Montana Supreme Court

State v. L. Harris

February 3, 20262026 MT 14

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Harris's deliberate homicide conviction, holding that he failed to preserve a due‑process claim and did not satisfy the elements of plain error review. The Court reasoned that a bench trial judge is not obligated to consider a mitigated homicide theory sua sponte and that Harris’s strategic choice to forego such a theory precludes plain error relief.