Appeals court takes up case

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Court of Appeals is slated on Thursday to take up a Bonner County man’s effort to reduce his sentence in a statutory rape case.

Scott Anthony Hansen, who’s serving a two- to eight-year prison sentence, contends a 1st District Court judge abused his discretion by ordering further imprisonment instead of probation.

Hansen was charged in 2011 with lewd and lascivious conduct with one 13-year-old girl and statutory rape of another 13-year-old. Hansen was 18 at the time.

Hansen pleaded guilty to statutory rape through a plea agreement, which dismissed the lewd-conduct charge. However, the terms of the pretrial settlement agreement required him to admit wrongdoing for the dismissed offense.

Judge George Reinhardt III imposed the eight-year sentence, but retained jurisdiction over Hansen. When jurisdiction is retained, a defendant serves up to a year in prison before a decision is made to further incarcerate the person or put them on probation, also known as a rider.

But things went poorly for Hansen while he served his rider at the North Idaho Correctional Institution at Cottonwood, according to the defendant’s own admissions in court documents.

Hansen did not complete all of his programming and admittedly had a bad attitude and was angry at fellow inmates when he first arrived. Hansen contends he managed to turn the battleship around, but not quickly enough to satisfy Idaho Department of Correction officials, who recommended that jurisdiction be relinquished and Hanson be ordered to serve his prison sentence.

Judge Steve Verby adopted the IDOC recommendation, court records show. Verby also declined to reconsider the ruling.

Hansen, now 20, appealed both rulings, arguing that he was denied due process by denying him allocution. The violation of his constitutional right amounted to fundamental error, argued Sara B. Thomas, state appellate public defender.

Hansen is asking the appellate court to either remand his case for re-sentencing or, alternatively, to reduce the sentence.

Deputy Attorney General Russell J. Spencer counters that the appeals court lacks jurisdiction to consider Hansen’s due process challenge. The state alternatively argues that Hansen’s claim regarding allocution does not survive the fundamental error review because it’s not a constitutional right.

Hansen is imprisoned at the Idaho Correctional Center in Kuna, according to IDOC. He is eligible for parole next month.