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State v. Smith6/29/2001
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, In and for the County of Cascade, The Honorable Marge Johnson, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: April 5, 2001
Appellant, Paul Edmond Smith (Smith) was convicted in 1997 of felony theft, burglary and unauthorized control of a motor vehicle, and was given a suspended sentence. Smith violated the conditions of his suspended sentence and was arrested in July of 2000. Following a hearing, the District Court found him in violation of the terms of his suspended sentence, revoked his original sentence and imposed a new one. Smith appeals the portions of his new sentence that require him to attend parenting classes, and to pay $900 in jail costs. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
There are two issues on appeal:
. Whether the District Court abused its discretion in requiring Smith to attend parenting classes; and
. Whether the District Court erred in ordering Smith to pay the costs of his incarceration in the sum of $900.
Facts
Smith was convicted in 1997 of felony theft, burglary and unauthorized control of a motor vehicle, pursuant to a plea agreement. He was sentenced to two concurrent three year terms in prison and six months in the Cascade County Detention Center. All prison time was suspended, with conditions, and Smith was placed under the supervision of the Adult Probation and Parole Bureau.
Smith ultimately violated his parole when he issued two bad checks, and left the state and began living in Spokane, Washington without contacting his parole officer. As both of these acts violated the terms of his suspended sentence, a petition was filed to revoke the suspended sentence in May 1998. A bench warrant was issued for Smith's arrest, and he was eventually taken into custody in July of 2000.
Following a hearing at which Smith did not contest the facts behind his violation, the District Court found that Smith had violated the conditions of his suspended sentence and revoked the sentences given previously. The new sentence included two concurrent three year prison terms with one year suspended, and six months in the county detention center. Moreover, as additional sentencing conditions, Smith was ordered to attend parenting classes and pay the costs of his jail incarceration in the amount of $900. Smith appeals from the imposition of the latter new conditions.
Standard of review
We review a criminal sentence for legality only (i.e., whether the sentence is within the statutory parameters). State v. Montoya, 1999 MT 180, 15, 295 Mont. 288, 15, 983 P.2d 937, 15.
Discussion
Issue 1. Whether the District Court had authority to impose the condition that Smith attend parenting classes.
Smith argues that the District Court exceeded its authority in requiring him to attend parenting classes as a condition of his sentence. He argues that while the court is given authority to impose conditions on a suspended sentence under §§ 46-18-201-202, MCA, such conditions must have "some correlation or connection to the underlying offense for which the defendant is being sentenced." State v. Ommundson, 1999 MT 16, 11, 293 Mont. 133, 11, 974 P.2d 620, 11.
The State responds that the parenting classes are a reasonable condition of Smith's sentence because during the revocation hearing, Smith argued that his family needed him in an attempt to convince the judge to be lenient in making the sentencing decision.
This Court held in Ommundson that there must be some relationship between the underlying charge and the condit
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