11/10/2020

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA Case Number: OP 20-0522

OP 20-0522 PLED DAVID ALAN SPAGNOLO.

NOV 1 0 2020 Petitioner, Bowen Greenvvood Clerk of Supreme Court State of Montana v. ORDER SHERIFF TOM BOYER, Valley County Detention Center, Respondent.

Appearing as a self-represented litigant, David Alan Spagnolo petitions this Court for habeas corpus relief from his current incarceration after adjudication of his criminal case in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County. Spagnolo contends that his incarceration is illegal.

Upon review of this Court's docket. Spagnolo currently has counsel from the Appellate Defender Division to represent him in an appeal pending before this Court. State v. Spagnolo, DA 20-0494, Notice of Appeal filed Oct. 14, 2020. Under Montana law, Spagnolo's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is not a separate proceeding during the pendency of his appeal. An appeal is the proper forum in which to litigate issues arising from his sentence. State v. Wright, 2001 MT 282, 36-37, 307 Mont. 349, 42 P.3d 753.

Habeas corpus does not offer an alternative remedy to a direct appeal, nor does it supplement the appellate process.

Spagnolo should refrain from filing other pleadings while represented by counsel.

Courts rnay properly refuse to acceptpro se pleadings from defendants who are represented by counsel. State v. Samples,2005 MT 210,¶ 15, 328 Mont. 242, 119 P.3d 1191 (citations omitted). During this appeal, only Spagnolo's counsel should file motions and papers with this Court on his behalf. M. R. App. P. 10(1)(c); Samples, ¶ 15. Once the briefing is completed, this Court will decide the issues preserved for his appeal in due course.

Without considering the merits, we must dismiss this petition. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that Spagnolo's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus is DISMISSED, without prejudice.

The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to Sheriff Tom Boyer; to Tim Fox, Attorney General; to Joshua A. Racki, Cascade County Attorney; to Chad M. Wright, Appellate Defender Division; to counsel ofrecord, and to David Alan Spagnolo personally.

DATED this k0 day of November, 2020.

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Justices