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| State v. Michaud | | State of Montana v. Gerrad Michaud, DA-06-0553, 2008 MT 88
This was a criminal case before the Missoula Justice Court that was appealed to District Court trial de novo and then appealed to the Supreme Court. There were four issues presented to the Supreme Court. The first issue was whether the District Court errored in limiting voir dire to fifteen minutes. The Supreme Court held that they did not abuse their discretion in this case.
The second issue was whether the District Court errored in allowing testimony from the police officer concerning the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. The Supreme Court decided that since the District Court allowed the evidence without a foundation of expert testimony the Court did abuse its descrition and reversed the decision and remanded the case for retrail.
The third and forth issues were both related to the inference in §61-8-404(2) MCA. First the refusal of a breath test can infer that person is guilty of a DUI violates due process rights and second the Defendant is denied his right to counsel at critical stage. The Supreme Court affirmed the District Court's decision on both of these inferences. To read more on these issues the opinion can be read on the Montana Supreme Court website. | | |
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 | | Montana Legal News |
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