Two men in unrelated cases possibly headed to jury trial

At the Phillips County Court House last week, two men, in separate cases, elected to bypass their right to be present when juries are selected for their cases.

State of Montana vs. Doyle Wesley Grant

On March 7, 2014 at approximately 2:22 p.m., Phillips County Deputy Sheriff Alan Guderjahn responded to the Alan Dvorshak residence in Malta and met Dustin Brusse outside the home. Deputy Guderjahn interviewed Brusse in his patrol car.

Brusse said that he was at a female’s house in Malta and that he was cleaning and putting things away. He said he was on his knees in front of the kitchen sink when the door to the home burst open and Doyle Grant came into the home and pointed a pistol at him. Grant said that he was going to kill Brusse, according to court records. Grant told Brusse to get out of the house or he would kill him and Brusse ran from the house and called the sheriff’s office.

Following the interview, Deputy Guderjahn took Brusse back to the female’s home and went into the house with Brusse. Deputy Guderjahn saw that the house was in disarray and it appeared that someone was moving into the home. Brusse retrieved his wallet and phone and deputy Guderjahn took Brusse to Brusse’s home.

Deputy Guderjahn radioed for backup to meet him at the female’s house and returned to the location. When he arrived a different female was parked outside the house sitting in her vehicle. Deputy Guderjahn also saw Grant walk out of the house. Grant told the deputies he wanted Brusse out of his daughter’s life and said that he feared for her safety and the safety of his grandchildren. Grant said that the pistol he had pointed at Brusse was at a friend’s house. Grant was placed under arrest.

Deputy Guderjahn found the pistol where Grant said it would be, a black 9mm Ruger with seven rounds in the magazine.

Grant was the aggressor and is not entitled to a claim of justifiable use of force, according to court documents. Brusse had permission from the female living at the house to live in the residence and no witnesses described any actions by Brusse that would allow the defendant to threaten Brusse with the use of any kind of deadly force.

Grant made His initial appearance after his arrest in Philipp’s County Court on March 13. Grant is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. Grant is charged with purposely or knowingly causing reasonable apprehension. A person convicted of the offense of assault with a weapon shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a term not to exceed 20 years or be fined not more than $50,000 or both.

On March 26; Grant was released from jail on a $1000 bond.

On April 14 Grant appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge. On June 24, grant waived the right to be present when a jury is selected.

Jason Nicholas Leteff

In a separate case, Jason Nicholas Leteff also waived his right to be present when a jury is selected for his case on August 27, 2014. As previously reported in the PCN, Leteff is charged with three felonies in Phillips County for theft, criminal mischief and evidence tampering.

Leteff’s arrest followed a night in which he allegedly set a car on fire and stole numerous items from vehicles around Phillips County, including a 2003 Elantra which he had in his possession when he was tracked down in South Dakota.