State v. Clark

¶1 Defendant Ronald Clark appeals the District Court’s dismissal of his appeal from justice court for failure to personally appear. We reverse and remand for a trial de novo on the merits.

¶2 We restate the issue as follows:

¶3 Does § 46-17-311(5), MCA, permit a district court to dismiss an appeal for failure to appear if the defendant’s counsel is present and ready to proceed on a misdemeanor charge?

BACKGROUND

¶4 On January 27, 2004, Clark was charged with the offense of issuing a bad check in violation of § 45-6-316(1), MCA. A jury trial was held in the Justice Court of Gallatin County on…