Montana Law Week

The Weekly Digest of Montana Law

Deliberate homicide/tampering, hearsay text messages

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DELIBERATE HOMICIDE/TAMPERING: Officer’s reading of text messages between participants in double homicide properly admitted over hearsay objections… Judge’s choice of Montana pattern instruction on reasonable doubt properly given over Defendant’s preference for 9th Circuit instruction… convictions affirmed… Menahan affirmed. [Read more…]

Attempted delib homicide, child sex abuse comments

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ATTEMPTED DELIBERATE HOMICIDE: State improperly allowed to reference and elicit testimony regarding Defendant’s shocking child sex abuse comments in an explicit/repetitive manner that went beyond mere need to show motive to kill and was unfairly prejudicial… conviction reversed, remanded for new trial… McMahon reversed. [Read more…]

Fitness regained 12 years after criminal case dismissed

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FITNESS: If a defendant found unfit to proceed regains fitness a judge can resume the criminal case, but sexual assault case against mentally challenged defendant that was dismissed in 2006 was improperly reinstated in 2018 without new charging documents and consideration of justness of the extended delay… resumption of criminal case reversed but new civil commitment proceeding could be pursued should the law and evidence support a new filing… Deschamps reversed. [Read more…]

Assault on officer, attorneys’ pre-planned vacation

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ASSAULT ON OFFICER: Continuance of retrial based on attorneys’ vacation plans properly denied… no abuse of discretion in requiring witness to appear shackled and in jail clothes based on security concerns… Defendant properly sentenced as PFO based on release from a sentence on revocation… conviction affirmed… Manley affirmed. [Read more…]