Justia Montana Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

A jury convicted John Hartsoe of aggravated assault and violation of an order of protection. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and remanded in part, holding (1) the district court erred by by permitting Hartsoe to be shackled in a chair and brought into the courtroom during voir dire, but because the record was insufficiently developed to enable the Court to conduct a harmless error analysis, the matter was remanded to the district court to determine whether the violation was harmless in light of the interests that the right to remain free of physical restraints was designed to protect; and (2) the district court did not err in granting Hartsoe's request to represent himself as Hartsoe voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently elected to proceed pro se.

After Peter Carter was killed in a car accident, Plaintiff filed a wrongful death and survival action against the vehicle manufacturer, the auto rental company, and the other driver in the accident. Plaintiff asserted claims against the auto companies for negligence and strict liability, arguing that the seatbelt system in Carter's vehicle was defective. The district court ruled that Mont. Code Ann. 61-13-106 prohibited evidence of seatbelt use or nonuse in products liability claims but not in negligence claims. The court concluded it would be too confusing for the jury to admit the evidence on the products liability claims but exclude it on the negligence claims and informed Stokes if he planned on using evidence of seatbelt use or nonuse he must drop his negligence claims. The Supreme Court granted Stokes's petition for supervisory control, holding (1) when the plaintiff's injuries are alleged to result from a defect in the vehicle's occupant restraint system, whether the claim sounds in negligence or strict liability, the statute does not preclude evidence of seatbelt use or nonuse; and (2) where the plaintiff's claim is combined with a claim against the driver of another vehicle involved in the crash, a limiting instruction must be given.

Gavin Johnston was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after the result of a breath test taken by a breath analysis instrument called the Intoxilyzer 8000 showed Johnston had elevated blood alcohol levels. The district court granted Johnston's motion to suppress the results of the breath test pursuant to State v. Gieser because the Intoxilyzer 8000 had not been field tested within a week of Johnston's arrest. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the district court's ruling, holding (1) the reference in Gieser to weekly field testing of breath analysis instruments was dicta and should not have been relied upon as authority as to how often breath analysis instruments must be field certified; and (2) the Intoxilyzer 8000 was properly certified as required by Mont. Admin. R. 23.4.213, which states that breath analysis instruments shall be field certified for accuracy at least once every thirty-one days.

A jury found Robert DaSilva guilty of failure to provide notice of address change as a sex offender, a felony, and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not violate DaSilva's due process rights by instructing the jury as a matter of law that DaSilva's previous Washington conviction of second degree assault with sexual motivation was a "sexual offense" under Montana law; and (2) the district court did not act arbitrarily or err in granting a continuance of trial that was requested by the State to permit an amendment to the information.