Opinion
OP 23-0216
04-25-2023
MITCHELL PATTERSON, Petitioner. v. JAMES SALMONSEN and PETER BLUDWORTH, Wardens. Respondents.
ORDER
Self-represented Petitioner Mitchell Patterson contends, in his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, that his incarceration is illegal because he has completed his ''quarter time" of a twenty-year prison sentence with ten years suspended. Patterson includes both Wardens in his caption, because he was initially placed at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, Montana, and now he has been placed at Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby.
Available electronic records indicate that on August 3, 2021, the Gallatin County District Court sentenced Patterson to the Montana State Prison for felony sexual intercourse without consent. The District Court ordered that Patterson complete Phases 1 and II of the sexual offender treatment program (SOP), prior to being eligible for parole. Patterson received 450 days of credit for time served. He did not appeal. In February 2022, he sought review of his sentence. The Sentence Review Division affirmed.
Patterson argues that he should be released from prison and placed in a pre-release center so he will be able to take SOP 1 and II. Providing a copy of the treatment program priority codes, he explains that a waiting list exists for these treatment programs and that he is number 145 on the list. He also explains that he is currently in prison in Shelby where they do not have the SOP classes. Patterson puts forth that he has served a quarter of his sentence and that he is a model inmate. Patterson requests that this Court "over-rule" the current parole eligibility restriction or "change his sentencing order" so he may be released.
Patterson is referring to Montana law concerning an inmate's eligibility for parole. Section 46-23-201(3), MCA (2019), provides that "[a] prisoner serving a time sentence may not be paroled under this section until the prisoner has served at least one-fourth of the prisoner's full term." Patterson's full term is twenty years. He must serve five years, minus the credit for time served, as well as fulfill the additional parole eligibility restriction of SOP I and II. "A sentence, or condition included in that sentence, is a limitation on liberty." McDermott v. McDonald, 2001 MT 89, ¶ 17, 305 Mont. 166, 24 P.3d 200. (Emphasis in original). Pursuant to § 46-18-207(3), MCA (2019),
A person who has been ordered to enroll in and successfully complete a phase of a slate prison's sexual offender treatment program is not eligible for parole unless that phase of the program has been successfully completed as certified by a sexual offender evaluator to the board of pardons and parole.
The District Court had statutory authority to impose this restriction based on the sexual offense. We have stated before that a "court's authority is properly restrained when it acts to limit an individual's freedom." McDermott, ¶ 17. This Court cannot overrule or change the sentencing order because the District Court has not imposed a facially invalid sentence.
"Under both Montana and federal precedent, parole is a privilege and not a right." McDermott, ¶ 19. Patterson's sentence is valid. He has not demonstrated an illegal sentence or illegal incarceration. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that Patterson'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 Mitchell Patterson personally.