State v. Goff, 2011 MT 6

Goff pled guilty in 1987 to felony robbery and was sentenced to 40 years with 20 years suspended, plus 10 years for use of a weapon, with a dangerous offender designation for parole eligibility.
No probation conditions were expressly imposed in the original judgment, and the PSI did not recommend any probation conditions.
Goff petitioned in 2001 to vacate or correct sentence; petition denied; appeal followed by a motion to dismiss.
Goff was released in 2007 to serve the suspended portion, signed DOC Conditions of Probation and Parole, but no modification to judgment occurred and he registered as a violent offender.
Goff left Montana for carnival work, violating probation; reports of violation cited failure to maintain residence, report to officer; additional violations included issuing bad checks and threatening letters, leading to bail jumping charges.
In 2009 the district court revoked the suspended sentence after Goff pled guilty to felony bail jumping, sentencing him to 20 years at MSP with no suspension and five years for bail jumping running consecutively but suspended; the court later amended the order.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court abused its discretion revoking the suspended sentence	Goff contends no conditions existed to violate, so revocation was improper	State argues revocation authorized by 1985 statute and implied conduct standards	District court did not abuse discretion; revocation proper under 1985 statute and implied-lawful-conduct standard
Whether the district court abused its discretion by imposing new terms and conditions	Goff contends new terms exceeded authority and required resentencing to strike them	State maintains terms applied to bail-jumping sentence and were appropriate	Court did not abuse discretion; remanded to align written judgment with oral pronouncement and opinion

State v. Belanger, 2008 MT 383 (Mont.) (standard for revocation of suspended sentence; preponderance/equitable review)
State v. Averill, 2001 MT 161 (Mont.) (guidance on revocation standards)
State v. Price, 2008 MT 319 (Mont.) (relevance to revocation standard and evidence review)
State v. Muhammad, 2002 MT 47 (Mont.) (revocation standards and burden of proof)
State v. Tirey, 2010 MT 283A (Mont.) (ex post facto considerations in applying statutes to offenses)
State v. Tracy, 2005 MT 128 (Mont.) (prohibition on applying later statutes to increase punishment)
State v. Lane, 1998 MT 76 (Mont.) (oral sentence controls over written judgment when inconsistent)
State v. Johnson, 2000 MT 290 (Mont.) (test for conformance of written judgment to oral sentence)
State v. Nelson, 1987 Mont. 225 (Mont.) (implied condition of being a law-abiding citizen as basis for revocation)
State v. Striplin, 2009 MT 76 (Mont.) (single violation can support revocation)
State v. Martinez, 2008 MT 233 (Mont.) (revocation standards and proportionality of punishment)
State v. Brister, 2002 MT 13 (Mont.) (two-option framework under § 46-18-203(1985))
State v. Kroll, 2004 MT 203 (Mont.) (jurisdiction to revoke suspended sentence based on violations)