MT- Missoula man won't have to register as offender after conviction for sexual assault

9-22-2009 Montana:

A woman who twice went to trial over allegations that Daniel Tudahl raped her exchanged teary-eyed glances with a fellow victim at a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, then passed a tissue down the crowded gallery bench as consolation.

Courtroom spectators were silent as they heard lengthy victim-impact statements from both women - emotional accounts of post-traumatic stress, sleepless nights and worlds turned upside down. That silence lingered as the judge imposed a three-year deferred sentence, a period that Tudahl will spend in the community, but on felony probation.

It's been more than four years since the 28-year-old Missoula man was arrested for allegedly raping a woman who'd fallen asleep at a party in the Blue Mountain area; a second case emerged eight months later, when another woman told detectives Tudahl had assaulted her in December 2004 under similar circumstances.

Tudahl has never admitted to the allegations in either rape case, and instead pleaded no contest to a lesser offense of sexual assault, accepting a plea agreement after two mistrials failed to resolve the 2005 incident. The plea agreement folds both cases into a single charge, and stipulates that the 2004 case will never go before a jury.

Both juries who heard evidence at separate trials split 8-4 in favor of a conviction on the first count. Although the plea agreement calls for a four-year deferred sentence, it also credits Tudahl with a full year of time that he's already served, both in jail and on pre-trial supervision.

A deferred imposition of sentence means that Tudahl will have the felony charge stricken from his record if he stays out of trouble until 2012; if he violates any of the conditions, however, he could face up to 100 years in prison.

Tudahl also will not be forced to register as a sexual offender, a feature not of the plea bargain, but one built into a recently-amended and little-known Montana law that eliminates the registration requirement from sexual assault cases, except in cases where the victim is a minor.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Doug Harkin called the 2007 statute "dumb," and encouraged frustrated family members to speak with their legislators.

"If there was ever a guy who needs to be made to register, he's it," Harkin said. "But even though I'd like to make him register, I can't. Have the record reflect that the judge is frowning."

Nobody's dissatisfaction was more pronounced, though, than the women who brought the charges against Tudahl, and who say they only agreed to resolve their cases so they won't have to endure another trial.

The woman from the 2005 case said she hopes her persistence in the courts has been a deterrent to what she referred to as Tudahl's "predatory" nature.

"You stole my womanhood. You raped me," she said at Tuesday's hearing. "You've raped before me, you will rape after me. In the last four years if I have stopped you from raping one other woman then I am the happiest person in the world."

The second victim was too distraught to read her statement, and had her sister take the witness stand and read the letter.

"I hope the next time he rapes an innocent human being justice will be better served," the statement read.

Tudahl has also been convicted of misdemeanor offenses in Municipal Court, for indecent exposure and being a "peeping Tom," but he has no prior felony record. Tudahl has undergone a sex offender evaluation and will comply with some counseling recommendations, but he will not be designated as a sexual offender or given a tier level.

Tudahl's attorney, John Smith, patted his client on the shoulder after the women had finished reading their statements. He said the plea agreement was carefully drafted to satisfy all parties in the case.

"We worked very hard to fashion the plea agreement, and it was my understanding that the people claiming themselves as victims agreed to it," Smith said. "Our hope now is that the families, including the Tudahl family, can move on and let the healing process begin." ..Source.. by TRISTAN SCOTT of the Missoulian