Lausch v. Vaughn ( 2023 )

ORIGIN
riAtimo 12/05/2023
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
Case Number: OP 23-0678
OP 23-0678
VINSON LAUSCH,
Petitioner,
v.
RAY VAUGHN, Captain, 1-;.'orE'b
Butte-Silver Bow Detention Center,
DEC - 5 2023
Bowen Greenwood
Respondent. Clerk of Supreme Court
State of Montana
Vinson Lausch has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, indicating illegal
incarceration because his conditional release has been revoked. Lausch is currently held
in the Butte-Silver Bow County Detention Center.
Lausch states that he "was on conditional release from Pre-Release in Helena[J"
Montana. He informed his Probation Officer that he used drugs. "Instead of following the
grid to sanction [him]," Lausch adds that his Probation Officer "sanctioned" him in a
harsher manner than Lausch was expecting. Lausch states that he "stopped checking in
because [he] felt that [he] was being [unduly] punished." Lausch puts forth that he had a
sentence to the Department of CorreCtions (DOC) but that now he is being sent to the
Montana State Prison. For relief, he requests to have a DOC sentence. Lausch provides
no supporting documentation.
Available electronic records indicate that the 'State charged Lausch with eleven
misdemeanors and felonies in 2020. The Missoula County District Court accepted
Lausch's nolo contendere pleas to two misdemeanors and four felonies, including stalking
and violation of a protective order. Lausch has a net sentence of five years to the DOC
with a suspended, two-year term to follow.
The grid that Lausch mentions is the Montana Incentives and Interventions Grid.
Section 46-23-1028(1), MCA. Lausclf s Probation Officer would not have to use the grid
if Lausch had been charged with a new offense because the new offense is considered a
non-compliance violation. Sections 46-18-203(11)(b)(i), and 46-23-1001(3)(a), MCA.
Once Lausch stopped reporting to his Probation Officer, he would have been considered
an absconder from supervision, which is also considered a non-compliance violation.
Section 46-23-1001(1), and 46-18-203(11)(a), -20311(b)(iv), MCA. Lausch does not
provide any relevant dates in his Petition for context here.
Under Montana law, a conditional release on probation may be revoked. A
conditional release or discharge may be revoked upon a charge of a new offense or any
violation of a court's condition. See § 46-23-1020(3)(a), (b), or (c), MCA. We secured a
copy of the register of actions for a pending criminal case in the Butte-Silver Bow County
District Court. On October 27, 2023, the State sought leave to file an Information by
affidavit,1 and the District Court received the Justice Court record three days later. The
court granted leave and set bond at $5,500.00. The court held an arraignment hearing on
November 9, 2023, and Lausch appeared with counsel. Lausch has been charged with a
new offense in court, triggering the revocation of his conditional release, pursuant to
§ 46-23-1020(3)(a) or (b), MCA.
Lausch has not demonstrated illegal incarceration. Section 46-22-101(1), MCA.
Lausch has not shown that he has a prison sentence instead of a DOC sentence. This Court
does not have the authority to place offenders in treatment programs or the community. He
is not entitled to habeas corpus relief. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that Lausch's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus is DENIED and
DISMISSED.
The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to
Vinson Lausch personally.
DATED this tc— day of December, 2023.
Chief Justice
1 This Court does not have the other documents to confirm whether Lausch was charged with a
felony or misdemeanor.
2
3