In State v. Burns, Brandon Burns appealed the Thirteenth Judicial District Court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to felony DUI after officers found him passed out behind the wheel with a blood alcohol level of 0.23 while on parole. Under a non-binding plea agreement, the State had recommended a 15-year prison sentence with five years suspended, but the agreement was silent on fines; the court imposed the recommended sentence plus a $5,000 fine that Burns never challenged in the presentence report, at sentencing, or on his earlier direct appeal of other issues. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the denial, holding that Burns failed to show good cause to withdraw the plea because the record contained no objective evidence his plea was involuntary and his delay in raising the fine issue undermined any claim of a breached agreement. The court noted that Burns had attested to understanding the plea’s terms, including the absence of other promises, and had ample opportunity to object at multiple stages before waiting over a year to act.
In State v. Moore, a jury convicted George Moore of felony driving under the influence, after which the district court imposed costs of $1,340 for appointed counsel, $100 for prosecution, and $1,447.50 for the jury without questioning Moore about his finances. The presentence investigation report showed Moore had modest assets offset by debts, recent unemployment following hand surgery, and no current income, but did not assess his ability to pay the additional trial-related costs the State requested at sentencing. Moore appealed, arguing the court failed to follow statutory requirements to determine his ability to pay. The Montana Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that §§ 46-8-113 and 46-18-232, MCA, require courts to investigate a defendant’s financial circumstances before imposing such costs, and that jury costs in particular demand careful scrutiny to avoid chilling an indigent defendant’s constitutional right to a jury trial.
William J. Muller appealed a district court order upholding the automatic suspension of his Montana driver’s license after he refused a breath test following an arrest for driving under the influence. A witness reported a near-collision involving a blue Ford pickup driven by an older white male; minutes later, a deputy sheriff located Muller and a matching vehicle nearby, observed him swaying and smelling of alcohol, and arrested him after he declined field sobriety and preliminary breath tests. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the arrest was lawful because the witness’s tip, combined with the rapid location of Muller and his observed condition, supplied particularized suspicion and probable cause, and the short time frame plus public-safety risk justified a warrantless arrest under existing-circumstances rules. Under the state’s implied-consent statute, a valid DUI arrest plus refusal of testing supports license suspension, so Muller’s petition for reinstatement was properly denied.
Judith LaPlante sued Town Pump in Blackfeet Tribal Court in 1996 over alleged chemical exposure injuries on tribal land. After the Ninth Circuit ruled in 2010 that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction, she attempted to transfer the case to Montana state district court in Glacier County rather than filing a new complaint; when the district court dismissed the transfer attempt, she filed a new complaint and moved to substitute the presiding judge, Judge McKinnon. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district court's denial of the substitution motion as untimely. Under § 3-1-804, MCA, the 30-day period for substituting a judge began when Town Pump appeared in the transfer action in February 2011, as LaPlante had already manifested her intent to invoke the district court's jurisdiction over the dispute and the court had retained authority over the matter without issuing a final judgment. Her June 2011 substitution request therefore came after the deadline had passed.
In State v. Lacey, John Brandon Lacey was convicted after a jury trial of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent involving J.G., a teenager who had lived at Lacey's home in the mid-1990s; the charges alleged that Lacey committed the acts through force and while J.G. was incapable of consent due to sleep or intoxication. Lacey appealed, claiming the prosecutor made improper statements in opening and closing arguments that warranted plain error review and that the State unlawfully shifted its theory at trial by relying on force and intoxication-based incapacity when the information had focused on sleep. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the convictions. It held that the information and supporting affidavit gave Lacey adequate notice of the possible theories of liability, including references to J.G.'s intoxication, distinguishing the case from prior precedent where the State had introduced an entirely new element by jury instruction, and found no basis for plain error on the prosecutor's remarks.
H & H Development, LLC and David House sued attorney Jim Ramlow and his law firms for professional negligence, alleging that Ramlow failed to review unauthorized changes to a property development agreement with Eagle Bend Golf Course, which caused H&H to lose the subdivision and related collateral in 2009. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, ruling that the 2007 Lake County complaint—signed pro se by a non-lawyer on behalf of the LLC—was a nullity, so the 2010 amended complaints filed after transfer and with counsel were barred by the statute of limitations. The Montana Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that a corporate pro se filing is a curable defect rather than automatically void. It directed the district court to determine whether the later amended complaint could relate back under M.R.Civ.P. 15(c) by weighing factors such as the plaintiffs’ knowledge of the representation rule, the time taken to obtain counsel, prejudice to the defendants, and the non-lawyer’s level of involvement in the proceedings.
business & regulatorypropertyproceduretorts & liability
Brian Matthew Morris
Judge, District Court, D. Montana · Born 1963 · Butte, MT
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