Montana District Court Judge Baugh no longer has jurisdiction to preside over a case that has taken over national headlines. Former teacher Stacey Rambold had previously been convicted of sexual intercourse without consent. This is typically called statutory rape, as the victim was not yet 16 years old at the time of the event, which is the minimum age of ability consent to sexual activities in Montana. On August 26, 2013 Judge Baugh sentenced Rambold on a revocation of a deferred prosecution agreement due to non compliance with the conditions of the deferred prosecution agreement. Judge Baugh sentenced Rambold to 15 years in prison, but only 31 of those days would not be suspended – requiring Rambold to only serve 30 days in jail and serve years of probation. The victim in the case had committed suicide in 2010. Judge Baugh attempted to change that sentence last week, but the Montana Supreme Court Ordered that he did not have jurisdiction over the case any further, and that they would be determining the legality of the sentence. Judge Baugh has already admitted that the sentence he imposed on August 26 was illegal, as it did not comply with the mandatory minimum requirement of 2 years in prison for Rambold.
Marty is a former criminal prosecutor in the Cascade County Attorney’s Office and now uses that experience to defend those accused of crimes. A University of Montana School of Law graduate, Marty focuses his practice on personal injury and criminal defense and is a premier DUI defense attorney. He is also well versed in the insurance claims industry and has negotiated significant settlements with nearly every major insurance company.