| Litigants: | Betterman v. Montana |
| Arguedate: | March 28 |
| Argueyear: | 2016 |
| Decidedate: | May 19 |
| Decideyear: | 2016 |
| Fullname: | Brandon Thomas Betterman, Petitioner v. Montana |
| Usvol: | 578 |
| Uspage: | 437 |
| Parallelcitations: | 136 S. Ct. 1609; 194 L. Ed. 2d 723 |
| Docket: | 14-1457 |
| Opinionannouncement: | https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-1457_21o2.pdf |
| Prior: | State v. Betterman, 2015 MT 39, 378 Mont. 182, 342 P.3d 971; cert. granted, 136 S. Ct. 582 (2015). |
| Holding: | "The Sixth Amendment's speedy trial guarantee does not apply once a defendant has been found guilty at trial or has pleaded guilty to criminal charges." |
| Majority: | Ginsburg |
| Joinmajority: | unanimous |
| Concurrence: | Thomas |
| Joinconcurrence: | Alito |
| Concurrence2: | Sotomayor |
| Lawsapplied: | U.S. Const. amend. VI |
Betterman v. Montana, 578 U.S. 437 (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case which held that the right to a speedy trial does not guarantee the right to speedy sentencing. It was decided on May 19, 2016.[1]
Brandon T. Betterman was charged with an assault on a family member in 2011, but failed to show up at a Montana court room.[2] In April 2012, Betterman pleaded guilty to jumping bail. He spent 14 months in a county jail in Montana while waiting for his sentence. In the summer of 2013, the judge sentenced him to seven years in prison, with four years suspended.[3] Betterman ultimately appealed his case to the Supreme Court of the United States, where argued that holding him in the county jail for 14 months violated his constitutional rights, because the right to a speedy trial guaranteed under the Speedy Trial Clause of the Sixth Amendment extended to speedy sentencing.
In a unanimous 8–0 ruling, the Montana Supreme Court's decision was upheld. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the decision in an 11-page opinion.