State v. Coleman
STATE of Montana, and v. Jordan Todd COLEMAN, and
Full Opinion (html_with_citations)
***377ΒΆ1 Jordan Coleman (Coleman) appeals from a sentence imposed by the Montana Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County. We address the following issue:
Did the defendant waive his right to challenge the constitutionality of a probation condition by failing to previously object?
ΒΆ2 We conclude the defendant waived his as-applied constitutional challenge and accordingly affirm the District Court's imposed sentence.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
ΒΆ3 In October 2014, Coleman entered a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to a single count of Sexual Intercourse Without Consent. A few months later, the District Court sentenced Coleman, committing him to the Montana State Prison for thirty years with ten years suspended. The court further ordered various probation conditions for any period of community supervision, including Condition Forty-Five, which provided, "[Coleman] shall not have a cell phone, or such other technology/device with photo, video, or Internet capabilities." Coleman did not object to Condition Forty-Five at or before sentencing. Coleman now appeals the condition and asks this Court to strike it from his sentence.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
ΒΆ4 We review criminal sentences for legality-that is, whether the sentence is within statutory parameters. State v. Cleveland ,
*28State v. Lenihan ,
DISCUSSION
ΒΆ5 Coleman argues that Condition Forty-Five is illegal because it is an overly-broad restriction on his First Amendment freedom of speech. Because Coleman did not present this argument to the District Court, however, we must address whether he may raise it for the first time on appeal.
ΒΆ6 When a court suspends a portion of a criminal sentence, the court may impose on the offender any "reasonable restrictions or conditions considered necessary for rehabilitation or for the protection of the victim or society." Section 46-18-201(4)(p), MCA ; see also ***378Β§ 46-18-202(c), MCA ("The sentencing judge may also impose ... restrictions on the offender's freedom of association."). Overly broad or unduly punitive conditions are not reasonable. State v. Zimmerman ,
ΒΆ7 Generally, a defendant must object to a condition at or before sentencing. Failure to object may result in waiver-we will not hold a district court in error based on an objection raised for the first time on appeal. State v. Ashby ,
ΒΆ8 We similarly differentiate between the types of constitutional challenges to a sentence that we will address for the first time on appeal. State v. Parkhill ,
ΒΆ9 Distinguishing between facial and as-applied constitutional challenges when considering which a defendant may bring for the first time on appeal makes sense in light of Lenihan . See Strong , ΒΆ 13. A defendant's facial constitutional challenge is based on the defendant's allegation that the statute upon which his sentence was based is ***379unconstitutional-i.e., his sentence is illegal. Therefore, we address facial constitutional challenges to sentencing statutes even if they are raised for the first time on appeal. Strong , ΒΆ 12 (citing Ellis , ΒΆ 7 ). On the other hand, a defendant's as-applied constitutional challenge is based on the defendant's allegation that his sentence is unconstitutional-i.e., his sentence is objectionable. Accordingly, we will not address as-applied constitutional challenges to sentencing conditions raised for the first time on appeal. Strong , ΒΆΒΆ 13, 15 (citing Mainwaring , ΒΆ 20, and Heddings , ΒΆ 20 ); Parkhill , ΒΆΒΆ 15-16 (concluding the defendant's general objections to two of his sentencing conditions before the district court did not sufficiently preserve his as-applied constitutional arguments on appeal). *29ΒΆ10 On appeal, Coleman argues Condition Forty-Five is "facially unconstitutional" in light of the United States Supreme Court's recent decision Packingham v. North Carolina , 582 U.S. ----,
ΒΆ11 Coleman reasons that Condition Forty-Five, which prohibits him from possessing any device with photo, video, or Internet capabilities, is similarly an overly broad burden on his First Amendment rights. However, unlike in Packingham , where the defendant challenged the facial constitutionality of a state statute, here Coleman does not argue a Montana statute is facially unconstitutional. Rather, Coleman argues Condition Forty-Five-a condition of his own sentence-is unconstitutional. Thus, Coleman's challenge to Condition Forty-Five is an as-applied constitutional challenge, one that we will not review for the first time on appeal. See Parkhill , ΒΆ 16 ; Strong , ΒΆ 15. We hold that Coleman waived his constitutional argument regarding Condition Forty-Five by not raising it in the District Court.
ΒΆ12 Coleman further urges us to exercise plain error review to analyze Condition Forty-Five. We may choose to review a claim under the common law plain error doctrine when a criminal defendant's fundamental rights are invoked and where failing to review the claimed error may result in a manifest miscarriage of justice, may leave unsettled the question of the fundamental fairness of the trial or proceedings, or may compromise the integrity of the judicial process.
***380State v. Taylor ,
CONCLUSION
ΒΆ13 We will review a defendant's facial constitutional challenge to a sentencing statute for the first time on appeal, but a defendant waives an as-applied constitutional challenge to his sentence by failing to raise the issue before the district court. Coleman waived his right to appeal Condition Forty-Five, which barred him from possessing any device with photo, video, or Internet capabilities, by failing to previously object, and plain error review is not warranted in this case. We affirm the District Court's imposed sentence.
We concur:
MIKE McGRATH, C.J.
INGRID GUSTAFSON, J.
JAMES JEREMIAH SHEA, J.
JIM RICE, J.