Montana County Attorneys Association |
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"Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere."
-Martin Luther King Jr |
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Agenda, Registration Form, and Hotel Information |
County's chief criminal prosecutor set to retire
Six years into what he intended to be a three-year job, Yellowstone County’s chief criminal prosecutor will retire at the end of this month.
Mark Murphy, 58, will end a legal career spanning more than three decades, most of that time spent prosecuting some of the state’s most dangerous criminals.
Recently, Murphy played a key behind-the-scenes role in the successful prosecution of Richard Covington, who was convicted of 15 felony crimes related to the murders of three Billings residents. Murphy worked for months with the trial prosecutors, Rod Souza and Scott Twito, in preparing to present the case to a jury.
Murphy’s work has earned him high praise from many in the courthouse.
District Judge Gregory Todd said Murphy stands out as an “incredible resource” and “tremendous mentor” to the young prosecutors who work with him.
“He is everything that a prosecutor should be,” Todd said. “He is tough but realistic.”
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Study: Alcohol tax could lower traffic deaths in state
Higher taxes on beer, wine and hard liquor could lower Montana’s high rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths, a new study indicates.
“Not surprisingly, traffic fatalities are linked to both alcohol prices and alcohol consumption, and these relationships have been extensively studied,” Montana State University economist Doug Young found in his recently published study.
“The weight of the evidence is that higher alcohol prices reduce consumption and fatalities.”
Montana, of course, has little control over alcohol pricing, but it does have some because tax rates do affect prices. “A doubling of the state tax on beer would be expected to reduce consumption by 0.5 (percent) to 1.5 percent,” Young wrote. “A doubling of wine and spirits taxes would be expected to reduce consumption of these beverages by 5 (percent) and 9 (percent) to 10 percent, respectively.”
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