Judge OKs partial payment for evaluation

Flathead District Court Judge Robert Allison on Wednesday ordered payment for part of a sex offender evaluation for a man waiting to be sentenced for sexual assault, but stopped short of making the public pay for the entire bill.

A week earlier Allison had voiced his discontent over two recent cases where defendants had evaded thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees but the day before sentencing filed motions to be declared indigent so the public picked up the tab.

One of the cases involved Benjamin Alesehir Lacayo, who was convicted in October of sexual assault. State law requires a sex offender evaluation be completed as part of a pre-sentence investigation before sentencing.

Lacayo’s original sentencing date was Jan. 28, but Lacayo’s attorney Gary Crowe did not show up in court, though Lacayo did after he saw the case was still on the docket online.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Crowe said that he did not receive proper notice of the hearing, though Allison pointed out that the date was verbally given in court and it has not been the practice of the court to send out copies of minute entries. Crowe argued that in a recent change court policy, minute entries have been sent out and that is why he thought that the hearing was not on the schedule.

Allison could not approve the request at the first hearing without Crowe’s presence and the issue of possible indigent status came back before the judge on Wednesday, when Allison explained why it is difficult to handle Lacayo’s situation.

Lacayo initially qualified for a public defender because of his income. However, an uncle scraped together money to pay for Crowe’s services.

“The public defender’s office has a budget for payment of a sex offender evaluation,” Allison said. “They have a budget for this, but once private counsel steps into the picture, that is no longer available.”

The District Court then has to pick up the tab if indigent status is determined, Allison said.

“We don’t have a budget for that,” Allison said.

Lacayo testified that he has been unemployed since August 2014 and has had very little income. He said Crowe told him he needed to get a job as soon as he was released from custody and that he managed to make around $2,500 since a plea agreement was reached in October, but he prioritized helping his wife pay for his 2-year-old son’s expenses.

Lacayo said he signed an agreement with the sex offender evaluator to pay $2,500 in fees. However, the evaluator allegedly suggested having Lacayo declared as indigent so the bill could be paid by public money.

Lacayo testified that he diligently pursued leads for jobs but he hit two snags. When employers did like him, things usually went south when Lacayo explained his court situation. He also couldn’t work at most minimum wage jobs because he is prohibited him from being in contact with minors and teenagers are often a staple workforce in minimum-wage jobs.

“It seems to me that this man is clearly indigent,” Crowe said.

Crowe argued that indigent status should not be impacted by whether defendants have a private or publicly funded attorneys or opt to represent themselves in court.

Allison said that he wanted Lacayo to have equal access to the system as the prior defendant in the previous case. In that instance the court agreed to pay $1,500 for an evaluation from the same counselor, Allison said. Allison was curious about how the same type of evaluation from the same counselor could differ by $1,000.

In the end, the court agreed to pay $1,500 for Lacayo’s evaluation.

“That’s my way of trying to be fair to Mr. Lacayo,” Allison said.

Crowe said his client would see that the report is paid for as soon as possible.

Sentencing has been set for March 31.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.