Highway Patrol finds lost video evidence sought for lawsuit

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Montana Highway Patrol says it has found lost dashcam footage of a 2017 crash that is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against the agency by a driver who said a trooper forced him off the road, injuring him and damaging his truck.

Mitchel Burgess, a high school principal from Wyoming, sued the agency in 2019 for damages related to the incident, when he said the trooper pulled an illegal U-turn in front of his oncoming truck, forcing him to drive into a ditch at 70 mph (113 kph).

Burgess’ wife is also a plaintiff in the case, suing for wages lost while she drove her husband to medical appointments in the aftermath of the crash, the Montana State News Bureau reported.

Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ordered sanctions against the Montana Highway Patrol in December for losing the dash camera footage. The agency first said the video file was corrupted and later said the computer storing the file was removed from the office and the hard copy lost.

Agency policy requires such video to be stored for five years.

Seeley also held the Montana Highway Patrol liable for causing the crash, with the jury set to determine how much the agency owes Burgess at the trial in August.

In April, state attorneys told the court that they found the video among old files at the agency’s office in Miles City, east of Billings. District Sgt. Troy Muri reportedly discovered the video while clearing out a desk.

The attorneys argued that the sanctions levied against the Highway Patrol were no longer warranted and that the jury should be allowed to decide whether the agency is liable for the crash.

Burgess’ attorney responded, arguing the agency should suffer additional sanctions for creating a more complicated, costly case for the plaintiffs.