State v. Finley
Annotate this CaseThe State of Montana appealed an order of the district court reversing defendant's conviction for partner or family member assault where his wife called 911 while fleeing from the family home afraid that he would harm her. At issue was whether the evidence presented to establish reasonable apprehension of bodily injury was sufficient to support defendant's conviction where his wife testified at trial that many of her statements provided to the police were lies. Also at issue was whether the state's appeal was precluded by law because it sought to reinstate defendant's guilty verdict. The court first held that the state's appeal was not precluded by law where defendant was not subjected to impermissible retrial, further prosecution, or double punishment for the same offense. The court also held that the evidence presented by the prosecution could have allowed a rational trier of fact to conclude that the "reasonable apprehension of bodily injury" element was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt where the 911 recording clearly demonstrated the wife's outright fear, she was scared enough to flee her home into a cold, snowy night wearing only pajamas and socks, her fear was so great that the dispatcher had to coax her out of hiding, and three officers testified to her distraught appearance.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.