Opposition to Montana Justice Rice

Letter to the Editor:

In a very recent case, the Montana Supreme Court refrained from ruling on the credibility of witnesses that appeared before the trial court. The Supreme Court acknowledged that it was against its own rules to rule on the credibility of trial court witnesses.

Because these witnesses testified before the trial court and not the Supreme Court, it is appropriate for an appellate court not to rule on their credibility. At the trial court, the witnesses can be cross-examined and their credibility can be easily assessed by that court. Trial court witnesses very rarely testify before appellate-level courts such as the Montana Supreme Court.

However, Justice Jim Rice had no compunction last year in ruling on the credibility of the trial court witnesses in the Barry Beach case. This was in direct violation of the Supreme Court’s own rules. This fundamentally flawed and essentially illegal decision rendered by Justice Rice resulted in an egregious miscarriage of justice. Mr. Beach was denied a new trial and sent directly back to prison for the rest of his life.

I am opposing Justice Rice in the Supreme Court race. I challenged him to a public debate several months ago. I have heard nothing from him.

Anyone interested in my campaign is invited to go to www.f4dave4justice.com/.

— W. David Herbert, Billings