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Montana AG to ask US Supreme Court to intervene in decades-old rape case

Posted at 10:10 AM, Aug 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-03 12:10:06-04

BILLINGS – Montana Attorney General Tim Fox plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a Billings rape case that dates back 31 years.

The case involves the rape of an 8-year-old girl in 1987.

Jimmy Ray Bromgard of Billings was convicted of the crime and spent 15 years in prison before DNA evidence proved his innocence. After Bromgard was released from prison in the early 2000s, he sued the state and eventually received a $3.5 million settlement.

In 2014, a new suspect emerged when that same DNA evidence implicated 57-year-old Ronald Tipton of White Sulphur Springs. The state matched Tipton’s DNA after he was arrested and booked into jail in Meagher County on a drug charge.

But last month, the rape charges against Tipton were dismissed when the Montana Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations had expired.

DOJ spokesman John Barnes said Fox has until Oct. 3rd to file a petition asking the high court to accept the case.