Richard Raugust, released from prison in 2015 after a judge overturned his murder conviction, agreed Wednesday to a $5 million settlement with Sanders County and the deputy who Raugust's attorneys argued withheld evidence crucial to his defense.Â
"I think he's grateful that this legal chapter in his life is closed and very optimistic about looking forward to the future," Raugust's attorney, Hillary Carls of Blackford Carls P.C., said in a phone interview Wednesday. "… No amount of money would be right to right this wrong but we're really glad we were able to come to a resolution and a space that made sense for Richard."
Raugust spent 18 years in prison and was one of the first to be released from prison in 2015 following work by the Montana Innocence Project. Then-Judge James Wheelis had scheduled Raugust for a new trial after the Innocence Project uncovered evidence former Deputy Wayne Abbey had not disclosed during his case. The next year, Sanders County prosecutors dismissed the charges permanently.Â
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In 1997, Abbey had seen Raugust, Joe Tash and a third man leave the Naughty Pine Saloon in Trout Creek shortly after closing time, get into a vehicle and drive toward the highway. More than 15 years later, he told an Innocence Project investigator he saw the car stop and the overhead light come on before the vehicle continued down Highway 200. Hours later, the third man, Rory Ross, called 911 to report Tash had been shot in the head, claiming to have seen Raugust pull the trigger.
Raugust, however, argued he was not present at the murder, and that he had exited the vehicle on the highway. Abbey never mentioned in his report or during testimony at Raugust's trial that he had seen the vehicle stop on the highway, which would have bolstered Raugust's defense. Instead, a jury convicted Raugust of murder and in 1998 he was sentenced to life in prison. A judge released him from prison in 2015 under the evidence suppression issues.Â
Wednesday's settlement caps the lawsuit Raugust filed for damages in early 2020, and avoids a trial that had been scheduled for next month.Â
That $5 million is far less than the $97 million he first requested, but engulfs the figure Raugust might have secured under a law passed by the state Legislature in 2021. That law, House Bill 92, provides $60,000 for each year a person was wrongfully imprisoned. Under that structure, Raugust would have collected a little more than $1 million.Â
"When that legislation passed we absolutely talked with Richard quite a bit about it and considered it," Carls said. "But I've been so impressed with his courage and persistence and patience and he wanted to stick to this course.
"This litigation has different risks, but it also has bigger benefits," she said.
Only one person, Cody Marble, has so far filed a claim under the Legislature's new process. To do so, he had to abandon his ongoing litigation against Missoula County officials who were involved in the case that sent him to prison before his own conviction was overturned in 2017.
But instead of steering parties away from costly legal battles as HB 92 intended, Marble's case has featured one legal hurdle after another since he filed it last year. Part of that has been litigating gray areas in a new law, and while Missoula County said at the time it dismissed Marble's charges that the case lacked integrity, the county is now playing defense, arguing in court filings that he committed the crime.
The Montana Innocence Project was involved in the early process of crafting HB 92. Amy Sings In The Timber, the organization's director, points to the last-minute amendments to the law that have spoiled the prospects for what was supposed to be a straightforward process, one that could avoid putting governments on the hook for settlements that can reach $5 million or more.
"It's really pretty compelling," Sings In The Timber said Wednesday. "This settlement, in light of Cody's current experience, gives all the reason in the world why we wanted to make certain that the state compensation process was as efficient, as streamlined as possible."
Those amendments included an offset provision, which would allow someone like Raugust to file a claim and simultaneously sue the individuals responsible for their wrongful imprisonment, thus holding bad actors accountable and precluding future violations of civil rights. Under the earlier version of HB 92, the person would pay back any compensation received from the state with the damages awarded in their litigation against the individuals.Â
Instead, Sings In The Timber said, people like Marble are living those warnings that emerged in originally crafting HB 92.
"It just really illuminates how wrong things went on a number of fronts in this particular bill," she said.Â
Lawmakers are set to re-examine HB 92 in the coming Legislature. The Montana Innocence Project has been in contact with lawmakers and the governor's office about potential changes in the bill to bring the compensation process back in line with its original form.Â
"At this point we are hopeful that there is going to be support for not only reinstating (original provisions in) the legislation but improving upon it," Sings In The Timber said.Â
Its unclear if Sanders County prosecutors have refocused their investigation on Tash's murder, or if the investigation is open at all. The county attorney's office there declined to comment when reached by phone on Wednesday.