State v. Sartain, 2015 MT 306N

Danny Sartain was convicted of Gallatin County burglary, designated a persistent felony offender, and sentenced to 40 years; prior appeals and postconviction challenges were unsuccessful.
After arrest for the Gallatin burglary (March 25, 2008) Sartain posted bond April 1, 2008 and was released on that charge.
One day after release, Sartain was taken into custody by his parole officer for parole violations relating to an earlier Flathead County burglary conviction and remained at Montana State Prison during the Gallatin prosecution.
On May 22, 2014 Sartain moved in district court for credit for 384 days of incarceration toward his Gallatin County sentence for the time he was held at MSP.
The District Court denied the motion, concluding the MSP custody was for a prior offense (Flathead County parole violation) and not directly related to the Gallatin charge; the Montana Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether preconviction custody at MSP must be credited to Sartain's Gallatin County sentence under § 46-18-403(1), MCA	Sartain: time at MSP was directly related to Gallatin charges and should be credited toward the new sentence	State: custody was for a separate Flathead County parole violation and would have occurred regardless of Gallatin charge	Court: Denied credit; custody was tied to earlier offense and not directly related, so no credit under Kime and § 46-18-403(1)

State v. Sartain, 2010 MT 213, 357 Mont. 483, 241 P.3d 1032 (affirming Sartain's original conviction)
State v. Sartain, 2012 MT 164, 365 Mont. 483, 285 P.3d 407 (affirming dismissal of postconviction relief)
State v. Kime, 2002 MT 38, 308 Mont. 341, 43 P.3d 290 (holding credit for time served requires incarceration be directly related to the offense for which sentence is imposed)
State v. Hornstein, 2010 MT 75, 356 Mont. 14, 229 P.3d 1206 (sentence review limited to legality and statutory compliance)