Tipton v. Montana Thirteenth Judicial District Court: Determining the Retroactive Applicability of Montana’s DNA Statute to Offenses Time-Barred Prior to the DNA Statute’s 2007 Enactment

Authors

Haley Ford, Alexander Blewett III School of Law

Abstract

This is a case of first impression in Montana. At issue is whether the Montana Legislature’s 2007 amendment to section 45–1–205(9) of the Montana Code Annotated, permitting prosecution within one year following conclusive identification by DNA for specific sexual crimes, can be applied retroactively as to Petitioner Ronald Tipton (“Tipton”) when the applicable statute of limitations ran prior to the amendment’s enactment. Tipton argues in effect that since the applicable statute of limitations ran in 2001, his subsequent prosecution based on the 2007 amendment to § 45–1–205(9) is prohibited because, since the statute of limitations in his case had previously run, he has a vested right to be free from prosecution based on the ex post facto clauses in the U.S. and Montana Constitutions.

Recommended Citation

Haley Ford, Oral Argument Preview, Tipton v. Montana Thirteenth Judicial District Court: Determining the Retroactive Applicability of Montana’s DNA Statute to Offenses Time-Barred Prior to the DNA Statute’s 2007 Enactment, 79 Mont. L. Rev. Online 22, https://scholarship.law.umt.edu/mlr_online/vol79/iss1/4.