Tag Archives: Barry Beach

Caught My Eye…

It’s Friday and that means it is time to end your week with another exciting edition of “Caught My Eye!”

Reminder: “Caught My Eye” goes well with a glass of wine or with your favorite microbrew (especially on Friday afternoons).

If you are a first-time visitor, this is my weekly column where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. Often I throw in some sarcasm and poke fun at people just to make you smile.

Today I write about Daines and Obamacare, Barry Beach, Brad Molnar, Brown v. Board of Education, Werfel/Wuerffel, IRS, Top Baby Names of 2012, Making Montana Proud, and much more!

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Thursday Numbers

Welcome to my weekly column called “Thursday Numbers!” I’m glad you stopped by!

If you are a new visitor, this is where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary (sometimes with a little sarcasm).

DISCLAIMER: By reading this column you may be able to use the information to impress your family, friends, and co-workers. Please consider yourself warned.

This week I write about the highest-earning athletes, Powerball, salaries for university presidents, unemployment, Barry Beach, Montana Department of Justice, anesthesiologists, deer and bus, satisfaction, shampooers, Trevor Runyon, IRS and Obama, BAC, and much more!

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Barry Beach: Justice Denied

On Tuesday the Associated Press reported that the Montana Supreme Court had ruled 4-3 that “a judge was wrong to release Barry Beach from prison two years ago and order a new trial in the 1979 slaying of a teenage girl.”

The opinion from the Montana Supremes is pretty absurd. Barry Beach does deserve a new trial.

The ruling means Beach will probably go back to prison after being out since December of 2011. He had served about 29 years of the 100 year sentence and had been free awaiting a new trial for almost 18 months. Beach found out about the Montana Supreme Court decision from a reporter. This all seems pretty brutal, but that is pretty much the method of operation for the justice system in Montana.

In case you are wondering what this is all about, it started in 1979 when someone killed 17 year-old Kim Nees near Poplar, Montana. Barry Beach was convicted of that deliberate homicide on April 13, 1984. In May of 1984, he was sentenced to 100 years in the Montana State Prison without the possibility of parole. Beach was given a new evidentiary hearing in November 2008 and was released from prison pending a new trial in December 2011. I happened to catch a story about it on Dateline NBC that aired in 2008. I have followed and written about the case since then.

In my opinion, Montanans should face the fact that our state has one of the most incompetent State Supreme Courts in the country. That incompetence seems to trickle down into the state district courts as well. These judges, who are elected to office, are certainly better politicians than they are judges or attorneys and that’s part of the problem with the justice system in Big Sky Country. Shameful is one of the more merciful words I can use to describe the people who occupy these courts.

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Caught My Eye…

Here we go – it’s finally Friday and that means another edition (the 83rd) of Caught My Eye!

If you are new around here, Caught My Eye is posted almost every Friday morning right here!  This highly-read column is where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to comment about during the week, and I often add just a touch of sarcasm for good measure.

Everyone and everything is fair game…

Today I write about favorable ratings, a quote, Just the Fax, veterans, Postal Service cuts, Barry Beach, Presidents Day coverage, birthday wishes, and then there’s the reader favorite – e-mails from my political inbox!  There’s more so read on…

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2011 – A Look Back!

Now that we have safely made it to 2012 and you’ve had a chance to read other lists from 2011, it’s time to take a look back at the top columns (called posts on blogs) here at The Western Word.

It was a record-breaking year here at TWW – with more readers stopping by than ever before – and several columns being linked to or posted on newspaper websites around the country.

Here are the top five columns from 2011:

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Justice Delayed

I happened to catch a story in the Great Falls Tribune that August 1-5, 2011, is the date that has been set to decide if Barry Beach deserves a new murder trial. You can read the Tribune story HERE.

Waiting that long is ridiculous and deserves some commentary…

I have always contended that there are more questions than answers in this case – and that Beach deserved a new trial. You can read my commentaries about the case by going to “Categories” on the right side of the screen, clicking on it, and selecting “Barry Beach.”

New judges have been assigned to this case several times – the latest being assigned (PDF) on May 5, 2010 –which means it will be around 454 days or one year, two months and 28 days before Beach gets his hearing in August 2011. Continue reading →

Justice and Politics?

I’ve followed the Barry Beach case for quite some time and have felt that he should get a new trial. There just seems to be more questions than answers in his case.

For those of you who haven’t followed the case, Beach was sentenced in 1984 at age 20, to 100 years in prison with no parole for the murder of 17-year-old Kim Nees on the Fort Peck Reservation

I commented about his case HERE and HERE. You can view the website about Barry Beach HERE.

Beach was given a new evidentiary hearing in November 2008. Hopefully, when they get around to having the hearing, he will get a new trial.

After what I read Tuesday, that hearing date may take a little longer. Of course, I have to offer my opinion about the issue.

The Great Falls Tribune reported on Tuesday:

Brant S. Light, assistant attorney general and special deputy Roosevelt County attorney, filed the motion April 20 requesting that District Judge Nels Swandal of Livingston appoint a replacement.

Swandal was appointed to the case April 2.

Why?

The Tribune also reported: “Kevin O’Brien, a spokesman for the attorney general, declined to comment on the state’s motion, which does not say why the state is seeking a new judge.”

By the way, Nels Swandal is running for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court. This is a non-partisan race, but it appears Swandal may lean to the right. As for his opponent I don’t have an idea about her politics either, but from the list of campaign steering committee members on her website, it appears she may lean to the left. This article clears it up a little although they have received contributions from both sides of the political aisle, which is somewhat typical for a race like this.

So it seems to me the request it was probably politics, Mr. O’Brien. Being the judge in the Barry Beach case would undoubtedly given Swandal a lot of exposure, like name recognition. Name recognition is important in a state-wide campaign – especially in a Supreme Court race.

Supreme Court races are not really that interesting to me, but due to this story I took a look at the campaign steering committee for Swandal’s opponent. There’s a very interesting list of people “steering” her campaign. It looks like some committee members even work for the State of Montana, which is not against the rules or anything unless…

I don’t know if the Tribune reporter asked O’Brien if the reason why the AG’s office requested a new judge was because they felt it would give someone that office does not want to see on the Supreme Court an advantage.

But, by declining to comment on the reason, O’Brien left the door wide open for speculation.

Meanwhile, Barry Beach will probably have to wait a little longer for his day in court. We can only hope that politics did not play a role in this case.

Another Day in Court

It was a long time coming, but Barry Beach will get another day in court.  You might remember reading about his case in one of my previous blog posts.  Read it again HERE.

In 1979 someone killed 17 year-old Kim Nees near Poplar, Montana.  Barry Beach was convicted of that deliberate homicide on April 13, 1984.  In May of 1984, he was sentenced to 100 years in the Montana State Prison without the possibility of parole.

Back in April 2008, I wrote, “There are more questions than answers in this case.  I believe he should get a new trial.” Continue reading →

Chief Justice: Ron Waterman

No matter who wins the race to become the next Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, they will have incredibly big shoes to fill.

Chief Justice Karla Gray is retiring. Gray has been a fixture on the court since 1991, and Chief Justice since 2000. I believe she has served on the court longer than the other justices. By all accounts, Gray has done an excellent job in leading the court, which is comprised of the Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Her leadership will be sorely missed.

The members of the Montana Supreme Court serve eight year terms. As it should be, we hardly hear much about any of the justices’ personal views until around election time.

In the beginning of the 2008 election season when current Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath announced his decision to run for Chief Justice, it seemed to be a done deal. He would cruise into the office without having to do much work.

But since that time, McGrath has come under scrutiny for not investigating his fellow Democrat, Governor Brian Schweitzer, after Schweitzer bragged about tampering with the 2006 elections. McGrath was formally asked by Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson to look into the situation. If McGrath would have taken a week or so and made some calls and talked to some people, then issued a report, he would have (in my mind) done his job. But, he quickly (within a couple of hours) fired off a letter to Johnson refusing to investigate the issue. To many folks, that showed that McGrath’s attention was more on political friends than finding the facts.

If that was not enough, a Political Action Committee (PAC) called “Montanans For Fairness Not Politics” has brought to light some other issues. On their website, they write, “Mike McGrath has been the Attorney General of the State of Montana for the past 8 years. During his term in office, he has shown a propensity for doing what is politically expedient, even when it violates the civil rights of individual Montanans.”

They list, in detail, the issues they have with McGrath’s lack of work as Montana Attorney General: The State vs. Jimmy Ray Bromgard, The State vs. Barry Allan Beach, and issues surrounding the State Crime Lab.

I am also concerned about McGrath’s lack of enforcement of the law dealing with automated pre-recorded phone calls for candidates. Several of his fellow Democrats have been caught making these calls and he did nothing to prosecute the crime.

These are just some of the reasons that I will not be voting for Mike McGrath.

I believe McGrath’s opponent, Ron Waterman, will make an exceptional Chief Justice. He pledges to keep partisan politics out of the Supreme Court, and promises to serve only one term. I like his idea of making the court more open and accessible to the public.

One of the major issues Waterman has brought up is he contends that McGrath, if elected to the Court, would have to disqualify himself from about 50% of the cases because McGrath performed duties as the state’s chief legal officer as Attorney General. This problem could hamper the court’s ability to make decisions on the cases because only six justices would be hearing them. One could envision many cases ending up with a 3-3 split decision.

This race should be interesting to watch on election night. You can read more about Ron Waterman’s views by visiting his website HERE.

The Killing at Poplar River

Editor’s Note:  You can read all my columns and comments about Barry Beach by going to “Categories” on the right, clicking on the arrow and selecting “Barry Beach.”

On Friday night, I watched, “The Killing at Poplar River” on Dateline NBC.It was a two-hour story about Barry Beach and his confession to the 1979 murder of Kim Nees near Poplar, Montana.

I was interested in hearing and seeing what Dateline had discovered for their show.The story did raise more doubt in my mind.I have a hard time believing, after watching the show, that Barry Beach committed this murder.Of course, I don’t believe that Dr. Jeffery MacDonald is guilty either. That murder happened in 1970.

Beach was sentenced, at age 20, to 100 years in prison, with no parole.He’s served about 25 years in the Montana State Prison.

Many people believe a group of girls committed the crime.There was one witness who testified that he saw them riding in Nees’ vehicle just before the murder.

The prosecutor in the case was Marc Racicot, who at that time was an assistant Montana attorney general.It did not appear on the Dateline show, that this was his best moment in the courtroom.

Beach is now being represented by Centurion Ministries.Centurion Ministries is a nonprofit organization.Through their work, they have helped free 40 wrongfully convicted inmates over the past 27 years.

Some other interesting information:

-Beach was arrested in Louisiana on suspicion of another crime.He should have asked for a lawyer from the start, but he gave a taped confession.He was just 20 and not the brightest bulb in the pack.

-Authorities in Montana lost the taped confession.It was erased.All they had was a signed confession. Beach says he was coerced into giving it.Of course, the Louisiana authorities contend it was a good confession.Dateline raised the suspicion that Louisiana authorities were given inside information by the local authorities in Montana to feed to Beach to make his confession seem more real.

-The evidence room at the police station in Poplar was broken into…by a police officer, who was the father of one of the girls listed as an original suspect.

-The FBI said a bloody palm print on the vehicle would lead authorities to the killer.It did not belong to Barry Beach.

-Several fingerprints at the crime scene did not belong to Barry Beach. In fact, it appears there was no proof whatsoever that he was even there.Not even a footprint belonging to Beach was found at the crime scene.All they had was a typed confession done in Louisiana, after long hours of grilling.Beach said he was told by the authorities in Louisiana that they would help him get off for the Montana murder if he confessed to it.Then he could go home.They also told him about what it was like to be electrocuted to scare him.

-Dateline contends, “The prosecutor [Racicot] told the jury to ignore it all, because police had contaminated the crime scene.”

-Kim Nees’ sister does not believe Beach did it.Several other people came forward and said another person had told them that they did it.

Beach’s case was heard by the Montana Board of Pardons and Paroles.Three weeks after the hearing, the three member board reached a decision, and it was unanimous: NO. The answer was “no” to everything; no pardon, clemency, parole, etc.So Barry Beach stays in prison, where by all accounts he has been a model prisoner.

Centurion filed papers in court because of new evidence.That was denied.They are appealing to the Montana Supreme Court.

There are more questions than answers in this case.I believe he should get a new trial.

You can read the transcript or watch the show HERE.

Editor’s Note:  You can read all my columns and comments about Barry Beach by going to “Categories” on the right, clicking on the arrow and selecting “Barry Beach.”