State v. K. Sandberg

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court reversed Sandberg’s convictions and remanded for a new trial, holding that pervasive references to the complaining witness as a “victim” undermined the presumption of innocence and deprived Sandberg of a fair trial. The Court also held that questioning about Sandberg’s request that his girlfriend “wipe” his phone was inadmissible because it lacked a sufficiently specific connection to the charged offenses, invited improper propensity reasoning, and was unfairly prejudicial. Both errors were not harmless because the State failed to show there was no reasonable possibility they contributed to the convictions.