州政府撤销对 Crites 案件中莱昂·福特的杀人指控

在海伦娜经过一场激烈的审判后，莱昂·福特对约翰·“迈克”·克里特斯的谋杀指控已被撤销。去年六月，陪审团未能做出裁决，针对福特的案件已被驳回。刘易斯和克拉克县检察官凯文·唐斯 (Kevin Downs) 宣布，州政府不会重审此案，理由是对证据进行了彻底审查。

HELENA — Last June, after a three-week trial in Helena, jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict in the trial of Leon Ford – the man charged with deliberate homicide in connection with the 2011 killing of John “Mike” Crites. Now, the case against Ford has been dismissed.

海伦娜——去年 6 月，在海伦娜进行了为期三周的审判后，陪审团未能就对莱昂·福特 (Leon Ford) 的审判做出一致的裁决。该男子被控与 2011 年杀害约翰·“迈克”·克里特斯 (John “Mike” Crites) 有关的故意杀人罪。现在，针对福特的案件已被驳回。

“After a thorough review and in consideration of all of the information and evidence related to this investigation, the State will not proceed in retrying this case,” said Lewis & Clark County Attorney Kevin Downs in a statement to MTN.

刘易斯和克拉克县检察官凯文·唐斯 (Kevin Downs) 在给 MTN 的一份声明中表示：“经过彻底审查并考虑到与本次调查相关的所有信息和证据，州政府将不会继续重审此案。”

Retired County Attorney Leo Gallagher, who served as the lead prosecutor on the case, filed a motion to dismiss on Monday. District Court Judge Mike Menahan granted the order Tuesday morning.

担任此案首席检察官的退休县检察官利奥·加拉格尔周一提出了驳回动议。地区法院法官迈克·梅纳汉于周二上午批准了该命令。

Palmer Hoovestal, Ford’s defense attorney, says he heard the news Monday afternoon.

福特的辩护律师帕尔默·胡维斯塔尔表示，他是周一下午听到这个消息的。

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“My immediate reaction was I think that that was exactly what should have happened,” he told MTN. “Leon Ford did not kill Michael Crites and there was absolutely no way that they were going to prove it, and they did the right thing.”

“我的第一反应是我认为这正是应该发生的事情，”他告诉 MTN。 “莱昂·福特没有杀死迈克尔·克里特斯，他们绝对无法证明这一点，但他们做了正确的事。”

Ford had been scheduled for a retrial later this year, though Hoovestal had moved to block it, saying they hadn’t had access to some key evidence that could have supported Ford’s case.

福特原定于今年晚些时候进行重审，但胡维斯塔尔已采取行动阻止重审，称他们无法获得一些可能支持福特案件的关键证据。

Crites’ death remains unresolved, well over a decade after he was last seen alive, in June 2011. In October 2011, his dismembered remains were discovered in plastic bags on the east side of MacDonald Pass. His skull was found several miles west of the pass in September 2012.

克里特斯的死因至今仍悬而未决，距离他最后一次活着（2011 年 6 月）已过去十多年。2011 年 10 月，人们在麦克唐纳山口东侧的塑料袋中发现了他被肢解的遗体。 2012 年 9 月，他的头骨在山口以西几英里处被发现。

Ford owned a property adjacent to Crites’ home on Turk Road, in a rural area outside Birdseye, northwest of Helena. The two men had a years-long dispute over land access, including confrontations in 2002 and 2007. Prosecutors had argued that the dispute might have provided Ford with a motive.

福特在特克路上拥有一处房产，毗邻克里特斯的家，该路位于海伦娜西北部伯德赛郊外的乡村地区。两人在土地使用权问题上发生了长达数年的争执，其中包括 2002 年和 2007 年的对抗。检察官辩称，这场争执可能为福特提供了动机。

After years without an arrest in Crites’ death, authorities took Ford into custody in August 2020. Ford repeatedly denied he killed Crites, including on the stand during his trial.

克里特斯之死多年来一直没有被逮捕，当局于 2020 年 8 月将福特拘留。福特一再否认他杀死了克里特斯，包括在审判期间在证人席上。

Hoovestal said Ford was “stunned” to hear about the dismissal.

胡维斯塔尔表示，福特听到解雇的消息“感到震惊”。

“As you can imagine, it was a huge relief,” he said. “It's like the weight of the world was on his shoulders in this case. He was charged with something that he did not do – it was one of the worst crimes that can be prosecuted, deliberate homicide, and he didn't do it. And so, I think it took a minute for it to sink in.”

“正如你可以想象的那样，这是一种巨大的解脱，”他说。 “在这种情况下，就好像整个世界的重量都压在了他的肩上。他被指控犯有一些他没有做过的事情——这是可以起诉的最严重的罪行之一，故意杀人，但他没有这么做。所以，我认为它需要一分钟的时间才能被理解。”

Hoovestal said he would have preferred Ford receive a clear acquittal, but he doesn’t believe the state’s case against Ford would ever have gotten stronger.

胡维斯塔尔表示，他希望福特被明确无罪释放，但他不认为该州针对福特的案件会变得更加有力。

Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said he understood why the decision to dismiss the case was made.

刘易斯和克拉克县警长利奥·达顿表示，他理解为何做出驳回此案的决定。

“It is a letdown, but you have to have faith in the system of government that we have,” he said. “So they made a decision, and that's something that I have to pay attention to and go and look for more evidence.”

“这令人失望，但你必须对我们现有的政府体系有信心，”他说。 “所以他们做出了决定，这是我必须关注并去寻找更多证据的事情。”

Dutton said he wanted to make clear Crites’ case was not “going on the shelf.”

达顿表示，他想澄清克里特斯的案件并未“被束之高阁”。

“It's clear that someone murdered Mike Crites,” he said. “It's our job to prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. That's our job; we will continue with that job. It's just going to take a little bit longer than we had anticipated.”

“很明显有人谋杀了迈克·克里特斯，”他说。 “我们的工作就是毫无疑问地证明这一点。这就是我们的工作；我们将继续这项工作。只是需要的时间比我们预期的要长一些。”

约翰·迈克尔·克里特斯

Hoovestal says the state isn’t going to find new evidence to tie Ford to this crime.

胡维斯塔尔表示，该州不会找到新的证据将福特与这起犯罪行为联系起来。

“There is somebody out there who had actually killed Michael Crites, who's still walking around, and my hope is that they find whoever that individual is and that they prosecute that person.”

“确实有人​​杀死了迈克尔·克里特斯，而他仍然在四处走动，我希望他们能找到那个人是谁，并起诉那个人。”

“We know that this case is not solved; we will continue,” Dutton said. “So if you have information or if you did it, you don't need to live with that guilt. Come in and talk to us. You can resolve this.“

“我们知道这个案子还没有解决；我们将继续，”达顿说。 “所以，如果你有信息或者你做了这件事，你就不需要带着愧疚生活。进来和我们谈谈吧。你可以解决这个问题。”

Connie Crites, Mike Crites' sister, told MTN the county informed them of the decision before it became public. She said their family remained disappointed that her brother hasn't received justice.

迈克·克里特斯的妹妹康妮·克里特斯告诉 MTN，该县在决定公开之前就通知了他们。她说，他们的家人对她哥哥没有得到正义感到失望。

“At this point, somebody got away with murder, in a nutshell,“ she said.

“简而言之，在这一点上，有人逃脱了谋杀罪，”她说。

However, Crites said she understood why the county wasn't pursuing a second trial, especially if the outcome might not be different. She said the three weeks of testimony had been some of the most difficult the family had gone through, and that they were more disappointed with the hung jury than with the dismissal.

然而，克里特斯表示，她理解为什么该县不进行第二次审判，特别是如果结果可能不会有所不同的话。她说，这三周的作证是这个家庭经历的最困难的一段时间，他们对悬而未决的陪审团比对被解散更失望。

Crites said she knows it's going to get harder for authorities to find physical evidence in her brother's death, but she remains hopeful something will turn up.

克里特斯说，她知道当局会越来越难找到她哥哥死亡的物证，但她仍然希望能找到一些线索。

“If we get justice in this lifetime, that's great,“ she said. “If not, God's the ultimate judge.“

“如果我们能在这一生得到正义，那就太好了，”她说。 “如果没有，上帝就是最终的审判者。”