State v. B. Watts, 385 P.3d 960

Billy Joe Watts pleaded guilty to his fifth Partner Family Member Assault (PFMA) charge (felony) for conduct in June 2014; he had four prior PFMA convictions (two misdemeanors, two felonies).
The State initially filed a Persistent Felony Offender notice based on 2003 and 2012 PFMA convictions, but withdrew the PFO notice as part of a plea agreement.
Watts signed a plea agreement waiving appeals (except ineffective assistance claims), admitted guilt at a plea colloquy, and did not reserve any appellate issues.
At sentencing, Watts’ counsel moved to dismiss the felony charge (reduce to misdemeanor) arguing the prior PFMA statute was unconstitutional under equal protection for treating heterosexual and homosexual couples differently.
The District Court denied the motion; Watts appealed claiming the statute’s unconstitutionality should invalidate his prior convictions and reduce his felony to a misdemeanor.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Watts may challenge the constitutionality of prior PFMA statute after pleading guilty	State: plea was valid; defendant waived nonjurisdictional challenges by pleading guilty	Watts: plea waiver doesn’t preclude retroactive attack on unconstitutional statute used to elevate his conviction to a felony	Court: Affirmed — voluntary guilty plea waived nonjurisdictional challenges; Watts did not preserve the claim
Whether Lenihan rule allows review of an allegedly illegal sentence or conviction here	State: Lenihan inapplicable to attack on underlying conviction	Watts: Lenihan permits review of illegal sentence/statute and retroactive relief	Court: Lenihan does not apply — Lenihan addresses illegal sentences, not collateral challenges to underlying convictions after plea
Whether Watts preserved appellate review despite plea waiver	State: plea agreement expressly waived appeals except ineffective assistance; no reservation	Watts: asserted he preserved right to appeal denial of motion to dismiss	Court: No preservation — waiver controlled; no good-cause shown to withdraw plea
Whether prior PFMA statute should be declared unconstitutional and applied retroactively	State: not litigated on the merits because of waiver	Watts: statute was unequal under Equal Protection and should retroactively reduce felony to misdemeanor	Court: Did not reach merits due to waiver; claim barred by guilty plea

State v. Lindsey, 249 P.3d 491 (Mont. 2011) (guilty plea waives nonjurisdictional defects and prior constitutional claims)
State v. Kelsch, 194 P.3d 670 (Mont. 2008) (same principle limiting post-plea challenges)
State v. Gordon, 983 P.2d 377 (Mont. 1999) (defendant limited to attacking voluntariness of plea)
State v. Lenihan, 602 P.2d 997 (Mont. 1979) (appellate review of illegal sentences despite lack of contemporaneous objection)
State v. Ellis, 167 P.3d 896 (Mont. 2007) (Lenihan applied to challenge constitutionality of sentencing statute)
State v. Strong, 203 P.3d 848 (Mont. 2009) (Lenihan used to review sentencing statute differences)