Death penalty not on the table for Trevor Mercier

Not quite a week after a jury convicted Trevor Mercier of deliberate homicide in the 19th Judicial District Court of Montana in Libby, the Lincoln County attorneys who prosecuted the case don’t yet know what sentence they will recommend.

“We haven’t discussed it yet,” said Deputy County Attorney Jeffrey Zwang, explaining that he, Deputy County Attorney Marcia Boris and County Attorney Bernard Cassidy have been “catching up” on other matters they had set aside while prosecuting the case. He said they would probably start discussing sentencing in the coming weeks.

One thing they do know is that the death penalty is not on the table. Local media including The Western News have previously reported that the death penalty can result from a deliberate homicide conviction.

While that is accurate, the death penalty is not applicable in this case, the county attorneys said.

“We considered it,” Boris said. “(But) there are a number of aggravating factors that this case didn’t meet.”

Such factors include a previous conviction for deliberate homicide or the victim being a peace officer, she said.

In addition, they said the decision to pursue the death penalty is one made in advance of trial, and with the concurrence of the State Attorney General.

“We have to make those decisions early,” Zwang said.

Zwang said a sentence of life in prison without parole or not less than 10 years or more than 100 years is “essentially the range” of their sentencing options, though their decision is guided by Montana Code outlining sentencing and judgment in criminal proceedings.

Other factors that contribute to their sentencing decision include conferring with victim Sheena Devine’s family. The defense weighs in as well, they said.

Sanders said he believed the last time someone was convicted of deliberate homicide in Lincoln County was 1992, when James Allen Egelhoff was sentenced to 42 years in prison for killing two people during a drunken mushroom-picking trip in the Yaak.

The three county attorneys praised the jury as well as office staff for helping with what they described as a “team effort.”

“I think we had a very patient and attentive jury and I believe they reached a correct result,” Boris said. “(And) our staff worked really hard, no way we could do a trial of this magnitude without them.”