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Supreme Court grants another extension in Florence doctor case

Posted at 7:23 AM, Apr 30, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-30 09:27:02-04

HELENA – The Montana Supreme Court is giving a former Florence doctor even more time to file papers supporting his appeal for his conviction of overprescribing medicine, contributing to the death of two patients.

Chris Christensen was convicted more than a year ago on 22 counts, including negligent homicide for overprescribing opioids to patients from his clinic in Florence.

He was ordered to spend 20-years in prison but has remained free while his appeal drags through the higher court.

The appeal has already gone through several extensions and now, the Supreme Court is granting a request for even more time from Christensen’s attorney, Josh Van De Wetering.

He says the case is “very large”, with more than 3,000 pages of transcripts, “very complex” and “novel”, because it involves “theories and applications” of Montana law that have never been tested in court.

The court agreed to grant the extension, giving Christensen until June 19 to file his opening brief.