A Helena man serving a 100-year sentence is getting a new trial after the Montana Supreme Court ruled the lower district court erred when handling witness testimony in his 2023 attempted homicide trial.

Jory Jerae Songer, who was 22 at the time he was charged in August 2022, was convicted of two felony counts of attempted deliberate homicide and assault with a weapon.

According to the Montana Supreme Court opinion published Sept. 2, three issues were cited on an appeal filed by defense attorney Nicholas K. Brooke.

Did the district court err by allowing a witness to testify via video without a demonstration of the witness's unavailability?

Did the district court err by denying the motion to suppress evidence discovered in the backpack because the original stop was not supported by parti

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