State v. Bjarko

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the revocation of Bradley Bjarko's suspended sentence following parole violations. The Court upheld his level 3 sexual-offender risk designation, concluding that the district court properly reviewed the evaluation materials and that its failure to designate Bjarko as a sexually violent predator was nonprejudicial.

Holdings

1. Section 46-23-509(3)(a), MCA, requires the sentencing court to review the sexual-offender evaluation report but does not require the court to follow it. The statute also does not require specific findings on each of the three indicators associated with a level 3 designation.
2. The District Court's failure to designate Bjarko as a sexually violent predator, although required for a level 3 offender under the statute, was not grounds for reversal because the error did not prejudice Bjarko.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the District Court erred by declining to designate Bjarko as a level 2 rather than level 3 sexual-offender risk.
2. Whether the District Court's failure to separately designate Bjarko as a sexually violent predator required reversal of the sentence revocation order.

Disposition

affirmed