Justia Wyoming Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellant Ronald Harvey challenged an order from the district court affirming the suspension of his driver's license under state law, arguing the arresting officer lacked probable cause to justify a traffic stop. In June, 2009, Appellant was pulled over driving a forklift on the shoulder of the road. The officer cited Appellant for failing to display a "slow moving vehicle" emblem on the lift in violation of state law. While writing the ticket, the officer smelled the strong odor of alcohol coming from Appellant. The officer administered a breath test. Based on the results, the state Department of Transportation sent Appellant notice of its intent to suspend his driver's license. Appellant requested a hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), challenging the traffic stop and the field sobriety test. The OAH upheld the suspension; Appellant appealed to the district court. The district court affirmed the OAH decision. On review of the lower court and agency decisions, the Supreme Court cited the state law Appellant argued did not exist, and affirmed the district court's decision suspending Appellant's driver's license.

Appellant-Defendant Jay Gruwell was convicted on one count of sexual abuse of a minor in the third degree in violation of state law. On appeal, Appellant contends the trial court erred by excluding the testimony of one of his proposed expert witnesses, and for limiting the testimony of another. On review of the record, the Court found that the lower court excluded Defendant's expert testimony because it was not timely disclosed prior to trial. Furthermore, Defendant's second expert witness proposed testimony irrelevant to the issues being tried, and was properly limited by the trial court. As for the child witness, the Court was unable to find that the lower court abused its discretion in determining she was competent to testify. Finding no reversible errors, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's conviction.