Montana v. Mehan

2019 MT 100, 440 P.3d 25, 395 Mont. 383
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 30, 2019
DocketDA 17-0197
StatusPublished

This text of 2019 MT 100 (Montana v. Mehan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montana v. Mehan, 2019 MT 100, 440 P.3d 25, 395 Mont. 383 (Mo. 2019).

Opinion

Chief Justice Mike McGrath delivered the Opinion of the Court.

***384¶1 In 2016, Douglas Alan Mehan pleaded guilty to Sexual Intercourse Without Consent, a felony. At sentencing, the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County, imposed numerous conditions, including several restricting Mehan's contact with minors upon his release. Mehan objected to these conditions on the basis that they had no nexus to the underlying offense. The District Court declined to remove the conditions. Mehan appeals. We reverse and remand for correction of the sentence.

¶2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows:

Whether the conditions restricting Mehan's contact with minors have a sufficient nexus to Mehan or the underlying offense.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶3 On June 12, 2015, Mehan raped an unconscious woman in the parking lot of a bar in Great Falls, Montana. The rape, and Mehan's interaction with the victim inside the bar, were recorded on the bar's surveillance cameras. On June 25, 2015, the State charged Mehan with Sexual Intercourse Without Consent, in violation of § 45-5-503, MCA. Mehan entered into a plea agreement with the State, pursuant to § 46-12-211(1)(b), MCA, and changed his plea to guilty. On January 18, 2017, the District Court accepted the plea agreement, designated Mehan as a Tier I sexual offender, and sentenced to him fifty years in the Montana State Prison with twenty-five years suspended.

¶4 Prior to sentencing, a Presentence Investigation Report (PSI) was prepared, which included sentencing condition recommendations for the District Court. At sentencing, the District Court imposed nearly all ***385conditions recommended in the PSI, including those challenged on appeal, which restrict Mehan's contact with minors. Mehan objected, arguing the victim was not a minor and thus there was not a sufficient nexus between Mehan or his offense and the conditions protecting minors. The District Court overruled Mehan's objection, reasoning:

[I]t appears to me, from studying the charging affidavit and the reports of the two experts, that Mr. Mehan's view of what a reasonable woman would consent to has been informed and in a large degree distorted by his viewing of pornography. And that, to me, is the necessary nexus to *27keep him away from that in the future. And so those objections are overruled.

¶5 Mehan appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6 This Court reviews the reasonableness of conditions or restrictions imposed in a sentence for an abuse of discretion, if the conditions are objected to at sentencing. State v. Leyva , 2012 MT 124, ¶ 15, 365 Mont. 204, 280 P.3d 252.

DISCUSSION

¶7 Whether the conditions restricting Mehan's contact with minors have a sufficient nexus to Mehan or the underlying offense.

¶8 When a portion of a defendant's sentence has been suspended, the district court has authority to impose restrictions or conditions on the offender's freedom of association and freedom of movement, in addition to any other limitation reasonably related to the objectives of rehabilitation and the protection of the victim and society. State v. Bullplume , 2013 MT 169, ¶ 18, 370 Mont. 453, 305 P.3d 753 ; State v. Malloy , 2004 MT 377, ¶ 8, 325 Mont. 86, 103 P.3d 1064 ; § 46-18-202(1)(c), (d), (g), MCA. The district court's discretion is limited, however, and the restrictions "must relate to rehabilitation or protection of society within the particular context of an offender's crime or the unique background, characteristics, or conduct of the offender." State v. Zimmerman , 2010 MT 44, ¶ 17, 355 Mont. 286, 228 P.3d 1109. A condition will meet this standard "so long as the condition has a nexus to either the offense for which the offender is being sentenced, or to the offender himself or herself." State v. Ashby , 2008 MT 83, ¶ 15, 342 Mont. 187, 179 P.3d 1164. Offender-related conditions are appropriate where "the history or pattern of conduct to be restricted is recent, and significant or chronic." Ashby , ¶ 15. "[I]t is insufficient that a condition of sentence relate[s] generally to rehabilitation; rather 'there must be a correlation between the crime for which the defendant was convicted and the condition imposed.' " Ashby , ¶ 14 (quoting ***386State v. Ommundson , 1999 MT 16, ¶ 4, 293 Mont. 133, 974 P.2d 620 ). When the requisite nexus is "absent or exceedingly tenuous," this Court will reverse the condition. State v. Melton , 2012 MT 84, ¶ 18, 364 Mont. 482, 276 P.3d 900 (quoting Zimmerman , ¶ 17 ).

¶9 Mehan argued at sentencing, and reasserts on appeal, that the following conditions fail the nexus test:

23.

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Related

State v. Ommundson
1999 MT 16 (Montana Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Malloy
2004 MT 377 (Montana Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Ashby
2008 MT 83 (Montana Supreme Court, 2008)
State v. Simpson
2009 MT 43 (Montana Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Swensen
2009 MT 42 (Montana Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Zimmerman
2010 MT 44 (Montana Supreme Court, 2010)
State v. Leyva
2012 MT 124 (Montana Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Melton
2012 MT 84 (Montana Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Bullplume
2013 MT 169 (Montana Supreme Court, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
2019 MT 100, 440 P.3d 25, 395 Mont. 383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/montana-v-mehan-mont-2019.