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State12/31/1998
Argued June 16, 1998. Submitted June 30, 1998.
1 Donald Franklin Booth, Jr. (Booth) was involved in an automobile accident on July 23, 1996, which resulted in the death of two persons and the serious injury of a third. Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) Sergeant Warren Schiffer (Sergeant Schiffer) investigated the accident and, in a report dated August 27, 1996, concluded that Booth was the principal cause of the accident based on his alcohol consumption prior thereto.
2 On September 24, 1996, MHP Officer Rick Schmauch (Officer Schmauch) cited Booth in the Ravalli County Justice Court for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) at the time of the July accident. Booth pleaded guilty to the DUI charge in Justice Court on December 11, 1996. Two days later, the State of Montana (State) sought leave of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Ravalli County, to file an information charging Booth with two counts of felony negligent homicide, one count of misdemeanor negligent vehicular assault and one count of misdemeanor DUI, all arising out of the July accident. Leave was granted and the information was filed. Booth appeared in the District Court thereafter and advised that he had pleaded guilty to the DUI offense in the Justice Court.
3 Booth subsequently moved the District Court to dismiss all of the charges contained in the information. He contended that the entire prosecution was barred based on his guilty plea to the DUI charge in the Justice Court. The State agreed that the DUI charge should be dismissed based on the Justice Court proceeding, but maintained that it was not barred from prosecuting the negligent homicide and negligent vehicular assault charges. The District Court ultimately concluded that prosecution of the misdemeanor DUI and negligent vehicular assault charges was barred and granted Booth's motion to dismiss those charges. It also concluded, however, that prosecution of the felony negligent homicide charges was not barred and denied Booth's motion to dismiss those charges.
4 Booth filed an application for a writ of supervisory control requesting this Court to assume original jurisdiction of this matter to correct what he contended was the District Court's error in denying his motion to dismiss the negligent homicide charges. In an order dated December 8, 1997, we ordered the State to respond to Booth's application and, on June 16, 1998, we heard oral argument.
Propriety of Supervisory Control
5 Article VII, Section 2 of the Montana Constitution gives this Court "original jurisdiction to issue, hear, and determine writs. . . ." Supervisory control is appropriate when a district court is proceeding under a mistake of law and in so doing is causing a gross injustice for which an appeal is not an adequate remedy. State v. Mont. Judicial Dist. Court (1997), 281 Mont. 285, 290-91, 933 P.2d 829, 832-33 (citations omitted). It remains an extraordinary remedy, however, to be exercised only in extraordinary circumstances. State v. Dist. Court of Fourth Jud. Dist. (1996), 277 Mont. 349, 352, 922 P.2d 474, 476 (citations omitted).
6 Here, the issue of whether Booth can be prosecuted for two counts of negligent homicide implicates double jeopardy considerations. If the District Court's conclusion that the prosecution is not barred proved — on appeal — to be incorrect, Booth would have been subjected to prosecution notwithstanding his entitlement to avoid the prosecution altogether. Under such a circumstance, it is clear that appeal would not be an adequate remedy. See Keating v. Sherlock (1996), 278 Mont. 218, 224-25, 924 P.2d 1297, 1300-01. As a result, we determine that Booth's applicat
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