City of Missoula v. Girard, 303 P.3d 1283

John Steven Girard was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct; Municipal Court set pretrial and jury dates and warned that failure to appear could waive a jury trial.
Girard attended some hearings but missed the March 14, 2012 final pretrial; his attorney attended and told the court Girard’s absence was likely due to developmental disabilities.
The Municipal Court deemed Girard’s absence a waiver of his jury right, reset a nonjury trial for April 16, and invited counsel to present evidence of disability for reconsideration.
Girard filed a motion to reconsider with an affidavit from a mental-health nurse and medical records showing traumatic brain injury, cognitive/memory issues, seizure disorder, and treatment/medication.
The Municipal Court denied reconsideration, tried Girard without a jury, and convicted him; the District Court affirmed. Girard appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court reversed, holding the court abused its discretion by treating nonappearance as an automatic waiver without adequately considering Girard’s demonstrated disabilities and counsel’s representations.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Girard)	Defendant's Argument (City)	Held
Whether nonappearance at a mandatory pretrial can operate as waiver of jury right	Waiver is not automatic; where disability or other circumstances inhibit appearance, nonappearance does not effect waiver	Cox and Trier support deeming nonappearance at mandatory pretrial a waiver	Court held waiver is not automatic; courts must consider circumstances that prevented compliance before deeming a jury right waived

City of Missoula v. Cox, 196 P.3d 452 (Mont. 2008) (held that failure to appear may result in waiver of jury but did not establish an inflexible automatic-waiver rule)
State v. Trier, 277 P.3d 1230 (Mont. 2012) (affirmed waiver where defendant and counsel repeatedly failed to appear despite multiple orders and warnings; facts distinguished from disability-related nonappearance)