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to arrest him. The arresting o cer said Raugust’s reaction was disbelief and bewilderment.
At trial, Ross testi ed that he never stopped to let Raugust out of the car, and that back at the camper-trailer he watched Raugust shoot Tash in cold blood.
But the defense team contends that the newly discovered testimony of a Sanders County sheri ’s deputy, Wayne Abbey, would have supported Raugust’s alibi at trial, but it was never divulged to Raugust’s lawyer, John Putikka.
The deputy, who performed a bar check at the Naughty Pine the morning of the murder and encountered Raugust, Tash and Ross, testi ed at trial that he was visiting with the owner and saw Ross’ AMC Eagle parked across the street.
In later interviews with investigators and attorneys from the Innocence Proj- ect, Abbey said he glanced out the win- dow a second time and saw Ross’ car stop brie y about 200 yards down the high- way. He watched as the brake lights came on and the dome light illuminated before Ross again sped o .
The prosecution never asked Abbey about his observation while he was on the stand in 1998, and the defense didn’t know about it. Without any knowledge of Raugust’s alibi, it never occurred to Abbey that the detail might be important.
Attorneys for Raugust say it’s a key piece of evidence supporting Raugust’s alibi, and that the only testimony under- mining it at trial was that of Ross, the man they say is the true killer, and Rick Scarborough, at whose home Raugust says he slept.
In 2009, a legal team assembled by the Montana Innocence Project took notice of Raugust’s claims and began ghting for his innocence. Convinced he was wrongfully convicted, the defense team argues that if jurors heard the new evi- dence they would not reasonably believe he could have committed the crime, that the facts support his alibi, and that Ross and Scarborough, the state’s key wit- nesses, colluded to frame Raugust for Tash’s murder.
Raugust’s family and lawyers say the strength of his resolve and his determina- tion to prove his innocence has endured the ultimate test in prison, and he wants only to have his day in court.
“He has not let 18 years of incarcera- tion break him. He has not let it change him. He is the same person,” Schandel- son said. “He wants his day in court. He does not want to walk away from this. He is going to see this through.”
“The whole process has been so sur- real, knowing he is innocent this entire time,” said Webster, who has supported her brother every step of the way. “He’s never shown any bitterness. He’s never shown any anger or expressed any nega- tivity and his only desire has been to have the truth be told. It is amazing to me that throughout this ordeal he has never been hardened, he has never been broken. He has remained hopeful.”
At the bail hearing, Judge Wheelis denied Sanders County Attorney Robert Zimmerman’s request to impose a bail of $75,000, which Zimmerman called appropriate given that “the charged o ense of homicide is one of the most hei- nous o enses listed in the criminal code.”
“This o ense included deadly force, deadly violence,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t think releasing the defendant into the community of Missoula is going to protect the safety of the community.”
Zimmerman said one witness who tes- ti ed for the state at trial contacted the prosecutor and asked the state to pro- vide protection in the event of Raugust’s release.
But Schandelson countered that it was Raugust who deserved protection, and that his client is presumed innocent of the charges.
“One could speculate that it is one of the two witnesses who perjured them- selves at trial,” who contacted Zimmer- man, Schandelson said. “We believe that it is Mr. Raugust who is in danger.”
Schandelson said the amount of work that went into overturning Raugust’s conviction is staggering, and said several thousand hours of time has been invested into investigating and litigating the mat- ter over the last ve years, nearly all of the time donated by volunteers.
He extended an especially heart warm thanks to the lead investigator in the case, Spencer Veysey, who uncovered Abbey’s testimony. Veysey was killed in a climbing accident in Rocky Mountain National Park this summer.
“There are many people whose e orts led us to today. One such person, whose e orts have been monumentally
important not just to Richard’s case, but all the cases at the Montana Innocence Project, is Spencer Veysey,” Schandelson said. “As both an intern and investigator for the project, Spencer uncovered the vital new evidence in Richard’s case that led directly to this result. Sadly, Spen- cer is no longer with us, but he always believed we’d be standing here with Rich- ard one day.”
Marci Jones, Raugust’s mother, said the family had exhausted its resources when the Montana Innocence Project agreed to take on her son’s case.
“It’s been a long time coming and we were running out of resources,” she said. “It was a godsend.”
Mary Webster said the family had a long shopping list to help her brother acclimate to life outside of the Montana State Prison, including the purchase of a cell phone and computer – Raugust has never used a cell phone or accessed the Internet.
“I can’t wait to see what he does. There are so many avenues that he could travel,”
ABOVE Attorney Brendan McQuillan presents Richard Raugust with a y rod following his release.
LEFT Richard Raugust wipes away tears while speaking to media outside the Sanders County Courthouse.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
she said. “I’m eager to see what direction that he goes.”
Raugust, who has written proli cally during his imprisonment, said he’s eager to start making strides toward publish- ing his work, particularly a 230-page collection of poems he calls “Fishers of Trout and Men: Protectors of the Realm,” he hopes to share with fellow vets.
“I think it will help ease their minds,” said Raugust, a U.S. Army veteran. “Par- ticularly veterans with combat-related issues.”
“Please take a close look at everyone surrounding me here today. These are Montana’s hidden gems. It’s a fact that innocent citizens can be wrongfully con- victed and these pillars may be your only hope.”
Raugust, who will live in Missoula under some court-imposed conditions, said he’s looking forward to taking advan- tage of the region’s shing opportunities.
“I wouldn’t minding throwing a lure in a lake, if there’s water open,” he said.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
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DECEMBER 9, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM