The Justice Beat Notes

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