Opinion
OP 22-0733
01-10-2023
BYRON CRAIG HALL JR., Petitioner, v. JAMES SALMONSEN, Warden, Montana State Prison, Respondent.
ORDER
Byron Craig Hall, Jr. petitions this Court for habeas corpus relief, listing five reasons why his incarceration is illegal. He includes a copy of an amended sentencing judgment.
On November 10, 2022, the Ravalli County District Court issued an Amended Judgment and Commitment to change the credit for time served from twenty days to 441 days for Hall's second conviction.
Hall states that his ten-year parole restriction for a non-violent crime is in error and that his a fifteen-year sentence to the Department of Corrections (DOC) with none suspended makes an illegal sentence. Hall contends that the "State did not file or make notice to seek Persistent [Felony] Offender [(PFO)] on or before [his] omnibus" but added it at sentencing to enhance each charge. Hall argues that his fifteen-year sentence for tampering with physical evidence is invalid because it should be only ten years. Lastly, he states that the court awarded 441 days of credit for time served on each charge, but the sentence calculation reveals only 441 days, and not 882 days of credit. Hall requests resentencing without the parole ineligibility restriction and credit for all time served.
We requested the register of actions and pertinent documents from the Ravalli County District Court. The State filed its Notice of Intent to Seek Persistent Felony Offender Status on March 19, 2015, after the State initially brought nine charges against Hall. The court held its omnibus hearing on April 22, 2015. Hall had notice of the PFO designation.
"A 'persistent felony offender' is an offender who has previously been convicted of a felony and who is presently being sentenced for a second felony committed on a different occasion than the first." Section 46-18-501, MCA (2013). In its 2015 Notice, the State puts forth that Hall had a felony conviction for operation of an unlawful clandestine laboratory from the Flathead County District Court. The State provided that "the State intends to seek treatment of the accused as a persistent felony offender and could request the maximum enhanced sentence allowed by law for such designation."
The Ravalli County District Court sentenced Hall on April 27, 2016, in open court and imposed concurrent sentences for felony criminal distribution of dangerous drugs and felony tampering with physical evidence. The District Court committed Hall to a prison operated by the DOC for a fifteen-year term with a parole ineligibility restriction of ten years. The court awarded 441 days of credit for time served for each conviction, as noted in the Amended Judgment and Commitment. The credit for time served merges, pursuant to Montana law. See § 46-18-401, MCA (2013); State v. Kortan, 2022 MT 204, ¶ 18, 410 Mont. 336, 518 P.3d 1283. The court ran his sentence consecutively to the sentence from Flathead County. Hall did not appeal.
While Hall's credit merges, it does not double with the two sentences. He is not entitled to 882 days of credit for time served. Hall has not presented any legal argument for any additional credit.
The Ravalli County District Court had statutory authority to impose the parole ineligibility restriction of ten years for Hall's sentence. This Court has determined, pursuant to § 46-18-202(2), MCA, a district court has authority to impose a parole restriction on a sentence greater than one year, provided that the court gives its reasons or rationale for doing so. See State v. Bull, 2017 MT 247, ¶ 15, 389 Mont. 56, 403 P.3d 670, and State v. Branham, 2012 MT 1, ¶ 27, 363 Mont. 281, 269 P.3d 891. Here, the District Court detailed its reasons in the Amended Judgment and Commitment.
Hall is not entitled to resentencing. He has received all the credit for time served, and the parole ineligibility restriction is valid. He has not demonstrated an illegal sentence or illegal incarceration. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that Hall'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 Byron Craig Hall Jr. personally.