Minnesota Court of Appeals, 1985

State v. Montgomery

Minnesota Court of Appeals · Decided March 12, 1985 · Popovich, Sedgwick, Waived, Wozniak

363 N.W.2d 869; 1985 Minn. App. LEXIS 3958 (North Western Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., Thomas L. Johnson, Hennepin County Atty., Beverly J. Wolfe, Asst. County Atty., Minneapolis, for respondent., C. Paul Jones, State Public Defender, Mark F. Anderson, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Can I rely on this case?

Citation treatment has not been reviewed for this case. The notes below come from the citation graph and the Minnesota Revisor's amendment records, not from a review of how later courts treated this decision.

(as of 9/30/2026)

Last cited by a Minnesota appellate court in 2016, among the opinions in this site’s citation index.

Cites Minnesota statutes amended since this decision

Minn. Stat. § 609.19 — amended 1992

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Minnesota statutes cited

Sections of the Minnesota Statutes this opinion cites.

Minn. Stat. § 609.19

Cases that cite this one

2 later published cases cite this decision.

State of Minnesota v. Dimitri Devonte Harrell (Minn. Ct. App. 2016)
State v. McKissic (Minn. Ct. App. 1987)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

SUMMARY OPINION

SEDGWICK, Judge.

FACTS

Appellant pleaded guilty to second degree felony murder, Minn.Stat. § 609.19(2) (1982), for stabbing Edward Murray to death on April 22, 1984. Appellant was sentenced to 102 months in prison, the low end of the presumptive sentence under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines for second degree felony murder (102-108) based on a severity level IX offense and criminal history score of 0. On appeal he maintains the trial court erred in not granting his request for a downward durational departure.

DECISION

In State v. Kindem, 313 N.W.2d 6, 7 (Minn. 1981), the Minnesota Supreme Court stated:

[W]e do not intend entirely to close the door on appeals from refusals to depart. However, we believe that it would be a rare case which would warrant reversal of the refusal to depart. As we stated in State v. Garcia, 302 N.W.2d 643, 647 (Minn. 1981), the Guidelines state that when substantial and compelling circumstances are present, the judge “may” depart. This means that the trial court has broad discretion and that we generally will not interfere with the exercise of that discretion.

Appellant contends he was not the aggressor, he had an actual belief his life was ⅛ danger, the fatal wound was caused by an accident, the underlying felony of assault in the second degree is a less serious crime than other crimes that can constitute the underlying felony, and that the victim’s two sisters supported a downward departure. Appellant was given the shortest possible presumptive sentence and the trial court did not err in refusing to dePart downward,

Affirmed.

Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.