Montana Supreme Court reverses police seizure of Hummer

HELENA (AP) – The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that Missoula police were wrong to seize a Hummer titled to the mother of a murderer.

Led by Chief Justice Mike McGrath, the court said Tuesday that the Missoula Police Department unlawfully decided a car title does not imply ownership of a vehicle or the right to argue ownership in court.

Police officials had relied in part on that reasoning in 2013 to seize a Hummer titled to both Bobby Bilderback and his mother, Marie Felton.

“They said she wasn’t entitled to it, but she’s on the title, for crying out loud,” said Craig Shannon, a Missoula attorney for the mother and son.

The Hummer was seized in Missoula in relation to the March 2013 overdose death of a Washington state teen who bought methamphetamine from then-44-year-old Bilderback. Police found more than $36,000 in cash and a plastic bag containing meth residue stashed in the car.

“Mr. Bilderback put his mother’s name on his drug car just to avoid forfeiture,” said Missoula Deputy County Attorney James McCubbin.

Felton told police in a recorded interview that she knew her son had purchased the vehicle, but she didn’t contribute to the cost and wasn’t sure why he put her on the title.

“His health was not good and he wanted his mother to have his property if he passed,” Shannon said. “He told me that.”

The Supreme Court said police should have notified Felton of a May 2014 forfeiture hearing because Montana law clearly states that multiple people listed on a certificate of title have joint ownership. Largely because she was not invited to and did not attend the hearing, police never had to prove Felton was linked to her son’s crimes in order to keep the car.

Bilderback was sentenced in September 2013 to five years at the Washington State Penitentiary for controlled substance homicide. Previously, he served 23 years for a first-degree murder he committed at age 17.

Felton said she was unaware that her son was operating a meth business out of the vehicle. She will receive the Hummer after the district court, as ordered, reverses the forfeiture.