Supreme Court overturns arsonist's sentence

The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a Flathead District judge’s decision to go beyond a plea agreement and impose a harsher sentence for a man who set his ex-girlfriend’s Whitefish home on fire in October 2013.

The court reversed and remanded the arson conviction of James Wallace Langley, 35, to Flathead District Court.

“We reverse the District Court’s judgment and remand with instructions to conduct another sentencing hearing,” Justice Beth Baker wrote. “If the court accepts the plea agreement at that time, the court shall sentence Langley in accordance with the plea agreement. If the court rejects the plea agreement again, it must issue the full statutory advisement and give Langley the opportunity to withdraw his plea and proceed to trial.”

Langley had reached a deal with prosecutors in March 2015 in which he pleaded no contest to arson. DNA evidence connected Langley to the crime.

As part of the agreement, prosecutors recommended a deferred sentence. The plea agreement was not binding on District Judge Robert Allison and the judge rejected the recommended sentence.

“I don’t know what sort of a sentence would be handed down by a court in this jurisdiction for committing a deliberate act calculated to injure or kill members of the community, but it wouldn’t be a six-year deferred,” Allison said at Langley’s first sentencing hearing in March 2015.

Langley then tried unsuccessfully to withdraw his no-contest plea.

“Langley’s sentence of imprisonment is illegal because it was imposed in violation of [Montana Code],” defense attorney Colin Stephens wrote. “Had the court accepted the plea agreement, Langley would be serving a deferred sentence. Had the court complied with the mandate of [Montana Code], Langley would have withdrawn his no contest plea. Because the court neither imposed the agreed-upon sentence nor afforded Langley with the opportunity to withdraw his plea, Langley respectfully request this Court vacate his sentence.”

Prosecutors disagreed, although they admitted that Langley’s plea agreement had some ambiguity in it. The prosecution pointed out that Langley’s attorney drafted the document. Prosecutors also pointed out that Allison specifically asked when Langley entered his plea if he understood that the court was not bound by the plea agreement, and that Langley answered that he did understand and wanted to proceed any way.

“Neither Langley nor his counsel made any objection regarding the plea agreement terms nor mentioned the intent of the parties,” Assistant Attorney General C. Mark Fowler wrote in a reply to Langley’s appeal.

Langley was released from the Montana Department of Corrections on Wednesday, according to state online records.

Langley is a former coach for the Glacier Twins baseball team and was a recreation manager for the city of Whitefish.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.