The Missoula County Attorney’s Office Had An Unusually Busy Week

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office has had its hands full recently and this past week was no different. Chief Deputy County Attorney Jason Marks explains.

“We actually had a very busy week for us,” Marks said. “We filed 20 new cases this week. In terms of what we filed, it was really a little bit of everything. There were some felony DUI related matters, domestic violence cases, and a couple burglaries. There was a little bit of everything.”

In addition to all of those new cases, the County Attorney’s Office is still heavily involved with the Jonathan Bertsch case. Bertsch pleaded not guilty to all four of the charges he is facing, but Marks says that is not uncommon.

“When I am talking in particular to victims of a crime, who are understandably upset when there is overwhelming evidence and somebody comes in and says not guilty, I explain it as it is a way of their attorney saying they need more time,” Marks said. For instance, in this case, Mr. Bertsch is represented by two members of the public defender’s office here. They haven’t even really started going through what is a tremendously large amount of evidence in the case.”

An omnibus hearing for Bertsch has tentatively been set for May 30 before District Judge Larson. According to Marks, that is essentially a scheduling hearing.