State v. Russell, 383 P.3d 198

Georgie Russell, appearing intoxicated, was stopped by a Rocky Boy tribal officer after reports of erratic driving; she refused an instruction to turn off her engine, swore, and sped away.
Officer Bernard and additional officers pursued Russell with lights and sirens; she reached ~100 mph, weaved across the center line, and forced oncoming vehicles to take evasive action.
Russell drove off-road, over a raised railroad track, and continued on a flat tire until it was worn to the rim; she used brakes and turn signals during the pursuit.
Officers arrested Russell after she stopped; she displayed slurred speech, unsteady balance, and failed field sobriety testing.
The State charged Russell with fleeing/eluding, DUI, and criminal endangerment. At trial, Russell requested a negligent endangerment jury instruction (lesser included of criminal endangerment); the court refused.
The jury convicted on all counts; Russell appealed arguing the court erred by denying the negligent-endangerment instruction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether negligent endangerment is a proper lesser-included instruction to criminal endangerment	State: Evidence shows Russell acted knowingly; no reasonable jury could find only negligence.	Russell: Evidence could support a finding she acted negligently rather than knowingly.	Court affirmed: district court did not abuse discretion; evidence showed Russell acted knowingly.

State v. Shegrud, 374 Mont. 192, 320 P.3d 455 (Mont. 2014) (establishes when negligent endangerment may be a lesser included offense of criminal endangerment)
State v. Martinosky, 294 Mont. 427, 982 P.2d 440 (Mont. 1999) (refusal of negligent-endangerment instruction upheld where defendant’s statements and conduct showed awareness of risk)
State v. Stewart, 382 Mont. 57, 363 P.3d 1140 (Mont. 2016) (standard of review for instructional refusals; abuse of discretion test)