Montana Code 46-18-303. Aggravating circumstances
46-18-303. Aggravating circumstances. Aggravating circumstances are any of the following:
Terms Used In Montana Code 46-18-303
- Offense: means a violation of any penal statute of this state or any ordinance of its political subdivisions. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Peace officer: means any person who by virtue of the person's office or public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests for offenses while acting within the scope of the person's authority. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Persistent felony offender: means an offender who has previously been convicted of two separate felonies and who is presently being sentenced for a third felony committed on a different occasion than either of the first two felonies, except for an offender who was on conditional release, felony probation, or felony parole at the time the felony for which the offender is presently being sentenced was committed. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(1)(a) The offense was deliberate homicide and was committed:
(i)by an offender while in official detention, as defined in 45-2-101;
(ii)by an offender who had been previously convicted of another deliberate homicide;
(iii)by means of torture;
(iv)by an offender lying in wait or ambush;
(v)as a part of a scheme or operation that, if completed, would result in the death of more than one person; or
(vi)by an offender during the course of committing sexual assault, sexual intercourse without consent, deviate sexual conduct, or incest, and the victim was less than 18 years of age.
(b)The offense was deliberate homicide, as defined in 45-5-102(1)(a), and the victim was a peace officer killed while performing the officer’s duty.
(2)The offense was aggravated kidnapping that resulted in the death of the victim or the death by direct action of the offender of a person who rescued or attempted to rescue the victim.
(3)The offense was attempted deliberate homicide, aggravated assault, or aggravated kidnapping committed while in official detention, as defined in 45-2-101, by an offender who has been previously:
(a)convicted of the offense of deliberate homicide; or
(b)found to be a persistent felony offender pursuant to part 5 of this chapter, and one of the convictions was for an offense against the person in violation of Title 45, chapter 5, for which the minimum prison term is not less than 2 years.
(4)The offense was sexual intercourse without consent, the offender has a previous conviction of sexual intercourse without consent in this state or of an offense under the laws of another state or of the United States that if committed in this state would be the offense of sexual intercourse without consent, and the offender inflicted serious bodily injury upon a person in the course of committing each offense.