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Convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, Milo Blaine Whitetail has lost his appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
Whitetail had been sentenced in February 2023 for the murder of Eric Christopher Patterson at a Minot hotel in 2020. A jury found Whitetail stabbed the 43-year-old victim with a steak knife 20 times during a dispute over batteries missing from a television remote. He had served 991 days in the Ward County Jail prior to sentencing in North Central District Court, court records show.
Whitetail appealed, arguing he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney failed to adequately review discovery with him, failed to communicate with him and failed to discuss the defense of self-defense with him. He argued the court allowed his attorney to refrain from conducting a redirect examination of a defense expert, who testified his opinion did not include a determination of Whitetail's criminal intent. He also stated his counsel was ineffective by not calling him to testify at trial.
The Supreme Court recently issued its finding that Whitettal didn't prove his trial attorney's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness or that there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome at trial. The court concluded the district court did not err in determining Whitetail failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel.