In determining whether to impose a sentence of death or imprisonment, the court shall take into account the aggravating and mitigating circumstances enumerated in 46-18-303 and 46-18-304 and shall impose a sentence of death if the trier of fact found beyond a reasonable doubt, or the defendant pleaded guilty to the offense and admitted to, one or more aggravating circumstances and the court finds that there are no mitigating circumstances sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. If the court does not impose a sentence of death and one of the aggravating circumstances listed in 46-18-303 exists, the court may impose a sentence of imprisonment for life or for any term authorized by the statute defining the offense.
Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-305
Effect of aggravating and mitigating circumstances
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Smith v. McCormick (1990)
Most recently applied in State v. Murdaugh (September 2004)
En. 95-2206.10 by Sec. 5, Ch. 338, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 95-2206.10; amd
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Montana Code Annotated (Montana Legislature). Reproduced from public-domain Montana statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.