Supreme Court Upholds Lloyd Barrus's Sentence
Author: Mike Smith, government reporter for the Montana Standard, Butte
Supreme Court Upholds Lloyd Barrus's Sentence
Mike Smith
Government Reporter for the Montana Standard, Butte
Reprinted with permission.
The Montana Supreme Court says a judge did not abuse her discretion when she sentenced Lloyd Barrus to the Montana State Prison instead of a state mental health facility for his role in the 2017 shooting death of a Broadwater County deputy.
Barrus argued in an appeal that he suffered from mental health disorders during the shooting of Deputy Mason Moore and a subsequent high-speed chase and was unable to grasp the criminality of his behavior at the time.
Because of that, his appeals lawyers contended, he should have been sentenced to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services instead of state prison overseen by the Montana Department of Corrections.
But the state’s high court, in a 5-0 ruling issued Tuesday, said District Judge Kathy Seeley properly weighed mental health factors before sentencing Barrus to three life sentences without parole in the Montana State Prison.
“The record establishes that the District Court thoroughly considered the evidence before it and the record reflects its independent deliberation on the merits of Barrus’s case,” the ruling said.
“Our review of the record supports a finding that Barrus appreciated the criminality of his behavior or could have conformed his conduct to the law.”
Justice Laurie McKinnon wrote the ruling and Chief Justice Cory Swanson recused himself. Swanson was the Broadwater County attorney when the 2017 shooting occurred. Lloyd Barrus was 66 when he was sentenced in the case.
Prosecutors say Lloyd Barrus and his son, Marshall Barrus, held anti-law enforcement views and were on a “suicide mission” on May 16, 2017, when they provoked Deputy Moore shortly after 2 a.m. by passing him on U.S. 287 south of Townsend driving 100 mph. They were in a Chevy Suburban and Lloyd Barrus was driving.
Moore was struck in the face by a bullet through his windshield, his car stopped in the grass just south of Three Forks, and he was alive until the Suburban returned four minutes later and additional gunshots from a semi-automatic rifle ended his life. Prosecutors say Marshall Barrus fired the mortal rounds.
Butte-Silver Bow police spotted the Suburban moving westbound on I-90 about an hour later and started a 90-mile chase, ending in a shootout in Missoula County that involved several police agencies.
Marshall was hit and later died while Lloyd Barrus escaped injury and was arrested.
The trial was held in Butte instead of Broadwater County because of pre-trial publicity concerns, and in September 2021, a jury found Barrus guilty of deliberate homicide by accountability in Moore’s death, and of two counts of attempted deliberate homicide for the high-speed chase and shootout.
Barrus’s appeal did not contest the verdicts. Its sole claim was that he should have been sentenced to a mental health facility instead of state prison.
Defense attorneys for Barrus have argued for years that Barrus suffered from mental illness and severe delusional disorders, and after the trial, they wanted him sentenced to Montana State Hospital.
At one point after charges were filed, Seeley ordered Barrus be given antipsychotic medications via injection to render him competent to stand trial and aid his defense, since he refused to take the drugs orally. He was ultimately cleared to stand trial.
Under a 1979 Montana law, judges imposing sentences must determine whether defendants, at the time of their offenses, suffered from mental conditions that rendered them “unable to appreciate the criminality” of their behavior.
The law was part of a broader reform that abolished the traditional insanity defense while leaving a narrow post-conviction inquiry into whether someone fully grasped the criminality of their actions, Tuesday’s ruling noted.
Barrus’ attorneys say he did not understand what he was doing was wrong because of his mental health issues, so he should be sentenced to custody of mental health officials.
Judge Seeley held hearings on the matter and considered conflicting opinions by two forensic psychiatrists — Dr. Virginia Hill and Dr. Alan Newman. Hill had treated Barrus at the State Hospital while his case was pending. She said chronic delusions amplified by alcohol and marijuana impaired his ability to understand the criminality of his actions.
Newman disagreed. He said Barrus voluntarily drank alcohol and that was a precipitating factor in his actions, but his crimes weren’t caused by delusional disorders.
Seeley found Newman’s findings more convincing and said Hill’s evaluation “appeared clouded” by her longtime treatment relationship with Barrus.
The state Supreme Court said Seeley was in the best position to assess the competing expert opinions and she provided a basis for accepting Newman’s testimony over Hill’s report.
“This Court will not disturb the district court’s conclusion regarding a defendant’s mental disease or disorder unless the conclusion is unsupported by the record,” the ruling said.
