Montana Attorney-General Spikes Investigation, Cites "Discretion"
Item: Letter From Marc Racicot to Mike Perry
Date: July 6, 1989

Editor's Note: I'll readily admit I'm no rocket scientist, but I've seen enough network television to know that Columbo would ask if this same kind of prosecutorial discretion was used by the Attorney General when Police Chief Bernie Brost was prosecuted after he began to observe the drugs flights into Chinook airport? Could it be possible that a Blaine County Sherrif's Deputy was reportedly seen in a plane at the Havre airport with marijuana seeds and straw in the plane's luggage compartment during this same period of time?

                        ATTORNEY GENERAL



                        STATE OF MONTANA











Marc Racicot                                     Justice Building



Attorney General                            Helena, Montana 59620















July 6, 1989











Mike Perry



P.O. Box 97



Chinook MT 59523







Dear Mike:







Following receipt of your letter of June 15, 1989, 1 reviewed the



file materials concerning your earlier correspondence with



Attorney General Mike Greely. I had also reviewed the matter



briefly last Fall and was generally familiar with the situation.







After reviewing the file again, I do not believe the conclusions



made by Attorney General Greely were inappropriate. As Mr.



Greely pointed out in his letter of November 21, 1988, a



prosecutor is allowed a wide range of discretion in assessing the



propriety of filing a criminal complaint. While the Attorney



General has supervisory authority over county attorneys by



statute, such authority may only be exercised when the actions of



a county attorney constitute a manifest abuse of discretion. I



believe that Mr. Ranstrom's decisions with respect to this matter



were within appropriate limits of discretion.







I am also familiar with the situation in Powder River County



mentioned in your letter. While I am not free to discuss the



facts of that case, I can assure you that it presents a different



factual situation from that experienced in Blaine County.



However, the information you have provided relative to the



sheriff's trip to Kalispell was not addressed in the earlier



correspondence and I am therefore forwarding a copy of your



letter to Mr. Ranstrom with the request that he review that



allegation.



Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.







Sincerely,











MARC RACICOT



Attorney General







cc: Don Ranstrom







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