Justia Wyoming Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Father filed suit to establish his paternity of ARF. Father sought custody of ARF and asked the district court to order Mother to pay child support. After Mother admitted Father's paternity and asked the district court to order Father to pay child support, the district court granted custody to Mother, ordered Father to pay child support, and found Father owed additional child support for previous years. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the district court's decisions with respect to custody and its imposition of time limits on the parties' trial presentations; but (2) reversed the district court's child support decision, holding that the court's order did not comply with the statutory mandate to set forth the presumptive child support amount. Remanded. View "In re ARF" on Justia Law

Appellant entered a conditional plea to felony possession of methamphetamine. Appellant appealed, contending that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress the results of a vehicle inventory that preceded the planned impoundment of the vehicle but after Appellant had been arrested. Specifically, Appellant argued that the impoundment of his vehicle was unnecessary, that the search was conducted in bad faith, and that police officers should be required to inquire into less intrusive means of safeguarding a vehicle before inventorying one in anticipation of impoundment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) inventory of a vehicle's contents pending impoundment is constitution when it is authorized by statute or when it is conducted pursuant to the general policy of a law enforcement agency; (2) the state trooper in this case had a statutory basis to impound the vehicle and was required by Highway Patrol policy to inventory the vehicle's contents before impounding it; and (3) the district court did not clearly err in ruling that the trooper acted in good faith. View "Hunnicutt-Carter v. State" on Justia Law

Appellant, who suffered from cystic fibrosis, was employed as a police officer when he broke his hand during a training session. About a month later, Appellant was admitted to the hospital, where he was treated for "pneumonia, sinusitis with cystic fibrosis." The Workers' Safety and Compensation Division granted benefits for the medical treatment associated with Appellant's broken hand but denied benefits for his hospitalization and associated treatment on the grounds that the treatment for pneumonia and cystic fibrosis was not related to his work injury. The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) upheld the denial of benefits, and the district court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the OAH did not err by failing to find a causal connection between Appellant's work injury and his later medical conditions. View "Hayes v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers' Safety & Comp. Div." on Justia Law

Appellant owned and operated two mobile home parks. In 2000, Appellant changed its practice of including in the rent it charged tenants the cost of water it purchased from the City for the tenants' use. Instead, Appellant installed water meters on each trailer lot and began charging tenants for water usage separately from their rent. In 2008, the Public Service Commission (PSC) determined that Appellant was a public utility and therefore subject to regulation by the PSC. The district court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) because Appellant metered a commodity utility to its tenants, it was a public utility under Wyoming law and therefore subject to PSC regulation; and (2) PSC's regulation of Appellant did not violate Appellant's equal protection rights. View "Gosar's Unlimited Inc. v. Wyo. Pub. Serv. Comm'n" on Justia Law

Appellant pled guilty to burglary and attempted assault on a peace officer and nolo contendere to four counts of interference with custody. Appellant received suspended sentences in favor of supervised probation. Thereafter, the State filed a fourth petition to revoke Appellant's probation. After a probation revocation hearing, the district court found Appellant had violated the terms of his probation and, accordingly, revoked Appellant's probation. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that did not abuse its discretion in (1) revoking Appellant's probation where Appellant failed to prove his conduct in violation of the conditions of his probation was not willful; and (2) ordering involuntary administration of medication to restore Appellant's competency for the probation revocation proceedings. View "DeMillard v. State" on Justia Law

Appellant sued his former employer (Employer) in district court, alleging claims for fraud and wrongful termination. Employer, however, had been sold to a foreign corporation (Corporation), which was not a resident of Wyoming. Corporation filed a motion to dismiss the case for improper venue and failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The district court granted the motion on both grounds. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the district court's dismissal for improper venue; but (2) vacated the district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim, holding that the court erred as a matter of law when it reached the merits of the case after determining that it had to be dismissed on venue grounds. Remanded for a dismissal without prejudice based upon improper venue. View "Bourke v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., LP" on Justia Law

Appellant was arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance (DUI) after he was stopped for failing to use his turn signal. Appellant refused to submit to chemical testing. The Wyoming Department of Transportation subsequently suspended Appellant's driver's license for six months. The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) upheld the suspension. The district court affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed the OAH order upholding the suspension of Appellant's driver's license, holding that the OAH's conclusion that probable cause existed to arrest Appellant for DUI was clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. View "Vogt v. State ex rel. Dep't of Transp." on Justia Law

While working on a road paving project Plaintiff was hit and dragged by an asphalt paving machine being driven by a co-employee. Plaintiff suffered serious injuries, including brain damage and amputation of a leg. Plaintiff filed suit against two co-employee supervisors (Defendants), claiming their willful and wanton misconduct was the cause of his injuries. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendants, finding that they did not intentionally act to cause physical harm as defined under Wyo. Stat. Ann. 27-14-104(a). The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that no genuine issues of material fact existed and that Defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. View "Vandre v. Kuznia" on Justia Law

After Father failed to pay Mother's attorney's fees in accordance with a district court order in Jensen I, the district court held Father in contempt. As a sanction for contempt, the court ordered Father to pay Mother an additional $600 in attorney's fees. The district court's underlying order awarding attorney's fees to Mother in Jensen I, however, was reversed by the Supreme Court before Father submitted his brief. Consequently, the Supreme Court set aside the district court's contempt order as a result of the Court's reversal of the district court's award of attorney's fees. View "Jensen v. Milatzo-Jensen" on Justia Law

Petitioner, who was fifteen at the time of the crimes, was charged as an adult with nine felonies. Prior to trial, Petitioner filed a motion to transfer his case from district court to juvenile court, which the district court denied. Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for writ of review, claiming that the district court improperly placed the burden on him to establish that the case should be transferred to juvenile court. The Supreme Court granted the review. The Court then reversed, holding that the district court erred in failing to assign the burden of persuasion to the State to establish that the case should not be transferred to juvenile court. Remanded. View "JB v. State" on Justia Law