Opinion
OP 23-0245
09-26-2023
CARL M. ANKENY, Petitioner, v. PETER BLUD WORTH, Warden Crossroads Correctional Center, Respondent.
ORDER
Carl M. Ankeny has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, indicating that he is entitled to more credit for time served than he received. Ankeny requests credit of thirty-two months from July 2, 2012, beginning in Ravalli County, to March 2, 2015. In compliance with this Court's May 9, 2023 Order, the State of Montana responds that Ankeny's Petition should be denied because his crimes' were committed well before the June 30, 2017 imposition of § 46-18-201(9), MCA.
Ankeny has several cases with sentences imposed more than a decade ago. The State provides more details about his procedural history. The State charged Ankeny in the Ravalli County Justice Court on July 2,2012, with felony partner or family member assault, failure to maintain violent offender registration, and two misdemeanor theft charges. The Justice Court issued a bench warrant that same day.
On December 5,2013, in open court, the Missoula County District Court sentenced Ankeny to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for criminal endangerment to a ten-year term with five years suspended, to run concurrently with a sentence from the Anaconda-Deer Lodge County District Court. The Missoula County District Court awarded him 579 days of credit for time served (Missoula County sentence).
Ankeny was served with the Ravalli County warrant on December 10,2013, and six days later, the Justice Court matter was transferred to the Ravalli County District Court. The District Court continued the $50,000 bail amount, as set by the Justice Court. Ankeny's failure to register as a violent offender charge was severed and became his second criminal case. The State also filed another Information with three criminal charges, making a third criminal case in Ravalli County.
On January 14, 2015, the Ravalli County District Court dealt with Ankeny's three criminal cases in one Judgment and Commitment, The District Court split off one case for a separate jury trial initially. The court designated Ankeny a persistent felony offender and imposed a fifteen-year prison sentence for assault with a weapon as well as a fifteen-year term for partner or family member assault to run concurrently. This sentence runs consecutively to the Missoula County sentence. Lastly, the court committed him to a five-year prison term to run concurrently with all the other sentences. Ankeny received a net prison sentence of thirty years., The Ravalli County District Court specifically stated: "The Defendant shall not receive credit for time served in detention prior to sentencing due to the Defendant having received full credit for time served toward the Defendant's Missoula County case, and because the Defendant was on inmate status with the Montana Department of Corrections during a portion of these proceedings."
Ankeny points to this Judgment and Commitment, arguing that his incarceration is illegal.
The State points out that § 46-18-201(9), MCA, only applies to offenses committed after June 30,2017. See State v. Thomas, 2019 MT 155, ¶ 3, 396 Mont. 284, 445 P.3d 777 (citing 2017 Mont. L. Ch. 321). The State puts forth that Ankeny is not entitled to credit for presentencing incarceration because Ankeny committed the crimes several years before 2017. The State contends that the Montana case law to which Ankeny refers is not applicable to his situation. When Ankeny was served with the Ravalli County warrant in 2013, the State explains that Ankeny was serving an active sentence with the DOC, the Missoula County sentence, and his incarceration during the presentencing time period was due to his prior felony conviction from the Missoula County District Court. The State also points out that Ankeny was basically precluded from posting any bail, even if he had the means to do so. The State concludes that Ankeny is not serving a facially invalid sentence.
We find the State's arguments dispositive of Ankeny's claim for credit for time served in his Ravalli County sentence. Ankeny has not demonstrated illegal incarceration, and he is not entitled to habeas corpus relief. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that Ankeny'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 Carl M. Ankeny personally,