Crites v. Lewis & Clark Cnty. by and through County Attorney

2019 MT 161, 444 P.3d 1025, 396 Mont. 336
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 16, 2019
DocketDA 18-0372
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2019 MT 161 (Crites v. Lewis & Clark Cnty. by and through County Attorney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crites v. Lewis & Clark Cnty. by and through County Attorney, 2019 MT 161, 444 P.3d 1025, 396 Mont. 336 (Mo. 2019).

Opinion

Justice James Jeremiah Shea delivered the Opinion of the Court.

***339¶1 Appellant Connie Crites, in her capacity as the Personal Representative of the Estate of John Michael Crites (Estate), appeals the Order of the First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, denying the Estate's Complaint and Petition (Petition) for Release of Confidential Criminal Justice Information (CCJI). We address the following issue on appeal:

Whether the District Court erred when it denied the Estate's Petition for Release of Confidential Criminal Justice Information without conducting an in camera review.

¶2 We affirm.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶3 In late May 2011, John Michael Crites was sued by his neighbors Dennis Shaw, John Mehan, and Katy Wessel. Shaw, Mehan, and Wessel sought compensatory and punitive damages after Crites allegedly threatened and accosted his neighbors in their neighborhood ***340in Lewis and Clark County (County).

¶4 On June 28, 2011, Crites was reported missing. On October 8, 2011, Crites's dismembered remains were found in black plastic trash bags near MacDonald Pass. Crites's skull was later found on the west side of MacDonald Pass. To date, nobody has been charged with Crites's murder.

¶5 On March 27, 2012, the County issued a death certificate for Crites. On April 19, *10282012, Crites's sister, Connie Crites, was appointed personal representative of his Estate. On January 9, 2018, the Estate requested that the County release Crites's investigative file for the purposes of defending itself in the ongoing lawsuit and to pursue a civil wrongful death action. On January 19, 2018, the County responded to the Estate's request with a letter from County Attorney Leo Gallagher that it could not release Crites's investigative file because release "would jeopardize the State's ability to prosecute someone for the homicide and the investigation is ongoing."

¶6 On March 9, 2018, the Estate filed a Petition in District Court, seeking release of the investigative file. The Estate requested, pursuant to § 44-5-303, MCA, the Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act, and Article II, Section 9 of the Montana Constitution that the District Court conduct an in camera review of the CCJI associated with Crites's file and to release information under seal that is relevant to the Estate's claims and defenses in the ongoing lawsuit. The County opposed the Estate's request and argued that releasing CCJI to the Estate would compromise its investigation. In its response, the County submitted an affidavit from Detective Dan O'Malley that stated the Crites homicide investigation was active and ongoing. The affidavit further specified that the investigative file contained: ninety-five reports regarding Crites's homicide investigation, totaling over 1000 pages of documents; at least twenty search warrants; thousands of phone records; multiple reports from the Montana State Crime Lab; digital evidence, including audio recordings and photographs; and interviews of dozens of people.

¶7 On June 19, 2018, the District Court denied the Estate's Petition. The District Court determined that § 44-5-303, MCA, does not allow for the release of CCJI if the prosecutor determines dissemination would jeopardize an active investigation. Consequently, the District Court declined to conduct an in camera review of the CCJI contained in Crites's investigative file.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶8 We review a district court's conclusions of law to determine ***341whether the district court's interpretation of the law is correct. Billings Gazette v. City of Billings , 2013 MT 334, ¶ 10, 372 Mont. 409, 313 P.3d 129 (citing Jefferson County v. Mont. Stand. , 2003 MT 304, ¶ 9, 318 Mont. 173, 79 P.3d 805 ). This Court "exercises plenary review over matters of constitutional interpretation." Nelson v. City of Billings , 2018 MT 36, ¶ 8, 390 Mont. 290, 412 P.3d 1058 (citing Cross v. VanDyke , 2014 MT 193, ¶ 5, 375 Mont. 535, 332 P.3d 215 ).

DISCUSSION

¶9 Whether the District Court erred when it denied the Estate's Petition for Release of Confidential Criminal Justice Information without conducting an in camera review.

¶10 The Montana Criminal Justice Information Act of 1979 (Act) sets forth the criteria that a district court employs when considering a motion for release of CCJI. See § 44-5-303, MCA. CCJI may be disseminated only: (1) to another criminal justice agency; (2) to "those authorized by law to receive it"; and (3) to those a district court authorizes to receive it "upon a written finding that the demands of individual privacy do not clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure." Section 44-5-303(1), MCA. CCJI includes criminal justice information, records made confidential by law, and any other criminal justice information not clearly defined as public criminal justice information. Section 44-5-103(3), MCA. The Act allows for any individual or an organization to file an action for dissemination of CCJI that the individual or organization considers "appropriate and permissible." Section 44-5-303(6), MCA.

¶11 Section 44-5-303(2), MCA, grants an exception to the general dissemination provision contained in § 44-5-303(1), MCA. Section 44-5-303(2), MCA, provides: "If the prosecutor determines that dissemination of [CCJI] would not jeopardize a pending investigation ... the information may be disseminated to a victim of the offense by the prosecutor or by the investigating law enforcement agency after consultation with the prosecutor."

¶12 When conducting an in camera review of CCJI, a district court is required to *1029balance the conflict between the "right to know" and the "right to privacy" to determine whether dissemination of CCJI is warranted.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Forward Montana v. State
2024 MT 75 (Montana Supreme Court, 2024)
B. McLaughlin v. MT Legislature
2021 MT 178 (Montana Supreme Court, 2021)
Stewart v. State
444 P.3d 955 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 MT 161, 444 P.3d 1025, 396 Mont. 336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crites-v-lewis-clark-cnty-by-and-through-county-attorney-mont-2019.