Rapist has no grounds for appeal, attorney says

A public defender has argued to the Montana Supreme Court that a Polson man has no reason to appeal his conviction for sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

Dennis Jay Hobbs’ appeal is wholly frivolous, according to his court-appointed attorney.

Hobbs, 58, is currently in Idaho, facing eight more years of a sentence for aggravated battery.

Once he is released in July 2024 for that sentence, he’ll be sent to Montana to begin another 50-year prison term for sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend in Lake County in 2013.

Hobbs received a 50-year prison sentence in September 2014 for two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, one count of tampering with witnesses and informants, and one count of stalking.

The convictions resulted after Hobbs sexually assaulted the woman, posted $100,000 bond after he was arrested in August 2013, then stalked her and allegedly tried to have someone kill her.

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

The killer could help himself to the loot, court records claim.

Hobbs tried to appeal to the Montana Supreme Court in December 2014, but public defender Lisa S. Korchinski asked to withdraw as counsel on Wednesday.

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

The court ordered that Hobbs file a response in the next 30 days.