After his 1998 murder conviction was overturned last week, Richard Raugust could finally go free following a bond hearing scheduled Dec. 4.

Montana District Judge James Wheelis on Nov. 16 overturned Raugust’s 1998 conviction for the deliberate homicide of his friend, Joe Tash.

Wheelis ruled that new evidence that surfaced after the trial could have affected the outcome of the case and that the government failed to disclose evidence favorable to the accused.

“At this point, he stands innocent of the crime charged,” said Brett Schandelson, a Missoula attorney who represented Raugust during his petition to have the case overturned. “We feel optimistic that the facts are on our side to get him out of custody while the case is appealed, or if the state requests a retrial.”

Schandelson said the state has not given any indication whether it will appeal Wheelis’ ruling, and the Sanders County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment Tuesday.

Raugust was convicted of deliberate homicide and sentenced to life in prison 17 years ago for murdering Tash in the early morning hours of July 24, 1997, while Tash slept in a camper near Trout Creek.

Raugust has maintained his innocence since his arrest.

Schandelson and the Missoula-based Montana Innocence Project worked to unearth evidence of Raugust’s innocence for several years, obtaining key testimony during a 2013 interview with Deputy Sheriff Wayne Abbey — who first responded to the murder.

That disclosure was later admitted as new evidence during a two-day hearing on Raugust’s petition in December 2014.

Abbey testified that prior to the murder, he saw a car — believed to have been driven by Rory Ross — stop across the highway from the Naughty Pine Saloon where Ross, Raugust and Tash had been drinking.

He said he saw the car’s stoplights and interior dome light turn on, leading him to believe a door had been opened and an occupant had exited the vehicle.

Raugust had testified during his 1998 murder trial that he had exited the car and spent the night at an acquaintance’s house. He said was never at the campsite the night of the murder.

Neither the prosecution nor the defense brought up Abbey’s observation during Raugust’s trial, since it had not been included in his police report on the murder.

“He just wasn’t aware of [Raugust’s] alibi defense, so at the trial there was no question that would have elicited this testimony,” Schandelson said.

Ross denied during the 1998 trial that he had stopped the car and testified that he saw Raugust kill Tash by shooting him in the head with a shotgun.

In 2011, Ross allegedly confessed to an individual after the trial that he had killed Tash, but the testimony was dismissed by the court as untimely.

Called to testify during the December 2014 hearing, Ross claimed Fifth Amendment protection from any questions regarding his involvement in Tash’s murder.

The hearing also called into question the ability of two people at a neighboring campsite to identify voices attributed to Raugust as evidence of his guilt. Wheelis determined the expert testimony was “significant and would clearly be relevant at a new trial in this matter.”

Raugust first petitioned the court for a new trial in 1998. After that request was denied, he filed for post-conviction relief in 2001, and was again denied both by the Montana District Court and the state Supreme Court.

In his decision to grant a new trial, Wheelis wrote, “the court concludes that Deputy Abbey’s observations put the entire case against [Raugust] in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the verdict at the underlying trial.”

Larry Mansch, the Montana Innocence Project’s legal director, said he was hopeful for Raugust to eventually prove his innocence.

“We’re very happy. I think it’s the correct ruling,” Mansch said. “Whatever happens next, it’s a big step forward, that’s for sure.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at [email protected].