High court overturns Kalispell man's sex-assault conviction

The Montana Supreme Court last week overturned on procedural grounds a Kalispell man's conviction for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

The court ruled that the jury was improperly selected.

The state's highest court determined Wednesday that 42-year-old Darwin Keith Berosik was entitled to be present when the process of picking certain jurors was moved to private chambers.

Attorneys' selection of a jury member can take place outside the courtroom if sensitive questions must be asked of a potential juror.

Defense attorney Lane K. Bennett, who filed the appeal, argued that Berosik did not attend or waive his right to attend private jury selection - a violation of his right to be present at all critical stages of his trial.

Before he is returned in the coming weeks to Flathead County for a status hearing in District Court, prosecutors must decide whether or not to retry Berosik, according to Deputy Flathead County Attorney Lori A. Adams.

Berosik, who currently is incarcerated at Montana State Prison, was convicted on two counts of felony sex crimes during a four-day trial in March 2007. He was sentenced later that year to 30 years in prison with 20 years suspended.

Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart E. Stadler also ordered Berosik to complete anger management, chemical dependency and sex-offender treatment programs before becoming eligible for parole.

Berosik, who called the trial a "dog and pony show" during his sentencing hearing, has pointed to a lack of physical evidence in the case.

Despite overturning Berosik's conviction, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the District Court's decision to have a child abuse expert testify about what constitutes a child molester "grooming" his victims, to admit prior bad acts committed by Berosik to support the state's "grooming" theory, and to allow evidence collected and turned over to investigators by Berosik's wife.

Should prosecutors decide to retry Berosik, it will be his third trial on the sexual assault allegations. A jury in Berosik's first trial, which spanned five days in 2006, returned without a verdict on three separate felony sex crimes.

County prosecutors decided before the second trial to sever the third charge - which involved a third girl - after the jury deadlocked in Berosik's original trial.

Prosecutors allege the two victims Berosik was convicted of molesting were 14 and 15 years old when he forced them to perform sex acts on him in March 2005.

However, Berosik had spent years prior to the sexual assaults "grooming" the girls for abuse by showing them pornography, promoting prostitution, and fondling them, court documents show.

Berosik - who worked as a trucker - would often bring the girls along on his routes to "discuss puberty, make comments about [their] bodies, and tell them they were beautiful," according to the Montana Supreme Court's opinion.

Berosik also is accused of buying the girls sex toys and demanding sexual favors in return for keeping secrets, avoiding punishment, or paying off debts.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com