Legal challenges could put Beach back in prison

The first in a series of legal actions begin next month in which supporters of Barry Beach fear he could be returned to prison for probation violations. Others say the man who was freed after more than 30 years of incarceration has made bad choices since his 2015 release.

Beach was arrested in November for an alleged probation violation stemming from a temporary order of protection filed against him by the mother of his son.

The city claims Beach violated the order of protection when he came within 300 feet of the woman and say a GPS worn by Beach backs up its case.

However, supporters say a deposition about the GPS raises questions about Beach’s location during the incident and continue to believe in his innocence.

The city of Billings filed a complaint Nov. 14 claiming Beach violated the order, which is a misdemeanor. On Dec. 8, the state filed a petition to revoke his suspended sentence and return him to prison.

His Municipal Court hearing in Billings is March 14. His revocation hearing with the state was set for Feb. 21 in Wolf Point. However, state officials said they will wait until the Municipal Court hearing is held before moving forward.

But the municipal trial might hold little sway, said Beach’s attorney, Jack Sands, adding the state can follow through with its lawsuit even if Beach is cleared of the charges by the city.

Sands hopes he can raise questions about his client’s exact location through a Dec. 9 deposition in which an employee with the company monitoring Beach cannot pinpoint an exact location as to where Beach was.

The deposition also reveals a 6 1/2-minute gap in GPS data points in which officials said they were unable to determine how Beach got from one point in the route to another.

The woman alleges that on Nov. 6, Beach followed her as she drove on North 24th Street West. However, there is some discussion in the deposition as to whether he was on 24th or in a Hardee’s parking lot.

“At, the parking lot on Hardee’s,” Eric Braun of Alternatives Inc., which provides community-based correction programs and did the GPS monitoring of Beach, says in the deposition. “That’s the only data point we have on 24th.”

However, there is the 6 1/2-minute gap and it is not known if Beach pulled up next to the family’s car on 24th before turning on to Monad Road. Some questions are raised as to what direction he was going.

Sands remains optimistic Beach will win.

“I looked at the case, and it looked to be a defensible case,” he said. “I am not sure what the state is saying on this.”

Sands said now it is being suggested that even if Beach is acquitted, the district court could make an independent decision.

“It’s almost like we have every law enforcement and judicial agency involved in what seems to be a fairly simple misdemeanor case,” Sands said.

Officials with the Department of Justice declined comment. Attempts to get comment from the Billings city attorney were unsuccessful.

Sands said a Dec. 9 interview of Braun does not support the state’s claims.

He also said the state seems determined to put Beach back in prison, regardless of how the municipal court rules.

“There is a new wrinkle with the intervention of attorney general’s office proposing a probation violation,” Sands said.

Court documents show state officials do believe Beach should be returned to prison if he did violate the conditions of his probation.

Beach’s release from Montana State Prison for the 1979 death of Kim Nees of Poplar occurred in November 2015 after he had served more than 30 years of a 100-year sentence.

It came after years of public pressure that included stories about Beach on NBC’s “Dateline,” intervention by justice organizations, citizens groups and past and present public officials weighing in.

The Montana Legislature in 2015 passed bills that granted the governor the power to grant clemency, which is what Gov. Steve Bullock did, and Beach was released shortly before Thanksgiving in 2015.

About two months later, Beach was accused of allegedly sexually propositioning a 12-year-old girl he found walking down a Billings street at night. The girl’s mother complained. No charges were filed.

However, more Department of Corrections sanctions were then placed upon Beach, including the wearing of the GPS monitor.

Other sanctions imposed between Bureau Chief Jennie Hansen and Beach included a mental health evaluation, restricted travel for 90 days that was to end Jan. 15 and a curfew and approval of visitors that was to end Jan. 3.

The woman who sought the temporary order of protection claimed he started stalking her after a brief relationship ended more than four years ago in which she had a child with Beach. The boy is now 3. She claimed he declined to have any relationship with the boy, citing a high profile.

Beach denied wrongdoing and told the Tribune in November “This isn’t a stalking situation. The mother filed a (temporary restraining order) to keep me from seeing my son. I am simply trying to do what is right as a father and figure out how to move forward with the best interest of my son at heart.”

On Dec. 12, a state judge dismissed the order after the woman failed to show up for the hearing.

Beach’s problems compounded Dec. 8 when the state filed a petition with the Roosevelt County District Court to revoke his suspended sentence and send him back to prison.

It noted Beach was released from Montana State Prison through a clemency order by the governor on Nov. 20. Less than two months later he was under investigation by the Billings Police Department and the Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office after the allegations involving the 12-year-old girl occurred.

The state notes no charges were filed in that case, “However, the current violation, coupled with the incident from earlier this year, shows a pattern of poor decision making by the offender,” parole office Katie Weston writes in a Nov. 14 report. “It is particularly concerning that the defendant has again exercised very poor judgment by ignoring and violating a court’s restraining order and committing a new crime, while wearing a GPS monitor which he agreed to wear as a result of a prior (Department of Corrections) sanction.”

Weston stated Beach has been compliant on other areas of his supervision, but she later writes: “It is respectfully recommended that if probable cause is found that the defendant violated the condition of his probation, that his suspected sentence be revoked and he be placed at the Montana State Prison for a term to be determined by the court, not to exceed 10 years.”

Beach’s latest legal tribulations has at least one of his supporters vowing to rekindle a group that got his release.

Bob Kolar said the group Montanans for Justice is probably one of the reasons people know the name Barry Beach.

“We’ve be in the thick of this for a long time,” he said.

Kolar said Beach has been unable to get his side of the story out because of a gag order.

“The court hearing was dismissed,” he said. “I do not know why probation is going after him when there is nothing there.”