Havre man found guilty of negligent homicide in the death of his brother

After only a few hours of deliberation a jury found Havre resident Shane Johnson guilty of negligent homicide in the death of his brother Travis Johnson this afternoon in a trial that began one week ago.

Johnson had pleaded not guilty to the charge, his defense arguing that the death of his brother was a tragic accident, but not negligent homicide, and the prosecution arguing that the evidence clearly showed the opposite.

Johnson had appealed his 2014 conviction for the same crime, arguing the court made errors in allowing the jury unrestricted access to all of the state's testimonial audio and video exhibits during deliberations and by allowing the state to add a negligent homicide charge at the end of trial that was not included within the deliberate homicide charge for which the state tried Johnson.

The Montana Supreme Court ruled that select errors had been made and overturned the verdict, sending the case back to District Court in Havre last fall for a new trial.

Johnson has been released into the custody of the Montana Department of Corrections and will be held at the Hill County Detention Center until sentencing next month.

Watch for more in Wednesday's edition of Havre Daily News.