Montana Supreme Court news for Jan. 28, 2015
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Murderer’s appeal denied
HELENA — A Lake County man was unsuccessful at appealing a life sentence handed down for killing 19-year-old Daniel McLeod.
On Jan. 20 the Montana Supreme Court denied a self-written writ of habeas corpus submitted by James Arthur Couture, 55.
Couture was convicted on deliberate homicide charges in 2006 of shooting McLeod more than 20 times on May 2, 2004. Couture was also convicted of two counts of tampering with evidence for dumping McLeod’s body in the Flathead River and disposing of the gun he used to shoot the teen. He is ineligible for parole.
In a Jan. 2 appeal, Couture argued that he was illegally sentenced to life in prison because he had not been previously convicted of a major crime, as Montana law requires.
The Montana Supreme Court said in its denial of appeal that Couture is procedurally barred from appealing his sentence. He has previously been unsuccessful at appealing the court three times.
The high court said the sentence was constitutional, as was the district court’s restrictions for parole.
The high court cited the district court’s reasoning for making Couture parole ineligible.
“The reasons for the sentence is that a life was taken,” the judge wrote. “A life was taken with malice and with intention, and with forethought. The victim ... was left to bleed to death on the floor of the defendant’s house. The court has significant concerns with the fact there were plans to execute people.”
Couture is incarcerated at the Crossroads Detention Facility in Shelby.
High court denies kidnapper’s appeal
HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has denied a Lake County man’s appeal of his 50-year-sentence for the May 27, 2006 kidnapping of an 18-year-old Whitefish woman from a Bigfork festival.
In a petition filed Jan. 5, Chuck Devlin claimed the court misrepresented his actions in the kidnapping, and alleged that there was a conspiracy and cover-up between the Lake County attorney, district court judge, and law enforcement to convict him of the crime.
The supreme court said Devlin’s sentence was within the bounds of the law and his appeal was not appropriate.
“At a minimum, he must establish that ‘the district court is proceeding based upon a mistake of law, which if uncorrected, would cause significant injustice for which an appeal is an inadequate remedy,’” the court wrote in a unanimous opinion. “Devlin has not demonstrated that the District Court is proceeding under a mistake of law, which is imposing an injustice upon him. The relief that Devlin seeks is a District Court ruling on his motions, which were both filed improperly and untimely.”
Law enforcement reports of the incident indicate a resident called police to report screams coming from inside a van in south Bigfork. Officers found Devlin behind the wheel, and a naked woman leapt from the back of the van pleading for an officer to help her. Devlin did not offer an explanation of the woman’s nudity in his petitions, but said he was only following the letter of the law that required him to help the girl.
Devlin, 64, is not eligible for parole until 2032.
