HELENA – Authorities on Tuesday still wouldn’t say whether charges would be filed in an August boat crash that involved a state senator and left five seriously hurt, including a U.S. congressman.
State Sen. Greg Barkus crashed his boat onto the rocky Flathead Lake shore on Aug. 27, injuring U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, two members of Rehberg’s staff, Barkus and his wife.
Prosecutors have said investigators believe Barkus was drinking before the late-night crash that left the boat perched on the lake’s steep rocky shore.
Judges in Flathead County, before recusing themselves from the case, put a lid on information flowing out of the prosecutor’s office about the case.
And Barkus’ attorney, Todd Glazier, recently filed a request to suppress evidence with the new judge overseeing the investigatory subpoena process. A hearing on the matter was later canceled. Glazier hasn’t returned telephone calls seeking comment.
The delay on the decision on whether to file criminal charges isn’t unusual, a University of Montana law school professor Andrew King-Ries said Tuesday.
“My guess is they want to make sure. It’s a high profile case, you want to make sure you do a complete investigation,” King-Ries said. “It’s a good idea in any case to understand what all the evidence is before you decide to charge someone.”
Passengers have said that Barkus was driving the boat. An out-of-state lab analyzed his alcohol level and sent the results to prosecutors several weeks ago. The results haven’t been released to the public.
Some of the delay could be attributed to decisions made by Flathead County judges to step aside, and to the Montana Crime Lab to use an out-of-state lab. Both decisions were made to avoid allegations of favoritism toward the state lawmaker.
Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan, the prosecutor, hasn’t sought to step aside and bring in assistance from the state Department of Justice. Prosecutors have sole discretion over whether to file charges.
Felony negligence charges remain a possibility if Barkus was legally drunk, said King-Ries, a former prosecutor. Negligent vehicular assault is a felony when it results in serious bodily injury and can carry up to 10 years in prison, he said.
The most severely injured on the boat, Rehberg state director Dustin Frost, was in a coma for 10 days and continues to recover from a severe brain injury. Frost’s father has said that the family isn’t placing any blame and views the whole incident as a tragic accident.