Court Opinion

ID: 9877799
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-27 16:23:43.206666+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:46:50.164422
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE RICE,
concurring.
¶40 Citing to legal commentators can be helpful if our law is not *282sufficiently developed or we lack precedent necessary to guide our decision. However, caution must be employed, as commentators often speak generally and fail to incorporate the nuances of a particular state’s law. Regarding Rule 404(b), we have significant Montana jurisprudence that is clearly sufficient to decide this case, and the Court’s multiple citations to legal commentary are unnecessary. The opinion’s author relied heavily upon this commentary in her recent dissent in State v. Blaz, 2017 MT 164, 388 Mont. 105, 398 P.3d 247, which was decided without reliance on the commentary. My vote to affirm is based on the authority of Montana case law.