Lincoln County woman interrupts her sentencing with outburst

The sentencing in Montana 19th Judicial District Court of a Lincoln County woman was postponed until an undetermined date after an outburst during her Monday sentencing led to her removal from the courtroom.

Jana Jo Roberts was facing up to five years in prison for each of two charges of felony possession of methamphetamine and Lorazepam, as well as up to six months in the county jail for paraphernalia.

Roberts testified from the stand for about ten minutes, during which she said she was declaring a mistrial and demanded to see Judge Matt Cuffe’s oath of office. She also alleged her arrest was staged and challenging the authority of the court to pass sentence on her.

Assistant County Attorney Jeffrey Zwang recommended Roberts receive five years with credit for time served.

Roberts spoke several times after her testimony, including saying “I do not consent” when Cuffe began to speak about supervisory conditions, to which Cuffe responded, “I’m not asking for your consent.”

As Cuffe began outlining the sentence for felony possession, Roberts said, “This court has no authority over me.

Cuffe responded, “I understand your position, ma’am. I disagree with it.”

Cuffe continued with sentencing, but Roberts attempted to talk over him, leading to Cuffe raising his voice. An exchange followed where Roberts chastised Cuffe for yelling at her.

When Cuffe said Roberts was sentenced to five years with the department of corrections, Roberts came out of her seat. At that time, it became clear that she had managed to slip out of her handcuffs.

Roberts first attempted to evade the officers by running around the table she had been sitting at, then struggled with the officers, repeatedly shouting “get your hands off of me,” and finally, “This is what you call justice, sir?” to Cuffe.

Cuffe replied, “Yes.”

Roberts continued to argue with Cuffe, and as she was being led from the courtroom she yelled “Ow,” and “Get off of me,” and attempted to brace herself against the courtroom railing to obstruct her removal.

Sheriff Roby Bowe, who ran from the back of the courtroom to help restrain Roberts, said that he thinks Roberts slipped out of her handcuffs while she was on the stand giving testimony.

“When people are in district court, emotions run high, so it’s always a concern,” Bowe said of Roberts’ outburst.

Bowe said the priority for officers is the safety of people around the subject, then the safety of the subject themselves, and last of all the officers. That includes being aware of both retention of their own weapons and objects someone might use as a weapon.

“Obviously we try to control each situation with the least amount of force necessary,” he said.

Bowe said he didn’t think Roberts was displaying a high amount of threat, but acknowledged a situation could escalate quickly.

“I don’t think escape was on her mind, but you don’t know either,” Bowe said. “I don’t know what she was thinking. I think the response was adequate for what kind of danger she was portraying. Everyone else was safe and she was safe, and she wasn’t really happy when she got down into the jail cell, but she’ll be there until the judge decides that he wants to talk to her again.”

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Boyd White and other deputies served a search warrant on Roberts’ residence and vehicle on June 30, 2017, according to an affidavit by White.

In a bedroom where “space was limited, due to the amount of property in the room,” officers found Roberts and two other individuals, Kyle Nick and Rebecca Deshazer.

They also found money, firearms, drugs and a variety of drug paraphernalia, including a syringe with Roberts’ name written on it.