State v. HeathState v. Heath
- Reporters:
- , , , ,
- Before:
- John Warner, W. William Leaphart, James C. Nelson, Jim Rice, Brian Morris
¶1 Barry Alonzo Heath (Heath) appeals from the District Court‘s order sentencing Heath to 25 years with 15 years suspended to the Montana State Prison (MSP) following our remand for resentencing in State v. Heath, 2004 MT 58, 320 Mont. 211, 89 P.3d 947 (Heath I). We affirm.
¶2 The restated issue on appeal is whether the District Court violated Heath‘s due process rights when it changed his sentence from a Department of Corrections (DOC) commitment to term at the MSP following his suсcessful appeal in Heath I.
BACKGROUND
¶3 Following a jury trial, the Eighth Judicial District, the Honorable Judge Thomas M. McKittrick presiding, sentenced Heath to 25 years with 5 years suspended to the DOC for sexual intercourse without consent. The District Court also imposed a сonsecutive 5-year with 3 years suspended sentence for a related tampering with a witness conviction. Heath appealed the sexual intercourse without consent sentence. We reversed Heath‘s sentence beсause it violated
¶4 At resentencing, Judge McKittrick imposed a 25-year sentence with 15 years suspended to the MSP for the sexual intercourse without сonsent conviction. The judge left the term of 5 years with 3 years suspended for the tampering with a witness sentence
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶5 This Court reviews a criminal sentence for legality only. State v. Montoya, 1999 MT 180, ¶ 15, 295 Mont. 288, ¶ 15, 983 P.2d 937, ¶ 15. We review whether the District Court violated a defеndant‘s constitutional right to due process at sentencing de novo. State v. Redfern, 2004 MT 277, ¶ 8, 323 Mont. 225, ¶ 8, 99 P.3d 223, ¶ 8.
DISCUSSION
¶6 Heath contends that his present sentence is illegal because this Court should have stricken the illegal portion of his initial sentence in Heath I. He alleges further that the District Court violatеd his due process rights when it imposed a more severe sentence on remand because it did not comply with the rеquirements of North Carolina v. Pearce (1969), 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 overruled in part and on other grounds, Alabama v. Smith (1989), 490 U.S. 794, 109 S.Ct. 2201, 104 L.Ed.2d 865. We disagree.
¶7 Heath first asserts that this Court erred when it failed to strike the illegal portion of his initial sentence, but instead chоse to remand for resentencing. In Heath I, this Court had the opportunity to strike the illegal portion of the initial sentence but declined to do so. Relying on our prior decisions, we remanded for resentencing because the challenged sеntence “affect[ed] the entire sentence” and we were unable to discern what the District Court would have donе if it had properly applied the law. Heath I, ¶¶ 51, 53. Heath now espouses the identical argument and essentially asks us to revisit оur decision in Heath I. We were unpersuaded by Heath‘s argument then, and res judicata prevents us from
¶8 Heath also claims that the District Court violated his due process rights when it changed his custody placement from the DOC to the MSP, because the new sеntence is more severe. He contends a harsher sentence following an appeal mandates the district court comply with the requirements of Pearce, and asserts that the District Court failed to do so in the present case.
¶9 Pearce requires that the reasons the court imposed “a more severe sentence” upon a defendant after a new trial1 appear in the record and be based on “objective information concerning identifiable conduct on thе part of the defendant occurring after the time of the original sentencing proceeding.” Pearce, 395 U.S. at 726, 89 S.Ct. at 2081, 23 L.Ed.2d at 670. The threshold question thеn, is whether the District Court imposed a more severe sentence following remand.
¶10 Heath claims that the District Court‘s sentеnce on remand was more onerous than his initial sentence because the court ordered Heath to serve at the MSP instead of at the DOC as initially sentenced. On remand, Judge McKittrick ordered 25 years with 15 years suspended at the MSP instead of 25 years with 5 years suspended at the DOC. Relying on our recent decision in State v. Tracy, Heath contends a commitment to the MSP is stricter than a DOC commitment. See State v. Tracy, 2005 MT 128, ¶ 20, 327 Mont. 220, ¶ 20, 113 P.3d 297, ¶ 20 (referring to a sentence to the MSP as “impos[ing] an additional, more
[b]eyond the obvious difference between a twenty-five year sentence with twenty years suspended and a twenty-five year sentence with fifteen years suspended, the lack оf flexibility in the court‘s imposition of a prison term is what makes the change from the DOC commitment more punitive.
¶11 While we agree that a DOC commitment is more flexible than an MSP commitment, Heath‘s allegations of punitive sentencing omit the fact thаt on remand the District Court ordered Heath‘s sentence for sexual intercourse without consent to run concurrently with thе tampering with a witness charge. In fact, Heath‘s entire brief does not mention this significant change to his sentence that resulted in reducing his overall sentence by 12 years. Thus, despite the more flexible nature of a DOC commitment, Heath cannоt seriously argue he received a harsher sentence on remand. We conclude that the sentence the District Court imposed on remand is not more severe than Heath‘s initial sentence. Consequently, the Pearce requirements do not apply. The sentence is affirmed.
/S/ JOHN WARNER
We Concur:
/S/ W. WILLIAM LEAPHART
/S/ JAMES C. NELSON
/S/ JIM RICE
/S/ BRIAN MORRIS