Montgomery v. State

⁶⁴¹ MURPHY, C.J. This appeal from the Circuit Court for Charles County presents a variation of the proverb, “No good deed goes unpunished.” According to Neil Morano Montgomery, appellant, his violation of probation must go unpunished because of a good deed committed by the circuit court at the time it sentenced appellant for having violated probation. Appellant now argues that the circuit court erroneously denied the Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence that appellant filed on December 21, 2005, and (in the words of his brief) “respectfully requests that this Court vacate, as illegal, the judgment of the court below, imposing [on May 18, 2001] a ten-year sentence to commence on May 18, 2004.” According to appellant (in the words of his brief): I. THE TRIAL COURT IMPOSED AN ILLEGAL SENTENCE WHERE IT DEFERRED EXECUTION OF THE TEN-YEAR SENTENCE FOR THREE YEARS AND IMPOSED A DE FACTO TERM OF PROBATION.

II

THE TRIAL COURT ACTED ILLEGALLY IN PERMITTING THE EXECUTION OF THE TEN-YEAR SENTENCE AND THE INCARCERATION OF MR. MONTGOMERY WITHOUT A HEARING, BASED ON THE COURT’S BELIEF THAT MR. MONTGOMERY HAD NOT COMPLIED WITH THE CONDITIONS SET BY THE COURT FOR SUSPENSION OF THE BALANCE OF THE TERM OF INCARCERATION. For the reasons that follow, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

Background Appellant’s Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence included the following assertions: [Appellant] pled guilty on May 18, 2001 ... to a violation of probation ..., having been convicted of the crime of Constructive Criminal Contempt for failing to follow a Child ⁶⁴² Support Order. The Court sentenced [appellant] on May 18, 2001 to ten (10) years of the twenty (20) year balance [of the sentence originally imposed on April 20, 1993 when appellant entered a plea of guilty to the crime of arson] to begin at 9 a.m. on May 18, 2004, three years after the date that [appellant] pled guilty to the violation of probation____ The Court closed the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation in the case and stated that “if you are of good behavior between now and three years from now I will reconsider it and vacate it and not make you serve another day.” [The circuit court] also stated “I reserve the right to advance the date for execution of this 10 years less 55 days if I hear that you run afoul of the law or run afoul of any other order of Court between now and that date.” Three years later on May 18, 2004, [appellant] was picked up and incarcerated without a hearing. [Appellant] has been continuously incarcerated since May 18, 2004 without a hearing. The record shows that the following transpired during appellant’s May 18, 2001 sentencing proceeding: [THE COURT:] The disposition Mr. Montgomery is 10 years of the 10 year balance of the sentence in this case is hereby ordered executed effective at 9 a.m. on May 18th of 2004. That is three years from today.

You are entitled to credit against that for 55 days time served prior to today in connection with this probation violation matter. [Defense counsel] will automatically file the reconsideration motion. I am automatically going to table it. Mr. Montgomery, I am attaching no particular strings to this. I am telling you if you are of good behavior between now and three years from now I will reconsider it and vacate it and not make you serve another day.

On the