State v. M. Root, 2017 MT 242N

On July 27, 2012, Michael Root stabbed Lawrence Lee during a ride in Butte; Root and a juvenile fled the scene.
A jury convicted Root of attempted deliberate homicide and found he used a dangerous weapon (Feb. 14, 2013).
Root was sentenced to 40 years for the offense plus a consecutive 10 years for the weapon enhancement (Aug. 15, 2013); this Court affirmed the conviction on direct appeal (State v. Root, 2015).
Over three years after sentencing and nine months after his direct-appeal decision, Root moved to compel the State to produce criminal histories of three prosecution witnesses and one defense witness, records from corrections/probation/parole, and any county records of deals or inducements.
The District Court denied Root’s motion to compel pre-petition discovery; Root appealed, arguing he needed the records to prepare a petition for post-conviction relief.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court abused its discretion by denying Root’s motion to compel criminal-history and related records before filing a petition for post-conviction relief	Root: he needs witness criminal-history and related records to prepare a post-conviction petition and thus is entitled to compel production	State: Montana law provides no authority for pre-petition discovery; Root’s request was untimely (years after sentencing and after appeal)	Court: No abuse of discretion — Montana law does not permit pre-petition discovery and Root’s discovery period was long overdue; denial affirmed

State v. Root, 359 P.3d 1088 (Mont. 2015) (affirming Root’s conviction and sentence)
State v. Ferre, 322 P.3d 1047 (Mont. 2014) (standard for reviewing district court’s post-trial discretionary rulings)
State v. Griffin, 172 P.3d 1223 (Mont. 2007) (same)
State v. Sheehan, 124 P.3d 1119 (Mont. 2005) (same)