MacGregor v. Sentence Review

11/23/2021 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA Case Number: OP 21-0560 OP 21-0560 RLED JEREMY MacGREGOR, NOV 2 3 2021 Bowen Greenwood Clerk of Supreme Court Petitioner, State of Montana v. ORDER MONTANA SENTENCE REVIEW DIVISION, Respondent. Self-represented Petitioner Jeremy MacGregor has filed a "Third Request for Transcript and Cause" with this Court, which we deem an original proceeding as a writ for extraordinary relief. M. R. App. P. 14(2). MacGregor contends that the Sentence Review Division's decision is a form of "direct review" under 28 U.S.C. 2244(d)(1)(A). He requests a record to prove due process violations because the Sentence Review Division "allow[ed] testimony from [his former wife and victim] who had not participated in the PSI or sentencing hearing . . . ." MacGregor states that the Sentence Review Division denied his previous request for transcripts due to its "reluctance to regularly supply paper copies." He states that the Sentence Review Division's denial of his request for a new hearing "is legally impossible because the Sentence Review Division cannot know what testimony . . . was record based and testimony that was not." "The proper basis by which this Court may review a challenge to a decision of the Sentence Review Division is through a petition for extraordinary relief" Reeves v. Sentence Review Div., No. OP 13-0737, 2013 Mont. LEXIS 578, at *2 (Nov. 5, 2013) (quoting Driver v. Sentence Review Division, 2010 MT 43, ¶ 9, 355 Mont. 273, 227 P.3d 1018 (citing Ranta v. State, 1998 MT 95, ¶ 12, 288 Mont. 391, 958 P.2d 670)). While MacGregor's pleading has been filed aS a petition for extraordinary relief, MacGregor has not articulated any viable request for relief. M. R. App. P. 14(5). Montana's statutes apply to this situation—not the U.S. Code. See §§ 46-18-901 through 46-18-905, MCA. In reviewing sentences, the Sentence Review Division may increase the sentence, decrease the sentence, or let the sentence remain unchanged. Section 46-18-904(1)(a), MCA. Available electronic records indicate that the Sentence Review Division affirmed MacGregor's sentence in February 2020. No due process violation occurs when any interested person is allowed to attend under Montana law. "Any other person . . . may attend and participate in the review proceedings." Section 46-18-904(2), MCA. MacGregor's former wife and victim is an interested party who was allowed to testify at his sentence review hearing. MacGregor has exhausted his remedies with this Court. In 2011, a jury found MacGregor guilty of two counts of attempted deliberate homicide. The Lewis and Clark County District Court sentenced MacGregor to concurrent terms of 100 years and restricted MacGregor's parole eligibility for fifty years. MacGregor appealed. This Court affirmed his convictions. State v. MacGregor, 2013 MT 297A, 372 Mont. 142, 311 P.3d 428 (MacGregor 1). MacGregor also appealed the District Court's denial of his petition for postconviction relief. We affirmed. MacGregor v. State, 2018 MT 74N, 392 Mont. 551, 414 P.3d 1291 (MacGregor 11). MacGregor petitioned for sentence review and the Sentence Review Division issued a written decision stating the reasons for the decision in compliance with § 46-18-905(1), MCA. MacGregor has provided no basis for extraordinary relief. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that MacGregor's Third Request for Transcript and Cause is DENIED and this matter is DISMISSED. The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel of record and to Jeremy MacGregor persoay. DATED this day of November, 2021. 7 (94 At JUL a Justices 3