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The Justice Beat

Covering Cops and Courts

Overview: Crime to post release.

Criminal Cases
* CITY County or State vs. Ima Crook
Misdeameanor – Any crime punishable by less than a
year in jail and/or fines.
Goes to
Justice or Municipal Court (Records kept by the court)
1. Arrest – Police must have probably cause to make
an arrest. They can make an arrest without a
warrant. Reporting: be careful to say someone has
been arrested “in connection” with a crime, not
“arrested for” a crime.
2. Booking -- Suspect is fingerprinted, photographed
and questioned for basic information. This is when
a person is being held “in connection” with a
crime.
3. Arraignment – A suspect is quickly taken before a
Justice of the Peace or Municipal Court judge to
hear the charges against him or her. Bail is set
and a plea is entered. If a guilty plea is entered,
the judge may pronounce sentence. A trial is
ordered for those pleading not guility.
4. Trial
5. Sentence
6. Appeal?

STATE vs. Ima Crook


Felony – A crime punishable by death or more than a year
in prison or fines.
Goes to
State District Court (Records kept by Clerk of Court)
1. Arrest – Same as misdemeanor
2. Booking – Same as misdemeanor
3. Initial hearing – As soon as possible, a suspect is
taken before a Justice of the Peace to hear the
charges against him or her. Bail is set. No plea is
entered. The case is “bound over” for trial in
District Court.
4. Preliminary hearing – The trial judge review
probable cause. Permission is usually given to file
a more formal charge.
5. Arragnment – Plea is entered
6. Pretrial motions – Both sides press the judge to
allow or exclude certain evidence. Defense works
to get the case dismissed.
7. Trial and verdict
8. Sentence
9. Appeal?

Civil Cases -- Guilt or innocence is not the question. A plaintiff sues to


be compensated for some wrong done to him or her.

Ura Crook vs. Ima Not (two regular people)

District Court
1. Suit filed – The plaintiff files a complaint alleging the
wrongdoing and requesting relief, usually money.
2. Answer or Countersuit – The defendant responds, usually
seeking dismissal of the claim. They may file a suit of their
own.
3. Pretrial motions – Both side present legal arguments as to why
the case should or should not proceed. Many motions pertain
to the collection of evidence and what evidence will be
admitted in the case. Judge decides.
4. Trial and verdict – Judge and or jury weigh the facts and make
a decision based on the weight of the evidence. They may
share the blame.
5. Award – Judge and/or jury may award actual and punitive
damages. Big awards are almost always reviewed on appeal.
6. Appeal?

Eg. FTC accuses Lolo telemarketer accused of scamming magazine


subscribers.
http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=7575C
2AF-14D1-13A2-9F2D43808242E161

The FTC filed the lawsuit on May 12 as part of Operation Telephoney—the


largest telemarketing sweep in agency history, according to national project
coordinator Monica Vara. Government attorneys won a temporary restraining
order against U.S. Magazine Service in U.S. District Court just days later. In his
order, Judge Donald Molloy barred Ellsworth and his corporation from engaging
in any action that could violate the Telemarketing Sales Rule, put a hold on the
sale of personal and company assets and authorized the FTC to monitor
business activities.

Molloy later repealed some of the restrictions in a subsequent injunction, allowing


U.S. Magazine Service to reopen in June. As of July 25, the Lolo storefront
remained in operation.

Negotiating. Possible trial in November.


Law Enforcement
UM Office of Public Safety (police, parking, physical security)
City Police
Sheriff
State Patrol

Courts in Montana
* Montana Supreme Court
Unlike most state’s, Montana’s supreme court hears direct
appeals from all District Courts, as well as Workers Comp and Water
Court. It must take all such appeals and resolve them. Most other
states have an intermediate appellate court that settles many such
cases.
Karla Gray, Supreme Court chief justice since 2000
Six associate justices on the MT Supreme Court
* Clerk of The Supreme Court – Ed Smith
The clerk keeps all Supreme Curt records and maintains the
docket.
* District Courts (map: http://www.courts.mt.gov/dcourt/default.asp)
There are 56 District Courts in Montana. These courts are
administratively structured into 22 judicial districts and were served by
43 District Court Judges in 2006.

The District Courts are courts of general jurisdiction. They


process all felony cases, all probate cases, most civil cases at law and
in equity, certain special actions and proceedings, all civil actions that
may result in a finding against the state for the payment of money,
naturalization proceedings, various writs, and some narrowly-defined
ballot issues.

The District Courts also have limited appellate jurisdiction over


cases arising in the Courts of Limited Jurisdiction in their respective
districts as may be prescribed by law and consistent with the
Constitution. For instance, felonies that are first heard in Justice Court
then go to the District Court.

The Fourth District Court covers Missoula and Mineral Counties.


More than 97 percent of the cases heard originate in Missoula County.
Fourth District judges are:
Douglas G. Harkin
Dusty Deschamps
John W. Larson
Edward P. McLean

The District Court Clerk in Missoula is Shirley Faust.


Eg. Current case in the 2003 murder of Forest Clayton Salcidio is full of
twists and turns. Aug. 27.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/08/27/news/local/news02.txt

Aug. 27 – Two murder trials moved out of Missoula. History of venue


changes.

Eg. Vehicular homicide case tracked by KPAX, with updates Aug. 4, 5,


13, 26.
Aug. 4 – Fatal accident reported
Aug. 5 – Names, conditions, charges reported
Aug. 13 – Second person dies, charges updated.
Aug. 26 – Initial appearance, Judge Odlin denies release request (This
will now move from Justice to District Court.)
http://www.kpax.com/Global/story.asp?S=8788068
The Missoulian’s archives don’t update stories in an easy to follow
manner, but a private website in this case keeps an easier to use
archive:
http://huckleberrydan.org/news_stories_and_articles_on_dan.htm

* Courts of Limited Jurisdiction


These courts are the place most Montanans are likely to
encounter the justice system. These judges handle almost 10 times as
many cases as the District Courts in the state. Great directory
(http://www.montanacourts.org/lcourt/Directory.htm)

Justice Court (Justice of the Peace)


Judges are elected to four-year terms. Need not be lawyers
John Odlin (odd days)
Karen Orzech (even days)
City Court
Judges elected or appointed to four-year terms. Need not
be lawyers
Municipal

* Montana Water Court


Only court with jurisdiction over 219,000 state law-based water
rights (generally rights with a pre-July 1973 priority date) and Indian
and Federal reserved water rights claims. The adjudication of Indian
and Federal reserved water rights claims is suspended until July 1,
2009, while the State of Montana and federal and tribal authorities
negotiate reserved water right compacts. Nine compacts have been
negotiated and approved by the Montana Legislature.

* Workers' Compensation Court


Charged with resolving disputes related to Workers’
Compensation and the Occupational Disease Act.
Judge James Shea

* Judicial Standards Commission


This group has the power to discipline judges.
Eg. Libby justice of the peace Gary Hicks offers leniency in return
for sexual relations.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/08/31/news/local/znews02.txt

Federal Courts in Montana

United Stated District Court for the District of Montana (Missoula


Division)

The United States District Court for the District of Montana is the
United States District Court whose jurisdiction is the state of Montana
(except the part of the state within Yellowstone National Park, which is
under the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District
of Wyoming). The court is located in Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Helena,
and Missoula.

Charles C. Lovell (1985-present)


Jack D. Shanstrom (1990-present)
Donald W. Molloy (1996-present) -- Missoula
Richard F. Cebull (2001-present) -- Billings
Sam E. Haddon (2001-present) – Great Falls

To file a civil case (lawsuit) in federal district court, a person must have
a reason why a federal court, instead of a state court, should
adjudicate the dispute. That’s where the saying, “to make a federal
case” of something comes from.

By law, the bases for federal jurisdiction (the power to hear and decide
a case) are:

* United States as a plaintiff.


* United States (or in certain cases a federal officer or employee) as
a defendant.
* Federal question jurisdiction, which means the complaint is based
on federal law (either by Constitution or statute). Examples include
bankruptcy, copyright, and nationality law.
* Diversity of citizenship, which means the plaintiff (person suing) and
defendant (person being sued) live in different states and the amount
in controversy is more than the statutory minimum, which is currently
$75,000.

* Alienage, which is a variant of diversity of citizenship, wherein one


party is a U.S. citizen and the other is a foreign national who does not
reside in any state (alien residents of the United States are treated as
citizens for purposes of diversity and alienage jurisdiction) and the
amount in controversy exceeds the statutory minimum, which is
currently $75,000.

Cases from the District of Montana are appealed to the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Montana


represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.
The current U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana is William W.
Mercer. He is also the Principal Associate Deputy for the Department of
Justice and lives most of the time in DC, prompting a call by some in
Montana (incl. Judge Malloy and Jon Tester) to recall him because he no
longer lives in Montana. That controversy seems to have simmered
down.

Eg. Civil case involving the Fair Housing Act of the Civil Rights Act

Man discriminated against by landlord who would only rent to women.


Montana Fair Housing joins in the civil complaint in federal court. HUD
investigated and the Justice Department filed a complaint on behalf of
the man and negotiated a settlement.
Court documents:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/documents/schabergcomp.htm.

Settlement discrimiption:
http://www.fairhousing.com/index.cfm?method=page.display&pagena
me=advocate_august03_page6

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