State v. MacDonald, 299 P.3d 839

Ashli MacDonald was convicted of assault on a minor and aggravated assault based on injuries to her seven-week-old son John Doe.
The district court imposed a custodial arrangement at sentencing placing John Doe with the father, Cox, with Mother having supervised visitation otherwise.
The custodial arrangement related to an ongoing dependency and neglect proceeding in a companion civil case.
The prison sentence was suspended and fines, fees, and surcharges totaling $1,060 were imposed without a stated inquiry into MacDonald’s ability to pay.
A written judgment included a third statement—burden-shifting presumption favoring the father—that could affect civil custody proceedings.
The companion civil case eventually resolved, making the interim custody provision and its reasoning moot, and the court was instructed to strike the problematic language.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court erred by modifying parenting arrangements during sentencing	MacDonald: improper civil-matter custody change in a criminal proceeding	State: temporary interim custody with deferment to civil proceedings	Partially moot; third reason for judgment to be stricken; interim custody moot as civil case resolved
Whether the court erred by imposing fees without inquiring into ability to pay	MacDonald: failure to inquire makes sentence illegal	Kotwicki governs; waiver because no objection; fees within statutory limits	Sentence not illegal; affirmed; remand to strike improper language in judgment

State v. Swoboda, 276 Mont. 479 (1996) (failure to inquire into ability to pay may render sentence objectionable, not illegal)
State v. Park, 2008 MT 429 (2008) (court must consider ability to pay; absence of finding can render sentence objectionable)
State v. Jones, 2008 MT 440 (2008) (failure to inquire into ability to pay can render sentence objectionable (waived if not objected))