On April 15, 2024 an individual known as Ms. Sue McCreary was observed taking political signs from private property outside an eating establishment in downtown Stevensville Montana. This act was witnessed by multiple people, including the candidate whose property was taken. This candidate subsequently filed a report with the Stevensville Police Department. After an investigation by Chief Boe, Ms. McCreary was issued a ticket for violation of MCA 45-6-301. Theft.
This could have been the end of things other than Ms. McCreary appearing at her hearing scheduled for May 1, 2024. But it wasn’t. It was only the beginning. Many surprises were to come as this story continued to unfold during the Town Council meeting held on April 25th, 2024.
Surprise One: While addressing the Town Council, Mayor Bob Michalson stated that he had contacted Police Chief John Boe, requesting the Chief come to the Mayor’s home to discuss this matter. That was a surprise because this confession indicated the Mayor had directly risked influencing an ongoing legal matter. There are laws against this sort of thing.
Surprise Two: Mayor Michalson, in his official capacity, chastised the victim of this crime, Mrs. Dailey. The Mayor, expressed near outrage that a citizen had an expectation that her rights would be secured and upheld, laws would be enforced and justice would be served.
Surprise Three: delivered by Mayor Michalson when he declared, in part to avoid “this kind of coverage”, that he “used my authority as the mayor, under section 74-43-05, power to grant pardons…, so I’m reporting to you, I granted her a pardon” Unfortunately for the Mayor, the ordnance cited empowers the mayor to pardon individuals who have violated a town ordinance, NOT those who violated a State Law such as Ms. McCreary.
Surprise Four: It was revealed that the Mayor had confiscated the ticket issued by Police Chief Boe. Once more risking interference in the legal proceedings.
A video of the full statement can be found in the last five minutes of the meeting on the Town’s YouTube channel.
This reporter attempted to attend the hearing scheduled for Ms. McCreary on May 1, 2024. Upon arriving, I discovered that because of the “pardon” issued to Ms. McCreary, the hearing was canceled. Due to the change in schedule, I had an opportunity to interview the mayor. At this time the mayor admitted that he had "acted out of naivety" when he issued the pardon. I encouraged the mayor to seek counsel to determine how he could best correct his error.
As the direct victim of this crime, Kim Dailey agreed to be interviewed for this article. She was very surprised that the mayor would publicly diminish the seriousness of the crime and then criticize her for bringing the crime to the attention of law enforcement.
"This is election interference and a violation of my first amendment rights." Mrs. Dailey said. She is correct, the United States Supreme Court has consistently applied the principle of free speech protection to its decisions, with political speech receiving the greatest protection.
One must question, if the United States Supreme Court deems political speech worthy of the greatest level of protection, why are those same standards of law not equally applied in Stevensville Township?
On May 22nd Ms. McCreary appeared for her hearing to face theft charges in Stevensville. McCreary was self-represented. The courtroom was standing room only.
Upon hearing the charges and the Police report read to her repeatedly, due you her hearing challenges, McCreary attempted to modify her statement contained in the Police report. This attempt was thwarted by Judge O'Conner. She also stated that the date on the ticket was incorrect.
The date on the ticket was indeed incorrect. This oddity highlights the flawed process caused by the Stevensville Mayor inserting himself into the ongoing investigation and legal process. By doing so, the Mayor made a number of missteps. First as previously stated, he invited "the Chief over to his home on Sunday (April 22) to discuss this case." During this meeting the Mayor confiscated the original ticket written and issued on April 15th. Obviously, the original ticket was not returned for reissue, forcing Chief Boe to issue a new ticket.
The new ticket may be the cause of the documents presented for the hearing containing inaccurate dates, including the Police report submitted by Chief Boe. With these being official legal documents, should they not be as accurate as possible? Especially, considering all events occurred in less than a month.
The Police report is surprisingly brief. Kim Dailey shared that to the best of her knowledge, no witnesses to the crime were interviewed by Chief Boe. Had the Chief provided testimony of those witnesses, those accounts could have been influential for the Commissioner On Political Practices (COPP) in deciphering the truths of this case.
There have been many missteps in this case by those in charge. Such as The Chief refusing to charge election interference under MCA 45-7- 401 "Official Misconduct". The Mayor's confiscation of the original ticket under MCA 45- 7-207 "Tampering with or fabricating physical evidence". The Chief's repeated (3x's) refusal to bring felony charges under MCA 45-7-305 "Compounding of felony". The confirmed meeting to "address this matter" implicating both the Mayor and the Chief in violation of MCA 45-7-102 "Threats and other improper influence in official and political matters." It has now surfaced that the administration of Stevensville has been in violation of MCA 7-4- 4604 which declares the "Duties" of the city attorney, which includes: The city attorney shall (1) "appear before the city court and other courts and prosecute on behalf of the city." The current city attorney Greg Overstreet is currently banned from prosecuting in city court. Yet, there is no documentation showing the execution of MCA 7-4-4603 "Removal or suspension. The city attorney may be suspended or removed from office by the city council for the neglect, violation, or disregard of the duties required by law or the ordinances of the city." In Fact, records show that Greg Overstreet received a three year contract extension rather than the typical two-year contract. This fact puts all cases where the "city attorney" was not allowed to prosecute at risk.
It is evident that the effort of the Stevensville Mayor to avoid the McCreary case from bringing "this kind of attention" to the town has backfired.
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