Opinion ID: 2651583
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tower’s Holding is Correct as a Matter of Law.

Text: ¶8 We decline to revisit Tower’s holding that accountability is not a separate charge requiring express notice from the prosecution. The Sixth Amendment requires that the State inform a criminal defendant of the nature and cause of the accusation against her. U.S. Const. amend. VI. To this end, Montana law requires that charging documents give “a plain, concise, and definite statement of the offense charged, including the name of the offense, whether the offense is a misdemeanor or felony, the name of the person charged, and the time and place of the offense as definitely as can be determined.” Section 46-11401(1), MCA. ¶9 We have consistently reaffirmed our holding in Tower that accountability is not a separate or different offense from the one charged, but rather, is “merely a conduit by which to find a person criminally liable for the acts of another.” State v. Maetche, 2008 MT 184, ¶ 16, 343 Mont. 464, 185 P.3d 980; State v. Abe, 1998 MT 206, ¶ 31, 290 Mont. 393, 965 P.2d 882; State v. Tower, 267 Mont. 63, 68, 881 P.2d 1317, 1320 (1994); In re B.D.C., 211 4 Mont. 216, 220-21, 687 P.2d 655, 657 (1984). In Tower, we held that this established legal principle allows defendants to predict that the State may pursue an accountability theory for a crime charged. Tower, 267 Mont. at 68, 881 P.2d at 1320. This desire for stability and predictability is the same interest fulfilled in adhering to stare decisis. State v. Kirkbride, 2008 MT 178, ¶ 13, 343 Mont. 409, 185 P.3d 340; State v. Gatts, 279 Mont. 42, 51, 928 P.2d 114, 119 (1996). In reaffirming Tower’s holding, we provide further stability and predictability to an already well-established principle of Montana law.