State of Montana v. Billy Joe Watts

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Billy Joe Watts’s motion to dismiss his felony Partner Family Member Assault conviction and reduce it to a misdemeanor. The court held that Watts’s voluntary guilty plea waived nonjurisdictional challenges, including his constitutional challenge to the former PFMA statute, and that the Lenihan rule did not permit review of the underlying conviction.

Holdings

1. A voluntary and knowing guilty plea waives all nonjurisdictional defects and defenses, including an independent constitutional challenge to the statute underlying the conviction; the defendant may challenge only the voluntary and intelligent character of the plea unless the issue was otherwise properly preserved.
2. The Lenihan rule, which permits review of an allegedly illegal or statutorily excessive sentence even without a sentencing objection, does not permit a defendant to attack the underlying felony conviction after pleading guilty.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a defendant who pleaded guilty to felony PFMA and waived appellate rights may challenge the constitutionality of the underlying PFMA statute after the plea.
2. Whether the Lenihan rule permitted appellate review of Watts's challenge despite his failure to preserve it.
3. Whether Watts was entitled to dismissal of the felony conviction and reduction of the charge to a misdemeanor.

Disposition

affirmed