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High Court Overturns Sentencing in Arson Case James Wallace Langley was sentenced to 10 years for White sh arson last year
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BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
The Montana Supreme Court has overturned the sentencing for a White- sh man accused of setting his ex-girl- friend’s house on re.
In the ruling issued on March 22, the high court overturned James Wallace Langley’s commitment to the Depart- ment of Corrections because Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Alli- son did not allow the man to withdraw his plea before sentencing last year.
The district court will now have to hold another sentencing hearing.
Langley was sentenced to 10 years with the Department of Corrections with ve years suspended on charges of felony arson stemming from a 2013 re in White sh.
According to court documents, the White sh Fire Department responded to an early morning house re on Oct. 8, 2013 on Highland Drive.
One of the residents told police they had woken up after seeing a ash out- side their window. The man looked out- side and saw an oil can and the siding of the house on re. The man was able to get the re out but later discovered it was not extinguished when he noticed smoke coming from the light xtures.
The homeowners told detectives that they believed their daughter’s ex-boy- friend, Langley, had set the re. Langley
BRIEFS
Student Admits to Bringing Loaded Gun to School
A 17-year-old Flathead High student has admitted to bringing a loaded gun to school earlier this year.
The student appeared at a change of plea hearing on March 18 in Flathead County District Court before Judge Amy Eddy.
The boy had been charged with six misdemeanors, including possession of a weapon in school, carrying a concealed weapon, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, running away, theft and unlawful possession of an intoxicating substance. The 17-year-old denied the allegations at a hearing on Feb. 12 and was scheduled to go to trial on March 28.
denied the allegations and let police take a DNA sample from him. Later, Lang- ley admitted that he was at the victims’ house early Oct. 8.
The DNA evidence Langley voluntarily gave later connected him to the oil can and he was charged with arson on Feb. 3, 2014.In January 2015, attorney Jack Quatman and prosecutors crafted a deal in which Langley would enter a plea of no contest and the state would recommend a six-year deferred sentence.
A no-contest plea is entered when defendants acknowledge that prosecu- tors have enough evidence to convict them but still maintain that they are innocent.
At the initial sentencing hearing, how- ever, Judge Allison told Langley and his attorney that he would not follow the plea agreement because of the seriousness of the crime. Allison said he would give the defendant more time to come up with testimony as to why he should be given a deferred sentence and the sentencing was postponed.
On April 20, Langley led a motion to withdraw his plea. In the motion, Quat- man argued that Allison displayed a bias when he likened lighting someone’s house on re to ring randomly into a home with an assault ri e and that it was clear he has “very strong personal feelings concerning arson.” Judge Allison later
allegedly told school o cials that he had been drinking and that there was a bottle of wine in his bag. When o cials searched the bag, they also found the loaded revolver with ve bullets.
During an interview with police, the student said he planned on selling the gun, but Clarke said other interviews sug- gested that the student was about to run- away from home and wanted the weapon as protection. He allegedly stole the gun from a family member.
Clarke said that he does not believe the student planned on harming anyone with the weapon.
The student’s public defender, Greg Rapkoch, led a motion to dismiss the carrying a concealed weapon charge on Feb. 17.
In his argument, Rapkoch stated that the gun was in a backpack and not con- cealed under a piece of clothing as the statue agrees. Judge Eddy agreed and dismissed the charge on March 17. At the change of plea hearing, the 17-year- old was found to be a serious juvenile o ender. He will appear in court again at a dispositional hearing for sentencing
denied Langley’s motion to withdraw. On June 11, Langley was sentenced to
the Department of Corrections.
Exactly ve months after his sentenc- ing, on Nov. 11, attorney Colin Stephens led an opening brief with the Montana Supreme Court requesting that Langley’s sentence be overturned and that he be allowed to withdraw his no-contest plea. In it, he argued that Langley’s sentencing was illegal because the court violated the sentencing process as required in Mon-
tanaCodeAnnotated.
In their ruling, justices Beth Baker,
Mike McGrath, Patricia Cotter, James Jeremiah Shea and Michael Wheat agreed with Langley’s attorney and stated that Judge Allison did not prop- erly follow the required procedures for rejecting a plea agreement.
“We reverse the District Court’s judg- ment and remand with instructions to conduct another sentencing hearing,” the ve-judge panel wrote. “If the court accepts the plea agreement at that time, the court shall sentence Langley in accor- dance with the plea agreement. If the court rejects the plea agreement again, it must issue the full statutory advise- ment and give Langley the opportunity to withdraw his plea and proceed to trial.”
A new sentencing date has not been
set.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
The Beacon is withholding the defen- dant’s name because he is a minor.
on April 29. The gun the boy had taken to school has since been returned to its owner.
Columbia Falls Man Accused of Using Jumper Cables to Steal Electricity
A Columbia Falls man has been accused of using jumper cables to steal nearly $10,000 worth of electricity over three years.
Tim Wayne Bauer pleaded not guilty to felony theft in Flathead County Dis- trict Court on March 3. He is expected to go to trial in August.
According to court documents, Flat- head Electric Co-op shut Bauer’s power o in May 2012 after he did not pay his bills. Undeterred, Bauer allegedly strung up car jumper cables to the utility grid to get his electricity for free. Bauer report- edly used the free electricity until Jan- uary 2015 when a co-op employee dis- covered it. Records showed that Bauer allegedly used $9,664.44 cents worth of electricity between 2012 and 2015.
If convicted, Bauer could face up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 ne.
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According to Flathead High School Resource O cer Cory Clarke and court documents, a school employee noticed the student was skipping class on Jan. 29 and confronted him. During the con- versation, the employee noticed the stu- dent smelled of alcohol and he was taken to an administrator’s o ce. The student
MARCH 30, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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