State v. Carnes, 346 P.3d 1120

On July 18, 2011, deputies Vranish and Johnston (in uniform, on foot, without emergency lights) approached Kristoffer Carnes at a residence after a domestic disturbance call; Carnes got into a running truck and failed to comply with commands.
Deputy Johnston pepper-sprayed Carnes, reached into the cab, and had his hand on the wheel when Carnes accelerated, collided with a tree, and then reversed; deputies removed keys and arrested Carnes.
Carnes was charged with two counts of assault on a peace officer under § 45-5-210(1)(b), alleging he purposely or knowingly caused reasonable apprehension of serious bodily injury by use of a weapon.
At trial Carnes argued he did not know the deputies were peace officers (central to his defense); he represented himself with stand-by counsel and was convicted on both counts.
The jury asked during deliberations whether it had to find Carnes knew the victims were officers; the court referred them to the instruction, which failed to state that the mental state (purposely/knowingly) applied to the peace-officer element.
The Montana Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding the instruction misstated the law by not requiring the State to prove Carnes acted purposely or knowingly as to every element, including that the victims were peace officers.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the jury should have been instructed that the State must prove the defendant acted purposely or knowingly as to every element of the offense, including that the victim was a peace officer	The State contended the given instruction mirrored the statute and MCJI language and did not relieve the State of its burden; Carnes failed to preserve a more specific objection	Carnes argued the instruction allowed conviction without proof he knew the victims were officers; jury question showed confusion and his lack-of-knowledge defense was central	The Court held the instruction misstated the law by not requiring the mental state as to the peace-officer element, prejudicing Carnes; conviction reversed and case remanded.

In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358 (Due process requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime)
State v. Andress, 299 P.3d 316 (Mont. 2013) (jury must be instructed on proper mental state element based on charged offense)
Peterson v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 239 P.3d 904 (Mont. 2010) (standard for reviewing jury instructions: instructions must fully and fairly instruct on applicable law)
State v. Norman, 244 P.3d 737 (Mont. 2010) (plain error review requirements for unpreserved issues)