The Yellowstone County, Montana judge who sparked nationwide anger for sentencing a former high school teacher to just 31 days in prison for the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl has now decided that the sentence he himself decreed may be illegal.
That judge, G. Todd Baugh now wants a do-over, reports local CBS affiliate KRTV.
Baugh has scheduled a Friday hearing which could add some two years of prison time for the disgraced Billings Senior High School teacher, 54-year-old Stacey Rambold.
On Aug. 26, Baugh sentenced Rambold to a term of 15 years with all but 31 days suspended.
Baugh’s order for a new hearing declares that the prison sentence could have run afoul of mandatory minimum sentencing laws.
The judge’s order casts blame squarely on Rambold’s defense attorney for producing the sentencing memorandum on which he based the sentence, notes KRTV. The order also says state prosecutors failed to object to the sentence or tell Baugh about Montana’s mandatory minimum sentencing law.
Prosecutors have appealed the original sentence to Montana’s Supreme Court, notes Fox News. They argue that a trial judge doesn’t have the authority to change his mind over an already-decreed sentence. They now seek a cancellation of Baugh’s do-over so their higher-court appeal can proceed.
Rambold has admitted to having sex with then 14-year-old Cherice Morales in 2007 and 2008. Morales later killed herself a few weeks prior to her 17th birthday, around the time Rambold was criminally charged because of their illicit, illegal affair. (RELATED: Judge gives high school teacher 31-day sentence for statutory rape of 14-year-old girl)
Baugh was not moved by the girl’s plight, however. In his view, in fact, the 14-year-old felony rape victim was “as much in control of the situation” as the teacher was.
“I think that people have in mind that this was some violent, forcible, horrible rape,” the judge said. “It was horrible enough as it is, just given her age, but it wasn’t this forcible beat-up rape.”
After the verdict, the deceased girl’s mother, Auliea Hanlon, left the courtroom angrily after yelling, “You people suck!”
Rambold’s brief jail stay was only imposed after he violated requirements imposed on him because of his sex offender status. (Baugh characterized those violations as minor.)
Protesters have rallied outside the county courthouse since the sentence and Baugh’s injudicious comments, calling for the 71-year-old judge’s resignation.
As Fox News notes, Baugh was first elected as a judge in 1984. Since then, he has run unopposed in six year intervals. The next opportunity for voters to throw him out comes in 2014.
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