Summary
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the denial of David Richard Maples’s motion to dismiss a charge of failing to register as a violent offender. The majority held that Maples had actual notice of his registration obligation and rejected his as-applied vagueness challenge. The decision was issued as a noncitable memorandum opinion, with a special concurrence expressing agreement with the vagueness argument but concluding that actual notice resolved the case.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the District Court erred in denying Maples's motion to dismiss on the ground that Montana's violent-offender registration statutes were unconstitutionally vague as applied to him because they did not provide sufficient notice of their retroactive application.
Holdings
- The motion to dismiss was properly denied because Maples had actual notice of his obligation to register after a police detective informed him of the requirement.
Key quotations
“It is manifest on the face of the briefs and the record before us that the District Court properly concluded that Maples had actual notice of his requirement to register based upon the telephone call by Detective Gappmayer.” (¶ 6)
“the following memorandum decision shall not be cited as precedent” (¶ 1)
Factual background
Maples was convicted in Florida in 1993 of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, and he alleged that he completed his Florida sentences in 1999 before relocating to Montana. In 2008, a background investigation connected to his application for a dealer's license revealed the Florida felony convictions. A Bozeman police detective told Maples that he was required to register as a violent offender, but Maples did not register, leading to the charge.
Procedural history
The State charged Maples in the Eighteenth Judicial District Court of Montana with failing to register as a violent offender. The District Court denied his motion to dismiss, concluding in part that he had actual notice of the registration requirement after a police detective informed him of it. Maples pleaded guilty, reserved his appellate challenge to the denial of the motion, and the Montana Supreme Court affirmed.