Leland Neal Lapier v. Jack McCormick Warden, Montana State Prison

LaPier appeals the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1988) habeas corpus petition challenging his conviction in Montana state court for aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, and felony assault. This case turns on whether LaPier is an Indian for purposes of criminal jurisdiction. If he is such an Indian, the Montana state court lacked criminal jurisdiction over him. The district court found that LaPier was not an Indian for these purposes. We affirm, but employ a different analytical test.

Following a jury trial in Montana state court, LaPier was found guilty of aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, and felony assault. State v. LaPier, 242 Mont. 335 , 790 P.2d 983, 984 (1990). The underlying offenses "occurred within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation," and "[t]he victim was non-Indian." Id. 790 F.2d at 986. Indian country criminal jurisdiction is allocated among federal, state, and tribal courts depending on "the subject matter of the crime, the persons involved in the crime, and the locus of the crime," Scott W. Wilson, Comment, Criminal Jurisdiction in Montana Indian Country, 47 Mont.L.Rev. 513, 513 (1986); see also Kevin Meisner, Comment,…