High court dismisses rapist's appeal

The Montana Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a Polson man who is serving a 50-year sentence for raping a woman in 2013.

“We conclude there are no arguments with potential legal merit that could be raised on appeal in this case,” Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote in a ruling last week.

Dennis Jay Hobbs, 56, had filed an appeal of the case in 2015 after he was sentenced to 50 years in Montana State Prison for sexual assaulting a woman, stalking her and tampering with evidence.

As part of a plea agreement, Hobbs was not convicted of attempted murder for hire. According to court documents, he allegedly told a man in fall 2013 that if he killed the woman, Hobbs would give the killer a map to an “isolated residence filled with guns, coins and other expensive items.”

The killer would then be allowed to help himself to the loot, court records claimed.

Hobbs had asked the Montana Supreme Court to let him withdraw his guilty plea after his father allegedly did not receive some property that was confiscated for evidentiary purposes. Hobbs had been promised that the items would be returned to his father, a Kalispell man.

“I’m hoping that you will understand why I believe I am forced to seek other counsel or to proceed pro se to withdraw my guilty plea due to a breach of agreement and for the failure of the state to perform,” Hobbs wrote. “I intend to attach a copy of this letter to my affidavit seeking a plea withdrawal.”

A public defender in the case reviewed the file asked to withdraw as Hobbs’ counsel.

“Conscientious examination of the record, along with thorough research, compels a conclusion that Mr. Hobbs’ appeal has no merit,” Lisa Korchinski wrote in her motion to withdraw as his attorney.

The court granted Korchinski’s wish, but Hobbs asked to proceed as his own attorney after that.

The court struck down that request and found that while defendants have a right to a public defender, a defendant does not get to choose who the public defender is.

Hobbs did not meet the filing deadline for the case to proceed. He is currently serving prison time in Idaho on unrelated charges and has complained that he does not have adequate access to Montana legal codes to draft an appeal.

Reporter Megan Strickland may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.