Montana Sen. Jason Ellsworth’s guilty verdict thrown out
Summary
A judge threw out the guilty verdict against Montana State Senator Jason Ellsworth after jurors accidentally saw secret documents not meant to be part of the trial. The documents involved communications about scheduling a potential key witness, Bryce Eggleston, who was not called to testify.Key Facts
- Jason Ellsworth, former Montana Senate President, was on trial for official misconduct.
- Jurors were mistakenly given sealed exhibits about communications with Bryce Eggleston, a potential key witness.
- The sealed materials were never admitted as evidence and should not have been shown to jurors.
- The judge vacated (canceled) the guilty verdict after learning about the mistake.
- Ellsworth’s legal team found out about the error when a juror mentioned jury discussions including these materials.
- Bryce Eggleston is a longtime friend and former employee of Ellsworth and was involved with contracts for tracking legislative bill progress.
- Prosecutors alleged Ellsworth bypassed the required competitive bidding for these contracts.
- The state attorney general agreed there should be a new trial due to the juror error.
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