MONTANA Children - Longview TX

During a Friday hearing,
71st District Judge William T. Hughey denied a request by Nichole
Michelle Montana for "shock" probation.
Following six days of testimony, a six-man, six-woman jury on
Tuesday agreed to terminate Ms. Montana parental rights for a boy who
is almost four and a girl, now 22 months.
Ms. Montana, 22, pleaded guilty in March 9 of this year to reckless injury to a child by omission and was sentenced to 10 years.
The incident resulting in charges against her occurred when the baby
girl, nine months old at the time, sustained second-degree burns to 18
percent of her body.
John D. Montana, 23, pleaded guilty March 17 to serious bodily
injury to a child and was sentenced to 30 years. He will become parole
eligible after serving 15 years.
Testimony in the custody trial was that Montana was baby sitting his
children on the evening of Aug. 5, 2008, while his wife worked his
shift at a Longview restaurant.
Two women who worked with Ms. Montana that evening testified that
Montana sent a picture of the baby's burns to his wife while she was on
the job.
The women said the injuries to the baby's back, abdomen, thighs, buttocks and genitals appeared to be a "bad sunburn."
Ms. Montana testified that she treated the injuries with over-the-counter products.
Several of the couple's neighbors in the Pinehurst Apartments said
they became concerned when they failed to see the baby, and one of
them, Daniel Lins, went to the apartment, offering to fix a broken door.
When Montana was absent, Lins said he asked to see the baby and
subsequently requested a welfare check by Longview Police Department.
In the late hours of Aug. 7, officers responding to the residence
rushed the baby to Good Shepherd Medical Center emergency room.
There she was stabilized and transferred to Parkland Hospital in Dallas where she spent 30 days.
Ms. Montana was arrested at the hospital on the night of the incident and her son, who was with her, was placed in foster care.
Montana was arrested a day later at a Longview mall.
Jurors in the custody case revoked the father's rights as well and
rejected a request from the paternal grandfather, John Daniel Montana
and his wife, Charlene Montana, to be granted custody of the children.
The jury's decision severed all ties between the children and their family since there is no provision for visitation.
Speaking on his client's behalf, Scott Rectenwald told Judge Hughey
that, if probation were granted, Ms. Montana would have access to "a
house, a car, and a small job that has nothing to do with the Montana
family."
Referring to evidence presented in the custody case, Rectenwald said
his client found herself in "the perfect storm of circumstances. A lot
of the information received in trial is contested," he said, adding Ms.
Montana "throughout her life has not caught a single break.
"We heard testimony that her mother is a drunk and drug addict" and
when Ms. Montana was taken from that home and placed in foster care for
a year's time, "she was (sexually) abused over and over again,"
Rectenwald said.
"She did not get a break in marriage," he added. "There she found herself in a relationship with a fiend who manipulated her."
Nor did she "get a break" in April 2008 when she took the baby girl
to Good Shepherd's emergency room because of vaginal bleeding.
After Montana confessed to causing the tearing found in the baby's
vagina, Child Protective Services personnel had Ms. Montana sign a
safety plan in which she agreed to prevent contact between her husband
and his children.
"She was unprepared with how to deal with that," Rectenwald said,
alluding to his repeated contentions during the trial that CPS failed
to provide parenting services for his client.
Rectenwald recalled a physician's testimony that "her failure to act
did not impede the baby's healing. Apparently the baby's injuries were
serious, but they were not caused by Nichole Montana," he added.
"She is willing to work with the court and to be proactive in
pursuing some very needful rehabilitation that she will never get in
TDC," Rectenwald said.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Truelove, who represented the
state in the custody trial, entered into evidence a CD recording made
the day after the case concluded in which Ms. Montana's caller pointed
out that "they still have the children's Social Security numbers and
would be able to track them.
"She knows the foster family's names and she intends to continue to
write to the children until she is ordered by the court not to do so,"
Ms. Truelove said.
Rectenwald said his client "would meet any condition regarding the
children which the court placed on her. I really think" she will "work
toward meeting all the terms of probation," he said.
Ms. Truelove noted shock probation is included in some pleas.
"It's something that's agreed to on the front end," she added.
"Sometimes you have a kid who has committed a crime and we say, 'okay,
send him down there for six months and let him see what it's like' and
then he can get probation.
"That was never a consideration in this case. A lot of reasoning
went behind my 10-year offer and I pride myself in taking all the facts
into consideration. It was a fair offer," Ms. Truelove said.
She told Judge Hughey that "sometimes the purpose of sending someone to prison is to punish them.
"I have a different opinion from Mr. Rectenwald regarding the
child," she added. "What I think of is the number of hours she spent
lying there in pain, being treated with Tylenol, Neosporin and aloe
vera to the extent that, when she finally did receive medical
treatment, it took a morphine drip to ease the pain. That speaks
volumes.
"This was the most horrific case of injury to a child I've ever
seen. Ten years is justice for this county and for the baby. Justice in
this case is for her to serve her time."
Judge Hughey admitted that "it's a tough case. I've been thinking
about it a lot. I agree with you regarding the circumstances in Ms.
Montana's life, but with one difference," he told Rectenwald.
"The best break she ever had was to have you as her attorney. I
honestly believe a Harrison County jury would have given her much more
than 10 years and I commend you in being able to work out" a plea.
"But, right now, I'm not comfortable with placing Ms. Montana on probation. I don't know whether she can handle it.
"Ms. Montana needs an opportunity to get a grasp on life and she has that opportunity while she is in TDC."
Referring to her testimony that she dropped out in the fifth grade,
Hughey said Ms. Montana could "complete her public school education and
get some college courses" while in the penitentiary.
"That's the best zone for you to be in right now, Ms. Montana. I
deny the request. Go serve out the terms of the 10-year sentence,"
Hughey said.
Testimony in the custody case was that the children are currently
with a foster family that wishes to adopt them, and Ms. Truelove said,
the state will begin moving toward that end immediately.