My sabbatical is over, and my first court case as an expert witness for 2026 came to verdict in the middle of the second week of February. The charge was Deliberate Homicide, the term for First Degree Murder in Montana. The case was very ably defended by Dean Koffler and Claire Lettow of the Public Defender’s Office in Great Falls, just as ably assisted by their investigator, John Berletich.
It was a self-defense case, and they made that clear to an attentive jury, who took about ninety minutes to return a verdict of Not Guilty on all counts.
Public Defenders speak for those who cannot afford to hire their own attorneys. They get a bad rap because, in truth, they are overworked with massive caseloads. I have found over 46 years of expert witness work that public defenders are far better than you may have been told. Let us not forget that one of the greatest defense lawyers ever, Roy Black, began his career as a public defender.
When they know their client is innocent, they burn the midnight oil and work weekends to give the best defense possible. That was certainly true in this case, and I believe they won the appropriate verdict.
My hat is off to the hard-working professionals I mentioned above, and the conscientious jurors who applied common sense to justice in the verdict they delivered.
If it only took the jury 90 minutes to aquit, it begs the question of why the accused was tried in the first place. Was the prosecutor ignorant, corrupt or a Soros-funded social justice warrior?
My question exactly. There should be consequences. In Montana of all places.