Pretrial Decisions—Defenses

In State v. Awbery, the Montana Supreme Court reviewed a pretrial decision of the trial court that a defendant was excluded from presenting certain evidence in his defense pursuant to Montana's Rape Shield Law.  2016 MT 48, ¶¶ 12–15, ___ Mont. ___, ___ P.3d ___.  We reviewed the trial court's ruling "on the admission of evidence to determine whether there was an abuse of discretion." Awbery, ¶ 10.  We reviewed the trial court's "application of [the] statute to determine whether it was correct."  Awbery, ¶ 10.

When a defendant argues that a trial court erred in limiting an instruction on a defense, we review the instruction for abuse of discretion. State v. Redlich, 2014 MT 55, ¶¶ 26–27.