Justia Wyoming Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In 2004, Appellant pled guilty to three counts of felony identity theft. The district court imposed a sentence of incarceration that it suspended in favor of eight years probation. In 2008 and 2009, the State filed three petitions to revoke Appellant’s probation, and each time, the district court revoked and reinstated probation. In 2011, the State filed a fourth petition to revoke. The district court granted the petition and imposed the underlying sentence of five to nine years incarceration. Appellant did not timely appeal from the district court’s order revoking probation and imposing sentence. However, after the district court found that counsel was ineffective in failing to follow Appellant’s instruction to file an appeal, the Supreme Court restored the appeal from the probation revocation. The Supreme Court subsequently affirmed the district court’s order revoking probation, holding that the evidence supported the district court’s decision to revoke Appellant’s probation, and the decision was not an abuse of discretion. View "Allaback v. State" on Justia Law

A defendant was charged with sexual assault of a minor in connection with an AMBER Alert and a missing child. The deputy county attorney requested that the circuit court restrict disclosure of information of the case in accordance with Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-2-319(a). The circuit court granted the request and sealed the court file and barred news organizations (Appellees) from attending any court proceedings. Appellees moved to intervene to gain access to information pertaining to the case, but the defendant was bound over to the district court before the circuit court ruled on the motion. Appellees filed a declaratory judgment action in the district court seeking a ruling on whether section 6-2-319(a) required the closure of records and proceedings in cases alleging sexual assault. The district court granted summary judgment for Appellees. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court (1) violated the First Amendment when it closed the court proceedings and sealed the court records; and (2) incorrectly interpreted section 6-2-319(a) when it determined that the statute required the court to seal the criminal case file and close all proceedings held in its courtroom without a hearing or findings on the record. View "Circuit Court v. Lee Newspapers" on Justia Law

Defendant, a resident alien who was living in the United States legally, pled guilty to the charge of strangulation of a household member. Before Defendant was sentenced, he learned that his guilty plea would result in his deportation. Defendant subsequently moved to withdraw the plea, arguing that his counsel’s performance was deficient. The district court determined that Defendant had succeeded in demonstrating that his counsel’s performance was deficient, but nonetheless denied Defendant’s request to withdraw his plea, concluding that Defendant failed to prove that he was prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to advise him of the possibility of deportation. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that, because of the exceptional circumstances of Defendant’s counsel’s failure to advise Defendant of his assured deportation, Defendant’s counsel provided ineffective assistance, and, therefore, there was a fair and just reason to allow Defendant to withdraw his guilty plea. View "Ortega-Araiza v. State" on Justia Law

After a trial, Defendant was convicted of six counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the third degree and one count of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. During trial, Defendant called a witness who opined about Defendant’s good character when interacting with children. On cross-examination, the trial court allowed the prosecutor to ask the witness if she knew Defendant had two prior convictions for sexually assaulting children. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that Defendant opened the door to character evidence under Wyo. R. Evid. 404(a)(1) and Wyo. R. Evid. 405(a), and the State’s presentation of rebuttal character evidence did not violate Defendant’s constitutional right to present a defense.View "McDowell v. State" on Justia Law

Stowe was driving on a dry highway with her seven-year-old daughter when their vehicle ran off the road. It travelled 318 feet and rolled twice before stopping. A passerby contacted law enforcement and emergency medical services. A trooper was told that Stowe slurred her words and gave off the overpowering odor of an alcoholic beverage. When Stowe first explained the cause of the accident, she told stated that she had swerved to avoid hitting a deer. She later stated that she had swerved to avoid a rabbit. Believing that there was probable cause to arrest Stowe for driving while intoxicated, but needing to locate and examine the crash scene, a trooper asked to have a deputy in Casper go to the hospital and obtain a blood or urine sample. Stowe had been catheterized due to the possibility of back injuries, so a nurse drew urine samples using a port built into the catheter. Tests indicated a .17% alcohol concentration. Stowe entered a conditional nolo contendere plea to a felony charge of fourth-offense driving while under the influence of alcohol. The Wyoming Supreme Court rejected arguments that the results of the test should have been suppressed because her urine was collected pursuant to an unlawful arrest because the officer lacked probable cause to believe that she had been driving while intoxicated and that the result of her urinalysis was invalid because it was collected from a catheter in a manner contrary to methods approved by the State Department of Health.View "Stowe v. State of Wyoming" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with making a false statement to obtain welfare benefits. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pled guilty to amended charge of misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and agreed to pay restitution in an amount to be determined after Defendant’s codefendant went through her plea or trial. Nearly two years after Defendant’s plea and sentencing, the district court issued a ruling requiring Defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $2,600. The Supreme Court reversed and vacated the restitution order, holding that the order was not supported by sufficient evidence, as the State presented no evidence that Defendant received or otherwise benefited from a welfare fraud scheme in the amount of $2,600. View "O'Halloran v. State" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of one count of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in deciding to overrule Defendant’s objection to the court’s admission of certain testimony, as the evidence was not, as Defendant alleged, uncharged misconduct in violation of Wyo. R. Evid. 404(b); (2) the prosecutor did not commit misconduct during closing argument; and (3) the district court did not err in failing to instruct the jury in accordance with the Court’s decision in Eagan v. State.View "Gonzalez-Ochoa v. State" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of felony driving while under the influence of alcohol. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying in part a pretrial discovery request made by Appellant; (2) the district court did not violate Appellant’s constitutional right to confrontation when the State’s expert witness testified as to the operation, maintenance, and accuracy of the breath alcohol test machine used in this case; and (3) Appellant’s trial counsel was not ineffective in not calling an expert witness to testify as to the effect of diabetes on the results of a breath alcohol test.View "Anderson v. State" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted for possession, delivery, and conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine. On appeal, Defendant challenged the admission of photographic evidence of items in his home containing methamphetamine, arguing that the evidence constituted evidence of uncharged misconduct under Wyo. R. Evid. 404(b) because it suggested that Appellant was manufacturing methamphetamine. The State responded that the evidence was substantive evidence of the crimes charged and was thus not uncharged misconduct evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the challenged evidence because it was intrinsic to the crimes charged and was not uncharged misconduct evidence. View "Hernandez v. State" on Justia Law

Defendant entered Alford pleas to promoting prostitution, conspiracy to commit first degree sexual assault, and aggravated assault and battery on a pregnant woman. The victim in this case was Defendant’s girlfriend. The district court imposed suspended sentences of incarceration and ten years probation to run consecutively with a term of imprisonment for the conspiracy charge. One of the conditions of Defendant’s probation was that Defendant have no contact with the victim of the offense or the minor children of the victim and Defendant. Defendant appealed, arguing that the “no contact” condition of his probation was not reasonably related to his rehabilitation and was an encroachment upon his fundamental right to raise his children. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the “no contact” condition of probation in Defendant’s sentencing. View "Perkins v. State" on Justia Law