State v. Feight

2001 MT 205, 33 P.3d 623, 306 Mont. 312, 2001 Mont. LEXIS 371
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 11, 2001
Docket00-742
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 2001 MT 205 (State v. Feight) 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
State v. Feight, 2001 MT 205, 33 P.3d 623, 306 Mont. 312, 2001 Mont. LEXIS 371 (Mo. 2001).

Opinions

JUSTICE NELSON

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Dale and John Feight (the Feights) pleaded guilty in Jefferson County Justice Court to misdemeanor assault. They subsequently filed motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, but the Justice Court denied those motions. The Feights appealed the denial of their motions to the District Court for the Fifth Judicial District, Jefferson County. The District Court dismissed the appeal and remanded to the Justice Court. The Justice Court reinstated the judgments against the Feights. The Feights now appeal to this Court. We affirm.

¶2 The Feights raise the following issue on appeal: Whether the District Court erred in dismissing the Feights’ appeal from a Justice Court order denying their motion to withdraw their guilty pleas.

Factual and Procedural Background

¶3 On February 25, 2000, the Feights were each charged with misdemeanor assault in violation of § 45-5-201, MCA. The State’s Complaint & Affidavit of Probable Cause claimed that on February 18, 2000, the Feights had “purposely or knowingly made physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Montana Highway Patrol Officer Jay Nelson, by pushing, yelling, expressing rage, and attempting to choke the officer.” The assault charges arose out of an incident between the Feights and Officer Nelson after John was ejected from a boy’s basketball game between Whitehall and Boulder high schools. John was a member of the Whitehall boy’s basketball team at the time of the incident. Dale is John’s father.

¶4 The Feights’ April 26,2000 brief in support of their motion to stay execution of their sentence pending appeal to the District Court contains the following description of the incident. John was ejected from the basketball game for committing a foul after the whistle stopping play had been blown. As he was leaving the court, John expressed his frustration at being ejected by kicking the bleachers. Officer Nelson, who was present as a spectator, was standing at the end of the court dressed in his uniform. After witnessing John’s behavior, Officer Nelson came out onto the court, and confronted John. John pulled away from him and headed down a hallway toward the locker room. Officer Nelson followed John down the hallway and pinned him up against a wall. Dale and his wife were sitting across the floor from the Whitehall bench. They saw the confrontation with Officer Nelson and ran down the hallway to where Officer Nelson was holding John. As Officer Nelson continued to hold John, Dale and [314]*314Officer Nelson exchanged words. Dale then placed a hand on Officer Nelson’s shoulder. As he did so, Officer Nelson turned and pushed Dale against the wall. John then pulled Officer Nelson away from his father by grabbing Officer Nelson around the neck with his arm.

¶5 The Feights appeared before the Jefferson County Justice of the Peace on the same day the complaint was filed. After they were informed of their rights, they waived their right to counsel and pleaded guilty to the assault charges. The Justice Court sentenced Dale to six months of incarceration, with all but two days suspended, and a $300 fine, The court sentenced John to six months of incarceration, with all but five days suspended, and a $500 fine.

¶6 On March 29,2000, the Feights, through counsel, filed motions to withdraw their guilty pleas. The Feights claimed that they had good cause to withdraw their pleas based on § 46-16-105(2), MCA; the “records and files in this case;” the attached affidavit of each defendant; and a brief “to be filed within five days” of the filing of the motions. The Feights contended in their affidavits that they pleaded guilty only after the county attorney threatened to charge John with a felony and send him to prison. Contrary to the statement they made in their motions, the Feights failed to file a brief within five days.

¶7 On April 13, 2000, the Justice Court, without holding a hearing, denied the Feights’ motion to withdraw their guilty pleas. The court stated that the defendants had been given due process; that they had waived their right to counsel; and that they had voluntarily, knowingly, and willingly entered pleas of guilty.

¶8 The Feights appealed the denial of their motion to withdraw their guilty pleas to the District Court. The State moved to dismiss the Feights’ appeal contending, in part, that the District Court lacked appellate jurisdiction to review a denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea. On August 21, 2000, the District Court- filed its Findings and Order dismissing the Feights’ appeal and remanding to the Justice Court with a recommendation that the Justice Court allow the Feights to withdraw their guilty pleas. Instead, the Justice Court reinstated the judgments against the Feights and they now appeal to this Court.

Discussion

¶9 Whether the District Court erred in dismissing the Feights’ appeal from a Justice Court order denying their motion to withdraw their guilty pleas.

¶10 The District Court did not state the basis for its dismissal but appears to have accepted the State’s argument that dismissal was proper because the court lacked jurisdiction. Relying on State v. Rogers (1994), 267 Mont. 190, 883 P.2d 115, the Feights argue that the denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea is a final justice court proceeding from which there is a statutory right to appeal to a district court. The State agrees that the right to appeal from a justice court is statutory, [315]*315but argues that there is no statutory authority for an appeal from an order denying a motion to withdraw a guilty plea. We agree with the State.

¶11 We have repeatedly stated that the right to appeal a criminal conviction from a justice court is purely statutory. See State v. Barker (1993), 260 Mont. 85, 91, 858 P.2d 360, 363; State v. Ward (1994), 266 Mont. 424, 427, 880 P.2d 1343, 1345; State v. Todd (1993), 262 Mont. 108, 113, 863 P.2d 423,426. Moreover, we have stated that a new trial in district court is the exclusive statutory appellate remedy from a justice court and that “[a] district court does not have appellate jurisdiction to review the correctness of legal conclusions made by a justice court.”1 Todd, 262 Mont. at 113, 863 P.2d at 426. See also State v. Rogers (1994), 267 Mont. 190, 197, 883 P.2d 115, 119-20 (Nelson, J., dissenting).

¶ 12 The Feights assert on appeal that no statute specifically prohibits their right to appeal to the district court from a denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea entered in justice court. However, that is not the appropriate inquiry. Since the right to appeal a criminal conviction from justice court is purely statutory (see Barker, Ward, and Todd), the correct inquiry is whether any statute authorizes such an appeal. In fact, no such statute exists. Indeed, the contrary is true.

¶13 Section 3-5-303, MCA, provides:

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Bluebook (online)
2001 MT 205, 33 P.3d 623, 306 Mont. 312, 2001 Mont. LEXIS 371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-feight-mont-2001.