Missoula Crime Report: Two Trials End in Guilty Verdicts

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - It was a busy week in the Missoula County Attorney’s Office with two separate jury trials ending with guilty verdicts. County Attorney Matt Jennings provided the weekly crime report, starting with details about the trials.

Two Trials Ended in Guilty Verdicts in Missoula Courts This Week

“We had two jury trials this week, both of which resulted in convictions,” began Jennings. “First, we had a case that started on Monday against a person named No Gomez Herrera, and he was accused of sexual abuse of children for coming to Missoula to try and engage in sexual acts with an underage person. He was convicted by a jury on Tuesday, and we're really proud to get that conviction. One of our top prosecutors in our office, Andrea Haney has handled a lot of cases of similar nature.”

In the second trial, Jennings said the defendant chose to change his plea to guilty.

One defendant Changed his Plea to Guilty During the Trial

“The second case resolved on Wednesday, and that was against a person named Jose Mosqueda, and that case involves some domestic violence, including strangulation, partner family member assault, tampering with evidence, and the violation of a no-contact order,” he said. “What made that case interesting is it was actually in the middle of trial, and he changed his plea. That doesn't happen very often, but sometimes, I guess people just want to see what evidence is going to be presented against him, and he felt that in the middle of trial he just needed to take accountability at that point. Both trials had great results.”

Jennings then turned to the actual weekly crime report.

“This week, we filed 15 criminal complaints on felony charges,” he said. “Unfortunately, ten of those were violent crimes, and that's a really high number for us. We've been tracking that, and most are domestic violence. There were seven cases of domestic violence this week and three cases of non-domestic violence, so basically, strangers or people that were not in a partnership.”

READ MORE: Missoula News - Crime Reports 

More Violent Crimes but Fewer Property Crimes This Week

Jennings said there is a positive movement in the number of property crimes.

“We only had one property crime, and that's really good news,” he said. “Within the last couple of years, we have seen a real explosion in property crime, and that's something that we've been trying to track closely because it can be a precursor to lawlessness and lead to other criminal behavior. We've seen sort of a plateau, and maybe even a drop in some of the property crime referrals that we've been getting, and that's really good news for us.”

Jennings provides his report every Friday morning on Talk Back. Listen to his full report below.