Summary
The Montana Supreme Court Sentence Review Division considered the defendant's application to modify a five-year sentence for felony driving under the influence. Applying the presumption that the district court sentence was correct, the Division unanimously determined that the sentence was neither clearly inadequate nor clearly excessive and affirmed it.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the sentence imposed after revocation was clearly inadequate or clearly excessive under Montana's sentence-review standard.
- Whether the Sentence Review Division should modify the district court's sentence.
Holdings
- The sentence imposed by the district court was not clearly inadequate or clearly excessive, so modification was unwarranted.
Key quotations
“The sentence imposed by the District Court is presumed correct. The sentence shall not be reduced or increased unless it is clearly inadequate or clearly excessive.” (5)
Factual background
Cowgill was convicted of felony driving under the influence and received a sentence involving incarceration and a suspended term. After multiple revocations of the suspended sentence, the district court imposed a concurrent five-year sentence in September 2013. Cowgill sought review of that sentence before the Montana Supreme Court's Sentence Review Division.
Procedural history
The defendant received a felony driving-under-the-influence sentence in 2005. The suspended sentence was revoked in 2010 and again in 2013, after which the Flathead County District Court imposed a concurrent five-year sentence. The defendant sought review by the Montana Supreme Court's Sentence Review Division, which unanimously affirmed the sentence.