State v. Collins

Defendant William John Collins was charged in the District Court, Cascade County, with the offense of deliberate homicide. Upon his plea of not guilty, after trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of mitigated deliberate homicide. Judgment of conviction was entered, and defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of forty years. From judgment and denial of a new trial, defendant appeals.

Without question, on April 23, 1973, defendant shot Darrell David Gardipee, who died as a result. The shooting occurred on Wire Mill Road, north of Great Falls. The only witnesses to the event…