Summary
The Montana Supreme Court Sentence Review Division considered the defendant’s application to modify a sentence imposed after revocation of suspended sentences for criminal endangerment and driving under the influence. After advising the defendant that the sentence could be affirmed, reduced, or increased, the Division concluded that the sentence was neither clearly inadequate nor clearly excessive and unanimously affirmed it.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the sentence imposed after revocation of the suspended portion of Usher's sentence was clearly inadequate or clearly excessive under Montana's sentence-review standard.
Holdings
- The reasons advanced by Usher did not establish that the district court's sentence was clearly inadequate or clearly excessive; the sentence was therefore affirmed.
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.” (29)
Factual background
Usher received a ten-year sentence for felony criminal endangerment in 2005, with the sentence suspended subject to conditions, along with a consecutive misdemeanor DUI sentence. After revocation of the suspended sentence in 2008, five years of the felony sentence remained suspended. Following a second revocation in 2013, the district court imposed five years in Montana State Prison, with credit for 54 days of prior incarceration. Usher sought sentence review, asserting grounds the Division found insufficient to establish that the sentence was clearly inadequate or clearly excessive.
Procedural history
Usher was originally sentenced in 2005 for criminal endangerment and driving under the influence. The suspended portion of his sentence was revoked in 2008 and again in 2013, after which he received five years in prison for criminal endangerment. He sought review by the Sentence Review Division, which unanimously affirmed the sentence.