Judge Denies New Trial for Kalispell Man Convicted of Homicide

A judge on March 7 denied a convicted Kalispell man’s request for a new trial in the killing of his wife.

The defense attorneys for 35-year-old Bradley Jay Hillious filed the motion for a new trial and argued that the state’s closing arguments violated the defendant’s right to a fair trial and improperly influenced the jury, a request that prosecutors said lacked merit.

In January, a jury found Hillious guilty in the death of his wife, Amanda Hillious, who he claimed fell down a flight of stairs at their Kalispell home in December 2020.

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert B. Allison rejected the motion, saying the references were contextualized and did not violate the defendant’s right to a fair trial. 

“I would (not) be comfortable declaring a mistrial based on the context of closing arguments,” Allison said.

According to the motion filed by Hillious’ attorneys, Jami Rebsom and Suzanne Marshall, the prosecutor made inflammatory, improper personal references during closing arguments, including calling the defendant a “liar,” which Hillious says he objected to.

“Not once but two or three times in rebuttal, the state referred to Mr. Hillious as being a liar and that is prosecutorial misconduct,” Rebsom said.

Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner, however, opposed the motion for a new trial, and argued the defendant failed to object to the statements in closing arguments, to which he cited a transcript. He added that the prosecutor’s comments were “within the context of the evidence.”

“The state did not refer to Mr. Hillious as a liar,” Ahner said. “We indicated that he lied. He did not tell the truth. What’s extremely important is the fact that Ms. Rebsom did not object.”

Defense attorneys also argued that the facts of the case did not support a conviction for deliberate homicide and evidence suggested Hillious should have been charged with mitigated deliberate homicide because there was no evidence presented that Amanda’s death was planned, according to the motion.

Prosecutors say Hillious could not be charged with mitigated deliberate homicide because the defense argued at trial that Amanda was killed by either a set of stairs or her father-in-law and have only now changed their defense, arguing the defendant may have acted under the influence of extreme mental or emotional stress.

Additionally, Rebsom said the trial should have been held at a different venue since many potential jurors were excused from the case who “had a pre-determined opinion about the case,” the motion states.

Ahner responded that community-wide prejudice was unsupported, and the defendant was afforded a fair group of jurors due to the lengthy jury selection.

“The one thing I found kind of personally stunning was when we asked how many had heard about the trial, the number was very small … I felt that we got a good jury out of that process,” Allison said. 

A 12-person jury deliberated for five hours following 10 days of trial before unanimously convicting Hillious on Jan. 14. He was remanded to the custody of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, where he remains. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 8 at 1:30 p.m. Hillious faces a maximum term of life in prison.