Justia Montana Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the orders of the district court denying the motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by the Associated Press and other news reporting outlets (collectively, the AP) and granting a motion to dismiss filed by Barry Usher, holding that the district court did not err.During the state's biennial legislative session in 2021, Usher, who was the Chair of the Judiciary Committee of the Montana House of Representatives, and other Republican members of the Committee met privately to discuss pending legislation. Because Usher denied the AP access to the gathering, the AP brought this lawsuit, seeking a declaratory judgment that this denial of access was a constitutional violation. The district court granted Usher's motion to dismiss, concluding that the gathering was controlled by the open meeting statute, Mont. Code Ann. 2-3-202, and that applying the statute in this case did not violate the AP's Mont. Const. art. II, 9 right to access a gathering of Judiciary Committee members. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in applying the statutory definition of a "meeting" to the AP's constitutional right to access a gathering of Judiciary Committee members. View "Associated Press v. Usher" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of warrantless search of his apartment, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress.In this case, three probation officers and a deputy federal marshal made a warrantless entry into Defendant's apartment without his consent to investigate his reported methamphetamine use and possible drug overdose in violation of the law and Defendant's probation. The district court concluded that the warrantless entry into Defendant's apartment was a constitutional search. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court (1) correctly concluded that the warrantless entry and probation search of Defendant's apartment was lawful on reasonable suspicion under the probation search exception to the warrant requirement of Mont. Const. art. II, 10-11; and (2) did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress based on the manner in which the officers entered the apartment or treated Defendant thereafter. View "State v. Peoples" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court affirming the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress evidence, holding that law enforcement officers lacked particularized suspicion to justify their investigatory stop of Defendant.Defendant was stopped by law enforcement officers based solely on his "flicking" his high beams on and off once. Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to aggravated driving under the influence, third offense, reserving the right to appeal the justice court's denial of his motion to suppress. The district court affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the totality of the circumstances did not give rise to particularized suspicion, and therefore, the seizure violated Defendant's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. View "State v. Gardner" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained when law enforcement officers entered Defendant's private property without a warrant, holding that that the State did not prove exigent circumstances permitting a warrantless search.At issue was whether Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his residence's driveway when he told a sheriff's deputy, who was attempting to effectuate a traffic stop, that he was trespassing and needed a warrant and whether exigent circumstances existed to allow the sheriff's deputy to conduct a warrantless investigation on the property. The Supreme Court held (1) the deputy sheriff properly entered the driveway when he already had initiated a traffic stop but exceeded his authority after Defendant asked him to leave; and (2) Defendant's failure to stop for a minor traffic violation did not create an exigency allowing the deputy sheriff to conduct a warrantless investigation after Defendant invoked his right to privacy. View "State v. Smith" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of deliberate homicide with a weapons enhancement, holding that there were no grounds upon which to reverse Defendant's conviction.On appeal, Defendant argued that the State engaged in prosecutorial misconduct in its opening and closing statement, resulting in plain error, and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in several respects. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding (1) the prosecutor's challenged statements were proper; and (2) Defendant failed to establish that trial counsel provided record-based ineffective assistance of counsel, in violation of Defendant's constitutional rights. View "State v. Polak" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of felony sexual intercourse without consent, holding that Defendant received constitutionally effective assistance of counsel.At issue was whether Defendant's trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance when counsel allowed prior consistent statements from a forensic interview into evidence without challenge. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the record before the Court implied at least a plausible justification for counsel's actions; and (2) without more evidence, it cannot be determined whether defense counsel did not perform effectively for Defendant. View "State v. Mikesell" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying as untimely the motion of the Montana Secretary of State to substitute a judge, holding that the Secretary's motion to substitute a judge was timely, and the district court erred by denying the motion.Plaintiff brought this action challenging HB 325, a bill that would alter the election process for state Supreme Court justices if passed by ballot referendum in November 2022, alleging that the bill violated the Montana Constitution. The Secretary moved to substitute the district court judge. The district court denied the substitution motion as untimely. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a lawsuit filed against the Secretary of State is a lawsuit against "the State," such that service of process is not complete until the date the Attorney General is served. View "McDonald v. Jacobsen" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of indecent exposure to a minor, sexual abuse of children in violation of Mont. Code Ann. 45-5-625(1)(c) and (4), and sexual abuse of children, in violation of Mont. Code Ann. 45-5-625(1)(c) and (2)(b), holding that Defendant's counsel provided record-based ineffective assistance of counsel that required reversal and remand for a new trial.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) Defendant's trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the statutory basis for Count I when the statute upon which the charge was based did not go into effect until after one of the alleged incidents occurred; and (2) the ex post facto application of Mont. Code Ann. 45-5-625(1)(c) for Count II and Count III required remand for a new trial. View "State v. Tipton" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress illegal drug evidence seized as a result of a protective pat-down search for weapons and in a subsequent search of his vehicle, holding that the district court erred in concluding that the protective pat-down search of Defendant was justified.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) the district court erroneously held that the pat-down search of Defendant was justified under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) and Mont. Code Ann. 46-5-401(2)(b), whether incident to a valid Terry investigative stop or analogous community caretaker doctrine stop, but did not err in concluding that the exclusionary rule did not apply to the illegal drug evidence seized in the warrantless pat-down and vehicle searches at issue; and (2) therefore, the district court erred in denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence found in his coat pocket as a result of the initial pat-down search but correctly denied Defendant's motion to suppress evidence found in the subsequent consent search of his vehicle. View "State v. Laster" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court convicting Defendant of sexual intercourse without consent, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion by permitting admission of evidence regarding other acts and statements made by Defendant.Defendant filed a motion in liming to preclude the admission of evidence involving the occurrence of any other sexual acts or statements regarding the victim. The district court denied the motion, concluding that evidence of Defendant's sexual conduct with the victim, apart from the conduct alleged in the information, was relevant and admissible. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence. View "State v. Murphy" on Justia Law