City of Billings v. Staebler
Annotate this CaseLeslie Staebler was convicted by a jury in municipal court of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and violation of the seatbelt law. The district court affirmed, holding that Staebler's fundamental right to a fair trial was not violated. The Supreme Court affirmed but on different grounds, holding that the district court did not err in affirming the municipal court where (1) the City attorney did not unfairly imply that Staebler's conduct was worse than it actually was; (2) comments of one juror did not inflame or prejudice other members of the jury against Staebler; (3) the City attorney did not err during rebuttal to Staebler's closing argument when she inferred that because Staebler was not able to brake appropriately for oncoming traffic, he would not have been able to brake properly had a child been playing in the road; and (4) the evidence was sufficient to support Staebler's conviction.
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