Justia Wyoming Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In this child neglect proceeding, the juvenile court found that it was in the child’s best interest to cease efforts to reunify him with Mother and to change the permanency plan to termination of parental rights and eventually adoption. The Supreme Court affirmed the juvenile court’s order, holding (1) while due process may require an evidentiary hearing when a permanency plan is changed from family reunification to termination of parental rights, Mother failed to establish plain error in the juvenile court’s failure to apply the Wyoming Rules of Evidence during the permanency hearing; and (2) sufficient evidence supported the juvenile court’s finding that to find that it was in the child’s best interests to change the permanency plan to adoption. View "In re GC" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of three counts of delivery of cocaine. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction; (2) Defendant was not denied his right to confrontation when law enforcement officers testified about results of tests conducted by others; (3) the prosecutor did not commit misconduct; but (4) Defendant’s trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to object to improper testimony and argument, by failing to demand notice of Wyo. R. Crim. P. 404(b) evidence and enter an objection to the testimony, and by failing to request that audio tapes of controlled buys be played in their entirety, and Defendant was prejudiced by counsel’s deficient performance. View "Fennell v. State" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of child abuse and third-degree sexual assault of a minor under Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-2-503(b)(i) and Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-2-316(a)(iv). The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Appellant was not denied his right to a speedy trial under Wyo. R. Crim. P. 48 and under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution; (2) the State presented sufficient evidence to sustain Appellant’s conviction of sexual abuse of a minor in the third degree; and (3) Appellant was not deprived of the effective assistance of trial counsel. View "Rhodes v. State" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendant, her former employer, alleging harassment, emotional stress, personal injury, loss of income, and age discrimination. The district court dismissed the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court correctly dismissed Plaintiff’s discrimination and harassment claims where she not only failed to allege timely satisfaction of the statutory jurisdictional conditions precedent but failed to timely comply with the jurisdictional conditions precedent; and (2) the district court properly dismissed Plaintiff’s state law tort claims. View "Apodaca v. Safeway, Inc." on Justia Law

The three petitioners in this case (collectively, “Petitioners”) were held in the Fremont County Detention Center on unrelated criminal charges. None of the Petitioners were able to post the cash-only bail imposed by the lower courts as a condition of their pretrial release. As a result, each Petitioner remained in jail pending trial. Each Petitioner filed a petition to the Supreme Court for habeas corpus relief seeking immediate release from the detention center and requesting a determination that cash-only bail is impermissible under the Wyoming Constitution and Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Supreme Court consolidated the petitions for review and affirmed the lower courts’ use of cash-only bail, holding that cash-only bail does not violate Wyo. Const. art. I, 14 or Wyo. R. Crim. P. 46.1. View "Saunders v. Hornecker" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of three counts of first degree sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of second degree sexual abuse of a minor for acts involving two victims. Defendant was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of first degree sexual assault for acts involving an adult victim. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding (1) the district court erred when it allowed the State to introduce un-noticed character evidence, but the error was harmless; (2) the State's amendment to the information did not prejudice Defendant’s substantial rights; and (3) Defendant was not denied his right to a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct. View "Lindstrom v. State" on Justia Law

Following Defendant’s involvement in an automobile accident, law enforcement officers searched Defendant’s vehicle and found marijuana. Defendant was subsequently charged with felony possession of marijuana. Defendant moved to suppress the evidence obtained in the search of his vehicle as well as his statements to law enforcement, arguing that the investigating officer impermissibly extended the scope of his detention. The district court denied the motion to suppress. Thereafter, Defendant pleaded guilty to the charge, reserving the right to appeal the court’s order denying his motion to suppress. On appeal, instead of challenging the search of his vehicle, Defendant argued that the State failed to present sufficient evidence at the suppression hearing concerning the certification of the drug dog used by the investigating officer to conduct a free-air sniff outside Defendant’s vehicle. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that in entering his conditional plea, Defendant did not properly reserve any questions concerning the reliability of the drug dog, and therefore, that issue may not be addressed here. View "Ward v. State" on Justia Law

Appellant, the manager of the Dubois branch of the Fremont County Library System (FCLS), used an FCLS account to order books for the Dubois school system. The FCLS executive director terminated Appellant, determining that Appellant had improperly used FCLS funds to purchase books for the District. The FCLS Board of Trustees upheld the termination based upon an erroneous belief that Appellant had violated Wyo. Stat. Ann. 9-13-105. The district court affirmed, concluding that the Board misread section 9-13-105 but that because Appellant’s employment was at-will, Appellant’s employment may be terminated at any time with or without cause. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, as an at-will employee, Appellant did not have a property interest in continued employment or a right to a contested case hearing. View "Sabatka v. Bd. of Trs. of the Fremont County Pub. Library Sys." on Justia Law

At approximately 10:18 p.m., police officers searched Defendant’s home pursuant to a search warrant and found marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Defendant was subsequently arrested and charged with delivery of and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. Defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized in the search, arguing that the search was unlawful and in violation of his constitutional rights because the search warrant was served after 10 p.m. contrary to the plain language of the warrant. The district court granted the motion to suppress based upon a procedural violation of Wyo. R. Crim. P. 41(c). The Supreme Court reversed, holding that although the officers violated Rule 41(c), the violation did not warrant suppression of the evidence seized in the search under the circumstances of this case. View "State v. Deen" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of one count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err by not declaring a mistrial after one potential juror made an improper remark and others who were ultimately excused became emotional during voir dire; (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion by supplementing the jury instructions consistent with the Information to clarify the conduct charged; and (3) the delay between Appellant’s conviction and sentencing did not violate his constitutional right to speedy sentencing. View "Brown v. State" on Justia Law