Suppression sought in homicide case

A former Absarokee man charged in the 2013 negligent homicide of a 27-year-old man is asking a judge to suppress damaging evidence against him.
In a motion filed on behalf of Michael Thomas Holtz, defense attorney Vern Woodard is asking a judge to dismiss the evidence found on Holtz’s vehicle. That evidence allegedly involves the DNA of the slain man, Forest Dana.
The motion is based on Woodward’s argument that investigators did not have probable cause to get the search warrant because they did not have anything that legally indicated evidence from the alleged crime would be found on or in the vehicle. What they had was approximately seven different descriptions of the car and footage from the school video surveillance that was of such poor quality it was unusable, according to the motion.
Secondly, in what Woodward calls a “stand-alone argument” is the matter of the consent search that Holtz signed when law enforcement went to his home in Billings and seized the vehicle. According to the motion, Holtz was summoned home by a friend to find law enforcement officers had been there looking for him.
Holtz met with the officers and was asked to sign a consent form that would allow officers to take the vehicle to a safe impound area and they would apply for a search warrant to actually search the vehicle. Holtz was told twice he could refuse to let them take the vehicle until they had a search warrant in hand. Holtz signed the consent form.
Woodward argues that the search cannot be sustained on the basis of consent.  He was never asked to consent to a search, but simply to impounding his vehicle while the officers attempted to obtain a warrant.
Prosecution’s Response
A response motion filed by the Stillwater County Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office (which is jointly prosecuting the case) argues a search warrant application “need only establish the existence of a ‘fair probability’ that contraband or evidence related to a crime will be found in that particular place” and that the search warrant application contained sufficient facts to establish probable cause that “evidence or contraband conneccted with the homicide of Forest Dana may be found upon Defendant’s 2003 Mazda Protege.”

Specifically, prosecutors argue the suspect vehicle described by seven people was a “reasonable general description” of an older, smaller, dark-colored, sporty car or sedan,” according to the motion. Also, the vehicle caught on surveillance video was a “dark-colored small sized car.”
Additionally, prosecutors argue that Holtz’s vehicle was in the area the night of the homicide and that according to at least two witnesses, had been driving in a reckless manner, according to the motion. Of particular note was the witness who estimated Holtz’s car traveling down an alley at an estimated 80 mph before sliding to a stop just a few feet away from the witness.
The totality of those circumstances were sufficient for probable cause for the search warrant, which was issued by 22nd Judicial District Judge Blair Jones.
As for the consent issue, the prosecution contends that the vehicle was not searched until a search warrant had been issued.
The Case
Holtz is charged with the negligent homicide of Forest Dana in the early morning hours of July 28, 2013.
Dana was found by family members in the alley directly behind the home he lived in with his parents.
A medical examiner determined that Dana was killed when his spinal cord was severed as the result of being run over by a vehicle, according to court documents.
There was also alleged medical evidence, according to court documents, that someone may have tried to perform CPR on him.
Authorities contend DNA evidence links Holtz to the killing, as well as multiple witnesses who told investigators they saw Holtz, or a vehicle matching the description of the one he drives, speeding down the alley and elsewhere that night, according to court documents.
Holtz is also charged with one count of tampering or fabricating physical evidence by allegedly crashing his car to cause additional damage.
The case was jointly investigated by the sheriff’s office and the state’s Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB).
The trial is scheduled for Dec. 7 through 11 and will be held in Carbon County under a joint stipulation of the prosecution and defense.