State v. Kougl, 2004 MT 243, 322 Mont. 6

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court held that a defendant's ineffective-assistance claim could be decided on direct appeal because there was no plausible justification for counsel's failure to request accomplice-testimony instructions. The court concluded that counsel's omission was deficient and prejudicial because the prosecution's case depended heavily on accomplice testimony, which should have been instructed to be viewed with distrust and corroborated. The court reversed Mark Robert Kougl's conviction for operation of an unlawful clandestine laboratory.

Holdings

1. An ineffective-assistance claim may be decided on direct appeal when there is no plausible justification for counsel's challenged conduct; a postconviction proceeding is not required merely because the claim might otherwise involve matters outside the appellate record.
2. Trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to request instructions requiring the jury to view accomplice testimony with distrust and requiring corroboration of that testimony.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Kougl's ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim could be decided on direct appeal rather than in a postconviction proceeding.
2. Whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to request jury instructions requiring the jury to view accomplice testimony with distrust and requiring corroboration of accomplice testimony.

Disposition

reversed