Montana

‘Abusive, disruptive and threatening’ statements lead to lawyer’s censure

A Montana lawyer will be publicly censured next month for “abusive, disruptive and threatening” comments to another lawyer. Jeffrey Michael of Billings will be censured on Jan. 7 and his license will be placed on probation for a year, the Billings Gazette reports. He will also have to submit to…

Dec 2, 2013 12:45 PM CST

Newlywed charged in death of her husband of a week

A Montana woman has been charged with pushing her new husband off a cliff in Glacier National Park only a week after they were married. Jordan Linn Graham, 22, was arraigned Monday in federal court in Missoula on a second-degree murder charge in the death of her husband, Cody Lee…

Sep 11, 2013 8:51 PM CDT

Top state court tells judge to cancel hearing on 30-day term for ex-teacher who admitted teen rape

In the latest twist in the controversial case of a former Montana high school teacher who admitted raping one of his 14-year-old students, yet had all but 30 days of a 15-year sentence suspended, the judge in the case was ordered to cancel a Friday hearing at which he reportedly…

Sep 6, 2013 9:00 PM CDT

Judge orders new hearing for man given 30 days in controversial teen rape case

Castigated for having sentenced a former teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old who subsequently committed suicide to only 30 days in jail, a Montana judge now says he made have made a mistake and has ordered a new hearing on Friday. But it appears that District Judge G. Todd Baugh…

Sep 3, 2013 11:05 PM CDT

Ex-teacher gets 30 days for rape of girl, 14; judge says she was ‘older than her chronological age’

Updated: A Montana judge has sparked nationwide controversy for his comments while sentencing a former teacher to 30 days in jail for a sexual relationship with a Billings student that began when she was 14 years old. Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced former teacher Stacey Rambold, 54, on Monday after…

Aug 28, 2013 2:27 PM CDT

Pay law firm the disputed $94, plus $5K more, top state court tells couple

Updated: Sued by a Montana law firm in 2010 over a $2,800 unpaid legal bill, Daniel and Valery O’Connell anted up some $3,000 but disputed $93.99 of the total. The result was additional litigation, a default judgment and an eventual determination by the state’s highest court earlier this month that…

May 20, 2013 12:00 PM CDT

Federal judge who sent racist email will retire

A federal judge who sent an email containing a racist joke about President Barack Obama to several people last year while serving as chief judge for the District of Montana will retire from the bench May 3. The plan by U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull, who took senior status last…

Apr 3, 2013 11:10 PM CDT

Asked to Release All Texts on Claimed Crime Victim’s Cellphone, Mont. Judge OKs Limited Disclosure

Although Montana has what a state court judge describes as some of the most stringent privacy laws in the country, that didn’t prevent a defendant in a high-profile felony sexual-intercourse-without-consent case from gaining access to information on the claimed victim’s cellphone. An opinion (PDF) last week by Missoula County District…

Nov 27, 2012 11:26 PM CST

In Lopsided Vote, Montana Voters Express Disapproval of Citizens United

Montanans aren’t giving up the fight after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in June that the Citizens United campaign finance ruling applies in the state. Seventy-five percent of Montana voters on Tuesday approved an initiative calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, report the Wall Street Journal Law…

Nov 9, 2012 2:17 PM CST

Retired State Supreme Court Judge Takes Justice of Peace Court Bench After Predecessor’s Abrupt Exit

A retired former justice of the Montana Supreme Court is temporarily serving as a justice of the peace in Lake County, after her longtime predecessor on the Polson court seat abruptly resigned. Judge Diane Barz, who lives near Flathead Lake with her husband, had to get special permission from the…

Aug 14, 2012 3:55 PM CDT

9th Circuit Says $27M Whistle-Blower Award Is Taxed as Ordinary Income

A former chief financial officer for a Montana hospital eventually reaped a $27 million benefit by blowing the whistle on his former employer’s accounting fraud. But James Alderson’s reward from filing qui tam suit under the federal False Claims Act is taxed as ordinary income, not under the lower capital…

Jul 18, 2012 10:51 PM CDT

Summary Reversal Could Be Used in Citizens United Sequel; Is It Appropriate?

The question in a Citizens United sequel is not whether the U.S. Supreme Court will accept the case but how the justices will reverse the Montana Supreme Court. That’s the assessment of a New York Times Sidebar column, which says it’s “pretty much a sure thing” that the Supreme Court…

Jun 12, 2012 1:04 PM CDT

Bovine Legal Battle Pits Bison Against Cattle

Sixty-three relocated bison now living on a reservation in northern Montana are at the center of a legal battle. Tribal officials and environmentalists praised the relocation of the bison from Yellowstone National Park in March, but a lawsuit soon followed, according to the New York Times Green blog. The plaintiff…

Jun 1, 2012 2:24 PM CDT

Federal Judge Nixes Duty-to-Warn Case Against Lawyer by Victims of Elderly Client’s Shooting Attack

Updated: A federal judge in Helena is pushing the estate of an elderly Florida retiree to settle the tort case brought by a Montana woman and her daughter after he became obsessed with the girl, drove to her home more than 2,000 miles away and attacked the mother outside their…

Apr 24, 2012 4:54 PM CDT

9th Circuit Committee Appointed to Investigate Ethics Complaints over Judge’s Racist Email

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has appointed a committee to investigate ethics complaints about a federal judge who admitted he sent an email with a racist joke about President Obama. Kozinski appointed the five-member committee on March 23 to investigate the…

Apr 6, 2012 4:13 PM CDT