State v. MacGregor, 372 Mont. 142

MacGregor was charged in Lewis and Clark County with two counts of attempted deliberate homicide for a 2010 shooting of his wife and live-in nanny.
He waived counsel and proceeded pro se with standby counsel after brief public defense representation.
District Court denied his speedy-trial dismissal motion.
Juror Wearley concealed domestic-violence experience; court held no prejudice after inquiry.
Evidence of a prior assault on his wife was admitted to rebut MacGregor’s nonviolence claim.
Court instructed on attempted deliberate homicide and attempted mitigated deliberate homicide; verdict guilty on both counts.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Did the district court correctly deny a new trial for juror misconduct?	MacGregor alleges juror Wearley was biased due to nondisclosure.	Wearley’s nondisclosure was unintentional and not bias-based.	No abuse of discretion; Wearley impartial and misconduct not prejudice.
Was there adequate inquiry into ineffective assistance of counsel and self-representation voluntariness?	Counsel failed to provide effective representation; waiver not knowingly made.	Standby counsel not Sixth Amendment substitute; waiver was knowing and voluntary.	District court inquiry was adequate; waiver knowingly made.
Did the speedy-trial claim violate MacGregor’s rights under Ariegwe?	Delay violated right to speedy trial.		No speedy-trial violation after balancing four factors; delay attributable to MacGregor and institutional delays; no prejudice shown.
Should the district court have admitted or barred evidence of the prior assault of his wife?	Evidence should rebut MacGregor’s nonviolence claim.	Evidentiary rule allowed rebuttal of character evidence.	Properly admitted to rebut character evidence.
Was there plain error in the instruction on mitigated deliberate homicide?	Instruction incorrectly described mitigated deliberate homicide.	Mitigated instruction misstatement constitutes plain error.	No plain-error; instruction did not cause miscarriage of justice.

State v. Rennaker, 335 Mont. 274, 150 P.3d 960 (2007 MT 10) (misconduct requires bias evidence; unpublished disclosures insufficient)
State v. Hendricks, 555 P.2d 743 (1976 Mont.) (for-cause challenges and partiality standards)
Stebner v. Associated Materials, Inc., 356 Mont. 520, 234 P.3d 94 (2010 MT 138) (extraneous information prejudice evaluation; deference to trial court)
State v. White, 343 Mont. 66, 184 P.3d 1008 (2008 MT 129) (prejudice assessment when extraneous statements occur)
State v. Goulet, 283 Mont. 38, 938 P.2d 1330 (1997 MT 45) (mitigation limitations for intoxication/anger)