State v. Renee

• Decision Date: 14 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-698.,97-698.
• Citation: 1999 MT 135,983 P.2d 893
• Parties: STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Dale RENEE, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

983 P.2d 893

1999 MT 135

STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Dale RENEE, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 97-698.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs January 28, 1999.

Decided June 14, 1999.

L. Sanford Selvey, II, Chief Public Defender; Carrie L. Garber, Deputy Public Defender, Billings, Montana, For Appellant.

Hon. Joseph P. Mazurek, Attorney General; Cregg W. Coughlin, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Dennis Paxinos, Yellowstone County Attorney, Billings, Montana, For Respondent.

Justice W. WILLIAM LEAPHART delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Dale Renee (Renee) appeals from the sentence imposed by the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, pursuant to his plea of guilty to three misdemeanor offenses. We affirm.

Issues Presented

¶ 2 The issues on appeal are restated as follows:

¶ 3 (1.) Did the District Court err by refusing to consider alternatives to imprisonment in sentencing Renee for his misdemeanor offenses?

¶ 4 (2.) Do Montana's sentencing statutes for nonviolent felony offenders unconstitutionally deprive persons convicted of misdemeanor offenses of equal protection and due process of law?

¶ 5 (3.) Are the equal protection and due process rights of misdemeanor offenders violated because they are not entitled to have their sentences reviewed by the Sentence Review Division of this Court?

Factual and Procedural History

¶ 6 On January 7, 1997, the State of Montana (the State) charged Renee by Information in Cause No. DC 97-012 in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court with robbery, a felony, in violation of § 45-5-401(1)(a), MCA, and assault, a misdemeanor, in violation of § 45-5-201(1), MCA. The incident giving rise to these charges occurred on or about December 28, 1996. On that date, in the early hours of the morning, the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a robbery and aggravated assault against two young males, M.P. and B.P., that occurred at 3248 Seitz Ronan, Laurel, Montana.

¶ 7 As deputies learned, the two young men had been out "cruising" in the area of Hardee's Restaurant on 24th Street West and Central Avenue in Billings, when they saw a friend in a vehicle with a number of other occupants at the nearby K-Mart parking lot. The two young men told deputies that they had approached the friend just to say "hi," but that the "friend and others in the vehicle took it wrong." A vehicular chase ensued. At one point during the chase, the two young men were passed by the other vehicle and its occupants "held their gang signs and `flipped them off.'" M.P. and B.P. were followed all the way to B.P.'s residence at 3248 Seitz Ronan.

¶ 8 Upon arriving home, the two young men fled their vehicle and ran to the door of B.P.'s residence. However, two men from the other vehicle gave chase, caught them, and began to punch the two young men. During this scuffle, one of the assailants— later identified as Jeffrey Crow—stabbed M.P. below the left breast with a pocket knife. After extricating themselves from the struggle, the two young men again attempted to get back on the front porch and enter B.P.'s residence. At this point, Renee— whom the two young men did not previously know—yelled at them to get down off the porch and approached the young men. Renee grabbed B.P. by the neck and began to choke him. Then, throwing B.P. against the wall of the house, Renee stated to the two young men, "[M]y name's Dale Renee, don't you forget that." At this point, one of Renee's companions grabbed M.P. around the neck.

¶ 9 Renee then told the young men, "[N]ow what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna tell you to pull out your wallets and I want you to give me all your money." Upon B.P. giving Renee $10, the only money he had on his person, Renee remarked, "[T]hat'll be great because that'll pay for my drinks." However, since M.P. had only a hair brush and some breath mints on his person, Renee grabbed M.P. by the throat and hit him three or four times in the upper body. B.P. stated that Renee then "clenched up his fist and hit him right in the eye," causing a cut above B.P.'s eye which began to bleed. As B.P. slumped against the wall of the house, Renee again hit him in the ear and then on top of the head. B.P. attempted to escape and Renee gave chase. At this time, B.P.'s father turned on the porch light and banged on the window, causing the three assailants to flee. As he was departing, one of the assailants yelled back at the two young men, "[Y]our life is screwed, the rest of your life is screwed."

¶ 10 On April 2, 1997, while Renee was released on bond in Cause No. DC 97-012, the State charged Renee by Information in Cause No. DC 97-273 in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court with intimidation, a felony, in violation of § 45-5-203, MCA. This charge was based upon an incident that occurred around midnight on March 23, 1997. On the night in question, Joseph Waters (Waters) and Renee were at a party at a home on Mirco Circle. The two were collecting money for a keg of beer and they approached Blaine Luhman (Luhman) for a contribution. When Luhman refused, Renee grabbed him and threw him off the deck. Renee then picked up Luhman by the neck, slammed his body against a nearby car, and held him against the vehicle while Waters held a knife next to Luhman's face. While Renee held him, Waters cut Luhman twice in the face with the knife.

¶ 11 Luhman feared for his life and struggled to get away from Renee. A scuffle ensued, and Luhman, freeing one of his hands from Renee's grasp, lunged at Waters in an attempt to get the knife away from his throat and face. As Luhman grabbed at the knife, Waters yanked the knife through Luhman's hand and fingers, severely cutting them. Although Luhman's hand began to bleed profusely, Renee refused to release him. At this point, eyewitnesses told authorities that Renee demanded that Luhman repeat, "It's cool—say everything's cool." Several of the eyewitnesses later stated that they believed that Waters was going to kill Luhman. Upon seeing all of the concerned eyewitnesses, Renee and Waters finally released Luhman. Luhman was then rushed to the hospital and underwent special surgery because ligaments in his hand had been severed by Waters' knife.

¶ 12 Pursuant to the terms of a subsequent plea agreement, Renee's felony robbery count in Cause No. DC 97-012 was reduced to a misdemeanor theft charge, and Renee's felony assault count in Cause No. DC 97-273 was reduced to a misdemeanor assault charge. Thus, Renee pleaded guilty, on June 25, 1997, to a total of three misdemeanor offenses in the two cases. On September 10, 1997, the District Court sentenced Renee to six months in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility on each misdemeanor count, the jail terms to run consecutively, for a total incarceration of eighteen months. Subsequently, on September 29, 1997, Renee filed a motion with the District Court asking for reconsideration of his sentence. Renee argued that the court failed to comply with § 46-18-201(11), MCA, which requires that a sentencing court consider alternatives to imprisonment for nonviolent felony offenders, and that § 46-18-903, MCA, which provides the opportunity for sentence review for those incarcerated in the state prison for one year or more, violated Renee's rights to equal protection and due process. The District Court denied Renee's Motion to Reconsider. Renee appeals.

Discussion

¶ 13 (1.) Did the District Court err by refusing to consider alternatives to imprisonment in sentencing Renee for his misdemeanor offenses?

¶ 14 The District Court's rejection of Renee's claim that the plain language of Montana's nonviolent felony sentencing statutes requires that a court consider alternatives to imprisonment in sentencing a misdemeanant involves a conclusion of law. We review a district court's conclusion of law as to whether that conclusion is correct. State v. McElderry (1997), 284 Mont. 365, 369, 944 P.2d 230, 232.

¶ 15 Renee argues that the District Court erred in rejecting his argument that the plain language of §§ 46-18-101(3)(f), 46-18-201(11), and 46-18-225, MCA, requires that a court consider alternatives to imprisonment in sentencing misdemeanor as well as nonviolent felony offenders. In particular, Renee contends that, since his misdemeanor offenses are by statutory definition other than crimes of violence, the mandate of § 46-18-201(11), MCA, to consider sentencing alternatives to imprisonment should have been applied. The State responds by asserting that, while misdemeanor offenses can be "characterized loosely" as offenses other than crimes of violence, the mandatory sentencing requirements of § 46-18-201(11), MCA, are inapplicable because the "language of the statute is unambiguous" and applies only to "felony offenses."

¶ 16 Section 46-18-201(11), MCA, provides:

In sentencing a nonviolent felony offender, the court shall first consider alternatives to imprisonment of the offender in the state prison, including placement of the offender in a community corrections facility or program or a prerelease center or prerelease program. In considering alternatives to imprisonment, the court shall examine the sentencing criteria contained in XX-XX-XXX. If the court subsequently sentences the offender to a state prison, the court shall state the reasons why it did not select an alternative to imprisonment, based on the criteria contained in XX-XX-XXX.

Section 46-18-201(11), MCA (emphasis added). As the State suggests, the crux of this issue is whether the statutory term "nonviolent felony offender" encompasses misdemeanor offenders. We conclude that it does not.

¶ 17 A nonviolent felony offender is defined as "a person who has entered a plea of guilty to a felony offense other than a crime of violence or who has been convicted of a felony offense other than a crime of violence." Section 46-18-104(3), MCA (emphasis added). Renee points out that "crimes of violence" are, by...