Opinion
DA 22-0517
10-04-2022
STATE OF MONTANA, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. URIEL J. ORTEGA, Defendant and Appellant.
ORDER
Uriel J. Ortega moves this Court for appointment of counsel in his appeal. As grounds, he states that he was convicted of a crime for which incarceration was a possibility and that he is financially unable to retain private counsel to assist him.
Ortega appeals an August 4, 2022 Big Horn County District Court Order denying his motions for relief, yet he was convicted in 2013. Ortega is not entitled to appointment of counsel in this appeal. Section 46-8-104, MCA. He represented himself in District Court, and he has had a prior appeal of a postconviction matter with this Court.
In 2018, Ortega previously appealed the Big Horn County District Court's Order denying his Petition for Postconviction Relief. Ortega v. State, No. DA 18-0172, 2018 MT 225N, 2018 Mont. LEXIS 305. As Ortega provides, "[o]n May 14, 2013, Ortega pled guilty to felony Criminal Possession of Dangerous Drugs, in violation of § 45-9-102, MCA, and was sentenced to time served (approximately 273 days)." Ortega, ¶ 3. Ortega raised claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Ortega, ¶ 3. We affirmed the District Court's denial because his petition for relief was time-barred, pursuant to Montana statutes. Ortega, ¶¶ 5-6.
Ortega's instant appeal is not properly before this Court. Ortega's assertion of a fundamental miscarriage of justice does not apply here. Ortega cannot raise an issue now about the resulting deportation from pleading guilty when he did not appeal his conviction and sentence in 2013 and then waited more than four years to seek postconviction relief. Ortega, ¶ 3. Ortega is barred to challenge his conviction and sentence after more than nine years have elapsed. This Court observes that Ortega discharged his Montana sentence in 2013 and that Ortega is currently serving a sentence in federal prison in California. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that Ortega's Motion for Appointment of Counsel is DENIED. For the foregoing reasons, IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Ortega's instant appeal is DISMISSED sua sponte. The Clerk of the Supreme Court is directed to close this case as of this Order's date.
The Clerk is further directed to provide a copy to counsel of record and to Oriel J. Ortega personally.