We’re not sure if it’s the pleas for him to resign or if he’s being sincere, but the judge who sentenced a Montana rapist to 30 days is now saying the sentence may be illegal.
Yellowstone County District Court Judge G. Todd Baugh has ordered a new hearing for former Billings teacher and convicted rapist Stacey Dean Rambold.
According to the Billings Gazette:
In an order filed Tuesday, Baugh set a hearing for Friday at 1:30 p.m. to determine whether the sentence he imposed last week on Stacey Dean Rambold should be revised.
Baugh said in the order that the mandatory minimum sentence Rambold should have received appears to be two years, not the 30-day sentence that Baugh ordered on Aug. 26.
“In this court’s opinion, imposing a sentence which suspends more than the mandatory minimum would be an illegal sentence,” Baugh said in the order.
The judge said he imposed the 30-day prison sentence based on a memorandum submitted by the defense, and prosecutors “did not object or otherwise inform the Court on the issue of the applicable mandatory minimum.”
If you recall, Rambold admitted to raping a suicidal 14-year-old student and originally received a 15-year sentence before all but 31 days were suspended. Judge Baugh received backlash over the short sentence and for his comment that the victim, Cherice Moralez, was “as much in control of the situation” as Rambold.
He also said that the girl was “older than her chronological age,” which he later apologized for.
Rambold is expected at the new hearing on Friday. Maybe this time justice will be served.
SOURCE: Billings Gazette
