Justice and the Flathead Boat Crash
Barkus Case a Test For Montana Legal Establishment
By Jonathan Weber , 11-01-09
Montana State Sen. Greg Barkus at his arraignment last week. Photo by Lido Vizzutti, Flathead Beacon.
The prosecution of Montana State Sen. Greg Barkus for an alleged drunken-boating accident on Flathead Lake that left five people seriously injured is not exactly off to a smooth start. First, it took an inordinately long time for police to release key evidence - namely Barkus’s blood alcohol level - and bring charges in the case, which involved a high-speed crash into the shoreline and counted U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg among the injured.
Then all three District Judges in Flathead County recused themselves from the case on the grounds that they had worked with Barkus on legislation. A Judge from Livingston was moved aside at the request of prosecutors, and a Judge from Lake County is now being replaced at the request of the defense. Barkus has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney says he’ll challenge the blood-alcohol test, which prosecutors say showed Barkus to be at twice the legal limit.
It’s easy to see why judges would view the case as the worst kind of lose-lose proposition. Come down hard on Barkus, and his influential friends (who might be your friends, too) will hate you for it. Go easy, and your neighbors (and the voters) will hate you for it. At 62, Barkus’s political career, and perhaps his business career as well, are likely all but over, no matter what the outcome of the criminal case.
Yet this is also a situation where Montanans will be watching closely to see how justice is applied. If it were you or me, jail time would seem almost assured, so why should the powerful be immune? The shameful incident in 2002 when then-Governor Judy Martz helped clean up a fatal drunk-driving accident involving her chief of staff certainly helps to create the impression that in Montana, even drunk-driving wrecks that result in death or serious injury are not high crimes if you’re well-connected.
Obviously Barkus, who faces two counts of negligent vehicular assault and one count of criminal endangerment, is innocent until proven guilty. That said, fighting a DUI charge by challenging the accuracy of the blood test is not generally a winning strategy, and there is all kinds of circumstantial evidence too. The simple facts of the accident - hitting the shoreline virtually head-on at an estimated 40 miles in the dark after leaving a dinner where alcohol was consumed - along with Barkus’s previous DUI incident all tend to point in one direction.
Personally, I very much doubt this case will ever go to trial. The most logical outcome would be for Barkus to plead guilty to at least one felony - a non-trivial sanction in its own right - and then receive either a short jail sentence or perhaps a suspended sentence. (In theory he faces up up to 30 years.) It’s very important for Montana’s political and legal culture that there not be a perception that the fix was in on this. But determining what “justice” looks like in a case like this is not open-and-shut, either. What do you think?
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Judges should not endorse political candidates. EVER!
This is from the judge who got busted for "praying in the judges chamber" with a prosecuting attorney, his friend. Even made tabloid tv.
BTW, wasn't Rehberg also involved with the Sliter boy's death. Weren't Rebergh and Leo Giacometto seen throwing beer cans out of Hedges' vehicle and down the gulch near Marysville?
This case could well be the end of the "old boy network".
Ha!
Don't count on it.
Personally, I think this fits into Rehberg's MO, demanding total loyalty but taking care of even morally repugnant people like Hedges.
I can see why no judge wants to take a swim in that cesspool.
Also, I doubt he's getting any favors from the sheriff or county attorney. Both are Republicans, both endorsed him in 2006, and both probably are bending over backwards to prove they're not giving a fellow Republican special treatment. There is absolutely nothing for the sheriff and CA to gain by granting Barkus special favors; but there is much for them to lose. I'm surprised that Barkus has not asked both the sheriff and county attorney to recuse themselves.
I do agree with Weber that the case is likely to end in a plea agreement.
Drunk or sober, what Greg did was lousy boat handling and he's already in a world of hurt for that. So are his passengers, especially Mr. Frost. I hope mightily he will recover 100 percent.
All in all, this was a disaster for everyone involved, is not going to end well. That's a real shame, no matter who you "are."
It was never clear to me about Rehberg's results. Did they come from a blood draw at the hospital and immediately released to authorities from the hospital with his permission? No way the crime lab ran the test that fast.
Do you know of anyone who has first hand information of the facts set forth in your comment of Nov. 2nd? If Rehberg was involved in Paul Sliter's death - someone should be able to verify that information. Please feel free to contact me privately at you!
Isn't it interesting that we, the public, have already resigned ourselves to the fact that this will be plead out and "fixed". If this were anybody else, they'd never be able to climb over this wall of evidence. They'd probably already be behind bars.
I might fall over dead of shock if the guy stood up like a man and said "I screwed up, I'm guilty, I resign and let the judge proceed to sentencing". But no, we get to see time and money wasted and lawyers enriched as this slippery turd trys to weasel out of what is right and just.
Hey, he's a politician...this is expected behavior, right?
Could this be part of the Dennis McDonald campaign?
Unless Mr. Barkus' defense is that meteor came out of the sky (or some such other verifiable anomaly) and caused him to lose control of his boat, this was not an accident.
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