Montana Supreme Court

The Court affirmed summary judgment for DEQ on the County’s categorical challenge, holding that the County must obtain permit coverage and implement the measures for which it is responsible through means authorized by Montana law, but that DEQ cannot require powers the County does not possess.

The Court affirmed most of the revocation sentence’s credit calculation but remanded for four additional days of time-served credit. It held that incarceration in another jurisdiction earns credit only when the defendant is detained subject to the sentencing court’s jurisdiction, and it declined to consider…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Idhen’s motion to suppress and his judgment of conviction. It declined to consider his challenge to the pacing-based speeding stop because he had not preserved that theory, and concluded that the detective’s brief discussion of the drug investigation and single request…

The Court held that the Youth Court could impose a determinate commitment under the Youth Court Act, but the commitment remained subject to the adult maximum sentence for the offenses bringing the youth within its jurisdiction.

The Court affirmed dismissal of Gateway’s complaint because its constitutional challenge was tied to a specific permit and accompanied by issues within the Board of Environmental Review’s jurisdiction.

The Court held that Yuste’s 630-day delay violated his speedy-trial right under Article II, Section 24, of the Montana Constitution because the State caused most of the delay, including 63 days attributable to lack of diligence, Yuste persistently demanded trial, and his prolonged pretrial incarceration was…

The Court affirmed the denial of Beckman’s motion to dismiss, holding that independent evidence sufficiently connected him to both the robbery resulting in Biggs’s death and the concealment of Biggs’s body to corroborate Harvel’s testimony.

The Court held that Lowry’s Missoula County convictions did not violate constitutional double-jeopardy protections because the offenses in the two counties had distinct statutory elements, even assuming they involved the same transaction.

The Court affirmed the final dissolution decree, including the parenting plan, child-support orders, and division of marital property. It concluded that the amendment factors did not govern the original parenting plan, that the parenting and support decisions were within the District Court’s discretion, and that the…

The Montana Supreme Court denied and dismissed Miller’s petition for supervisory control, concluding that the Justice Court could impose reasonable, content-neutral limits on recording in its courtroom.

The Court affirmed A.R.’s 90-day involuntary commitment, holding that her statements to the examining professional were admissible as her own party-opponent statements and that those statements sufficiently supported the statutory commitment grounds.

The Court affirmed the rulings that the four-year bar on resubmitting substantially similar initiatives, the legislative committee vote on proposed initiatives, and the $3,700 filing fee unconstitutionally impair the people’s reserved initiative power.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the order of protection, concluding that substantial, credible evidence supported the finding that Haasch engaged in stalking and that the District Court correctly applied the governing review standards.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Hubber’s convictions for deliberate homicide by accountability and aggravated burglary. It held that the trial court gave an incorrect conduct-based definition of “purposely” and that counsel performed deficiently by accepting it, but Hubber failed to establish either reversible…

The court affirmed Crawford’s convictions, holding that any Miranda error in admitting his initial firearm-location statements was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because other admissible evidence proved the same facts.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Andrew Lake’s conviction for attempted deliberate homicide, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting limited references to Lake’s prior child‑sex‑abuse comments for motive purposes and that Lake failed to preserve objections to that evidence for…

The Court affirmed the rescission of the real-estate contract, concluding that substantial credible evidence supported the District Court’s finding that Justin fraudulently induced Bryan to sign by misrepresenting that Bryan would receive a rent-free lease.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s jurisdiction to issue a permanent protective order in a dissolution proceeding, held that the court did not abuse its discretion by extending the order without a hearing because the parties waived that right by stipulation, and found no abuse of discretion in…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence about the 2012 will, allowing the jury to decide its validity, issuing the jury instructions it did, excluding settlement evidence, and denying Kevin Engellant’s untimely…

The Court held that the appeal was not moot because the public-interest exception applied to the expired order of protection. It affirmed the permanent order because Nelson proved by a preponderance of the evidence, through substantial and credible evidence, that Frisk purposely or knowingly caused her reasonable…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Zackary Maas’s deliberate homicide conviction. It held that the admission of most of the victim’s statements was permissible, that the constitutional error concerning the testimonial statements was harmless, and that the admission of a juvenile prior bad act was erroneous but also…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district court's denial of Mathis's post‑conviction relief petition on four grounds: lack of prosecutorial misconduct, proper exercise of discretion in denying additional discovery, failure to show ineffective assistance of counsel, and failure to meet the stringent…

The Montana Supreme Court reversed the district court’s summary judgment and several discretionary rulings, holding that there is a genuine dispute of material fact on the statute of limitations, that the Johnsons should be allowed to amend their complaint to add the estate, that they are entitled to compel an…

The Court affirmed the judgment entered after a bench trial, concluding that the Hoskins failed to present admissible evidence establishing the elements of their claims and that the trial court acted within its discretion on evidentiary and discovery matters.

The Montana Supreme Court held that the district court should have granted summary judgment for the Tompkins on the original express‑easement claim, affirmed the court’s discretion to allow amendment and to deny broader pre‑trial judgments, affirmed the bifurcation order, reversed the implied‑easement judgment and…

The Court affirmed suppression of evidence from Laroque’s warrantless blood draw because substantial evidence supported the District Court’s finding that she did not voluntarily consent.

The court affirmed Miller’s convictions, concluding that the District Court acted within its discretion in permitting uniformed law-enforcement officers to attend trial and that Miller failed to preserve his challenge to the court’s failure to poll the jury.

The Court affirmed summary judgment for the Town and held that West Development’s claims were timely because they did not challenge the legality of the Town’s moratorium or a denial of public participation.

The Court affirmed the award of 34 days of credit on Mitchell’s revocation sentence and rejected his request for an additional 112 days on that sentence. It concluded that the 112 days applied to the initial DOC sentence Mitchell was serving during the revocation proceedings, while the State’s own sentencing…

The Court affirmed the termination of T.J.S.’s parental rights and the stepparent adoption of A.M.S. It held that the District Court erred by accepting the parties’ stipulation that the Indian Child Welfare Act did not apply, but the error was harmless because the record did not provide reason to know that A.M.S.

The court affirmed the denial of Wilderness Preserve’s post-trial motions, concluding that substantial credible evidence supported the jury’s contract-damages award and that the verdict complied with the jury instructions.

The Court affirmed the denial of a grandmother’s petition for court-ordered contact, concluding that she did not meet the statutory burden to overcome the presumption favoring the wishes of a fit parent.

The Court affirmed Richards’s sentence, concluding that the prosecutor’s recommendation of the agreed deferred sentence did not amount to plain error, and that the record supported the restitution award.

The Court reversed the $5,000 fine and other fees and costs and remanded for the District Court to conduct further analysis of Barker’s ability to pay. It concluded that the court’s reliance on his welding skills did not adequately resolve his ability to pay given his uncertain future employment and possible Idaho…

The Montana Supreme Court held that a Youth Court exceeds its authority under § 41-5-208, MCA, when, at the conclusion of a transfer hearing, it imposes a new disposition — here a DOC commitment until age 25, an extended supervision period, and a Tier II sex-offender registration requirement.

The Court affirmed the amended parenting plan, concluding that the district court had made sufficient implied findings to justify the modifications and had not violated Alihana’s constitutional or due-process rights.

The court affirmed that the Kultgens hold an express 60-foot ingress-and-egress easement benefiting Lot 4, that the easement was neither modified by the 2021 Easement Agreement nor extinguished by abandonment, and that the identified western fence unlawfully obstructed access.

The Court affirmed the District Court’s admission of the expert testimony and its use of the special verdict form. It held that a settled-party defense is not a medical-malpractice claim to which the statutory expert-qualification requirements apply, and that the Estate did not specifically object to the verdict form.

The Montana Supreme Court reversed the First Judicial District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the State of Montana in an interpleader action. The State, as the alleged tortfeasor through its employee Jose Ruiz, had filed a petition in interpleader and complaint for declaratory relief seeking to deposit…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Willie Veltkamp's convictions for two counts of felony incest following a jury trial. The Court held that the narrative statements in the SANE Report were erroneously admitted under the medical-diagnosis hearsay exception (an error the State conceded) and that submitting the report…