, the District Court ordered an examination of Legg's mental condition, pursuant to § 46-14-202, MCA.

¶ 14 Pursuant to the court's order, Dee Woolston, Ph.D. (Dr. Woolston), a licensed clinical psychologist, performed a forensic psychological examination of Legg on June 8, 2001. Dr. Woolston diagnosed Legg as suffering from a serious depressive disorder, which he judged was severe enough to significantly interfere with Legg's social and occupational functioning and caused him to suffer suicidal tendencies. Despite this, however, Dr. Woolston concluded Legg was intellectually competent, understood the nature of the criminal charge against him, and appreciated the possible consequences of incarceration.

¶ 15 Shortly thereafter, at the request of Legg's counsel, Michael D. Sullivan, M.S.W. (Sullivan), Director of South Central Treatment Associates, performed a psychosexual evaluation of Legg. Using a number of assessment scales, including the Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide, the Static 99, and the Screening Scale for Pedophilic Interests, Sullivan categorized Legg as a low risk, or Level I, sexual offender and suggested that a community-based placement and out-patient sexual offender treatment would be appropriate.

¶ 16 On November 5, 2001, Legg entered a plea bargain agreement with the State whereby he agreed to plead guilty to the sexual assault charge. In exchange, the State agreed to recommend sentencing in accordance with that suggested by the psychological and psychosexual evaluations. Legg acknowledged in the agreement that such a recommendation might range from a lengthy suspended sentence to incarceration.

¶ 17 That same date, in accordance with the plea bargain agreement, Legg appeared before the District Court and changed his plea to guilty. After due inquiry, the court accepted Legg's guilty plea, ordered the preparation of a presentence investigation report (PSI), and scheduled the matter for sentencing.

¶ 18 Probation and Parole Officer Deborah Willis (Willis) was assigned the task of preparing the PSI. During the course of her investigation, Willis received numerous letters, both from the victim and her family, as well as from individuals who were either familiar with the victim and her family, or with Charles Legg. Many of the letters reported their observations of Legg around children and young adults. Others spoke about being secondary victims of Legg's sexual abuse. Willis additionally learned that Legg's ex-wife had been awarded exclusive care and custody of the parties' minor children during their divorce, which had been entered by default judgment in a Tennessee district court in 1998. Pursuant to the court decree, Legg was prohibited from visiting his children and was permanently restricted from the residence of his ex-wife or her workplace. Willis included this information within the PSI and additionally forwarded it to Michael Sullivan for his review.

¶ 19 On January 7, 2002, Sullivan submitted an addendum to his earlier psychosexual evaluation of Legg, reclassifying Legg as a Level II, or moderate risk offender. Based upon his review of the additional information provided by Willis, Sullivan concluded that Legg had not been "entirely candid in regards to his self-reports at the time of evaluation." In particular, Legg had misrepresented his relationship with his children during the initial evaluation by leading Sullivan to believe that he had a normal, ongoing relationship with his children, and failing to disclose that the divorce decree had severed the relationship. It also appeared that there were additional victims of Legg's sexual abuse, including Legg's own children and ex-wife. Finally, Sullivan noted that Legg was consistently described by others "as a rather dishonest, manipulative, and irresponsible individual who tends to prey on vulnerable people. He [was] also described as a man who tends to feign depression and suicidal ideation as a way to either gain sympathy or avoid responsibility for his behavior." In light of this information, Sullivan concluded that Legg likely presented too great a risk to the community to be placed in a community-based setting and treated as an out-patient sexual offender, and suggested that treatment within a penitentiary would be appropriate. As a minimum level of confinement, Sullivan recommended treatment within a pre-release center.

¶ 20 On February 4, 2002, Willis filed the completed PSI with the District Court. In addition to the psychological evaluation performed by Dr. Woolston and the psychosexual evaluation and addendum prepared by Sullivan, the PSI included the letters and statements which had been submitted to Willis during her investigation, as well as the court decree dissolving Legg's marriage. After considering Legg's social and criminal history, the nature of his offense, and relevant statutes, Willis recommended that Legg be sentenced to a term of commitment with the Department of Corrections, and left suspension of any part of that term to the discretion of the District Court.

¶ 21 In response to the PSI, Legg filed a Motion in Limine and Sentencing Memorandum requesting the District Court to "exclude from evidence all portions of the Presentence Investigation and Report based on letters or statements from persons other than [N.J.G.], her family, or her therapists." Legg also asked the court to take note of the mitigating factors set forth at § 46-18-222(2), MCA, as well as to recognize the public policy that sentences should be commensurate with the punishment imposed on other persons committing the same offense.

¶ 22 A sentencing hearing was held on February 4, 2002. Legg's motion to exclude the letters and statements contained in the PSI was not ruled upon by the District Court, and thus, the challenged evidence was not excluded. The State recommended a thirty-year term of commitment at the Montana State Prison, with twenty-five years suspended, and Legg consented to the State's recommendation. After hearing testimony from the victim's father, physician, counselor, and Michael Sullivan, the District Court sentenced Legg to a fifty-year term in State prison, with no part of the sentence suspended. From this judgment, Legg appeals.

¶ 23 On March 6, 2002, Legg applied for sentence review before the Sentence Review Division of the Montana Supreme Court. Such review has been stayed pending the outcome of this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 24 This Court reviews a criminal sentence for legality only. Thus, our review is confined to whether the sentence is within the parameters provided by statute. State v. Scarborough, 2000 MT 301, ¶ 90, 302 Mont. 350, ¶ 90, 14 P.3d 1202, ¶ 90. When the issue on appeal concerns whether the district court violated the defendant's constitutional rights at sentencing, the...