BILLINGS, Mont., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The Montana Supreme Court ordered a state judge Friday to cancel a resentencing hearing for a former teacher given a 30-day sentence for raping a student.
Four justices signed an emergency order, the Billings Gazette reported. The state attorney general, in a move backed by the Yellowstone County district attorney, filed an appeal Thursday.
Judge G. Todd Baugh caused a national uproar last week when he sentenced the teacher, Stacey Dean Rambold, to 15 years and then suspended most of the sentence. Rambold was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old student, Cherice Moralez, who later killed herself.
Baugh's remarks during the sentencing that Cherice was older than her chronological age and had some control over the situation, outraged many in Montana and elsewhere.
While Baugh did not hold a new sentencing, he spent a few minutes explaining his reasoning to an audience of reporters, the Gazette said. He said Rambold, during legal proceedings that began in 2008, had shown he could be treated in the community and had not committed similar offenses.
Baugh also said prosecutors, who asked for at least 10 years behind bars, did not argue during the Aug. 26 sentencing that the 30-day sentence was illegal. They have since said state law required at least two years in prison.
Baugh filed an order Thursday for 15 years with all but two suspended. He later withdrew that.
Prosecutors now plan to appeal the sentence.
