Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Defendant-Appellant Donald Inman appealed his aggravated assault and battery conviction. Defendant did not deny that he assaulted the victim, but claimed he acted in defense of himself and his family. On appeal, Defendant asserted the district court erred in allowing a detective to provide lay opinion testimony as to the location of the assault. He also asserted the district court erred in denying his motions for judgment of acquittal, arguing that the victim’s testimony was contradictory and so inherently unreliable that a reasonable juror could not have accepted the victim’s version of events and rejected Inman’s claim of self defense. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the opinion testimony, and it properly denied Defendant's motions for judgment of acquittal.

Appellant Connie Powell worked as a bookkeeper for Rocky Mountain Pump Services (RMPS) from March 2005 to February 2007, when her employment was terminated. After terminating appellant's employment, RMPS contracted with Melanie Field to handle the company's books until another bookkeeper could be hired. Field immediately found the books to be incomplete, inaccurate, and in need of "rebuilding." Reconstruction of the books back to the time when Appellant was hired, revealed numerous discrepancies and missing records, with multiple paychecks to Appellant for the same pay period, copies of checks made payable to the appellant where the computer QuickBooks system showed those checks being paid to vendors, and a few checks made payable to Appellant where the issuing manager's signature appeared to be forged. The examination of the books was followed by a law enforcement investigation that included a review of Appellant's personal bank account records. Eventually, it was determined that 93 checks, totaling $78,200, and claimed to be "unauthorized" by RMPS, had been deposited into Appellant's personal account during her tenure as RMPS's bookkeeper. Appellant was arrested and charged with one count of felony larceny. A jury found her guilty. She appealed her conviction. Because there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant committed larceny, the Supreme Court reversed her conviction.

A jury found Julie Ann Jacobsen guilty of ten felony counts involving forgery and larceny. She appealed the convictions, claiming her trial counsel was ineffective. She also asks this Court to allow her to supplement the trial record in order to prove her ineffective assistance claim. Upon review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court declined Ms. Jacobsen’s request to supplement the record and affirmed her convictions.

Appellant Jerele Craig Cothren, Jr., was facing four separate sentences from three courts for unrelated crimes. The most recent sentence, and the one upon which this appeal was based, required that Appellant serve his term of incarceration concurrent with a sentence for which he was then presently incarcerated, as well as consecutive to a probationary period that had yet to begin. Because it was impossible to meet both these requirements, and because the sentence as pronounced would require the period of incarceration to be interrupted by a period of probation, the Supreme Court concluded Appellant's sentence was illegal. Appellant's case was remanded to the district court for resentencing.

After stopping Patrick R. Espinoza for failing to maintain a single lane of travel while driving on Interstate 80 (I-80) in Laramie, an Albany County Sheriff's deputy arrested Mr. Espinoza for driving while under the influence of alcohol. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) suspended Mr. Espinoza's driver's license, and he objected. At the contested case hearing, Mr. Espinoza claimed the deputy was not justified in stopping him. The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) upheld the suspension, and the district court affirmed. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded the deputy had probable cause to stop Mr. Espinoza for the traffic violation and affirmed.

PRG (Father) appealed a district court's order following a jury verdict terminating his parental rights to his four minor children. Father contended that the district court erred when it refused to use his proposed jury verdict form. He also claimed that the State Department of Family Services (DFS) presented insufficient evidence to terminate his parental rights and challenged the district court's denial of his motion for a judgment as a matter of law. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the special verdict form given to the jury was appropriate and the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing Father's proposed verdict form. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court's decision to terminate Father's parental rights.

HJO (Mother), the biologic mother of nine minor children, appealed a district court's order following a jury verdict terminating her parental rights. Mother contested the sufficiency of the evidence presented by the State. Department of Family Services (DFS) to terminate her parental rights, the appropriateness of the special verdict form submitted to the jury, the constitutionality of the termination statute which set out the burden of proof, and alleged cumulative errors. Upon review, the Supreme Court found no reversible error and accordingly affirmed the termination of Mother's parental rights.

This appeal arose out of Ryan Dorman's petition for an extension of his worker's compensation temporary total disability (TTD) benefits and for reimbursement of travel expenses incurred in travelling from Idaho to Cheyenne to obtain medical care. In May 2006, Dorman sought treatment from an Idaho physician for treatment of his alleged work-related injury. Due to the nature of Dorman's injury, he consulted multiple physicians, first in Idaho, then in Wyoming. With each consultation, the doctors indicated that the injury was outside of their scope of expertise, and referred Doman to another specialist. During the period that Dorman was changing physicians, the Division and Dorman negotiated a stipulation concerning his TTD benefits and other benefits. This followed OAH and district court decisions that largely reversed the Division's earlier determinations concerning TTD benefits and Dorman's need for continued medical treatment. The Stipulated Order also provided that medical benefits would be paid as directed by the district court's order. After the Division paid the stipulated TTD benefits, Dorman submitted a letter to the Division requesting extended benefits The Division thereafter issued a final determination denying them, and further denied several applications for travel expense reimbursement for Dorman's trips to Idaho and Cheyenne. The matters were referred to the OAH where a combined hearing was held on the denial of TTD benefits, denial of travel reimbursement, and denial of diagnostic testing related to Dorman's injury. The OAH upheld the denial of TTD benefits on the ground that Dorman had failed to make the required showing that the Idaho and Cheyenne doctors were the closest available medical providers. Dorman appealed the portion of the OAH order denying extended TTD benefits and travel reimbursement to the district court. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the OAH denial of the travel reimbursement: Dorman could not prove that reimbursement of travel expenses was not supported by substantial evidence and in accordance with law.

The Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division awarded benefits to Appellant Gary Mitcheson after he fell at work and injured his tailbone in July of 2007. Approximately two years later, the Division issued a final determination denying payment for medical care that Appellant claimed was related to his workplace injury. Appellant requested a contested case hearing, and the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) upheld the Division's determination. Appellant appealed to the district court, which upheld the OAH's order. On appeal, Appellant challenged the OAH order contending: (1) the order was arbitrary and unsupported by substantial evidence; (2) the OAH's denial of payment for treating Appellant's tailbone was arbitrary; and (3) the OAH order denying payment for medical care contrary to the "Rule Out" rule was contrary to law. Finding the issues Appellant raised on appeal to be without merit, the Supreme Court affirmed the OAH's decision.

Defendant Kevin Kidwell challenged his convictions for false imprisonment and simple assault. He claims the prosecutor committed misconduct by failing to give prior notice of evidence suggesting he had attempted to persuade a witness to testify falsely in his favor at trial in violation of W.R.E. 404(b). Defendant was charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault and battery after a 2010 incident where Defendant and his girlfriend got into an altercation. The girlfriend was admitted to the hospital with bruises and other symptoms from having been choked. The defense listed Andrew Scott as a witness. Scott had been Defendant's former cellmate while incarcerated, and reported on another altercation between Defendant and his girlfriend in which the girlfriend had been the aggressor. Although he had been listed as a defense witness, the prosecution called Scott to the stand and had him recount his original plan to testify in Defendant's favor and his subsequent change of heart. Defendant did not object to the State calling Scott as a witness nor Scott's story. A jury eventually returned a verdict "decidedly favorable" to Defendant: they acquitted him on the kidnapping and aggravated assault and battery charges, and the lesser included offense of felonious restraint. They convicted him however, of the lesser included misdemeanor, false imprisonment. The appeal came before the Supreme Court on an unusual procedural stance: although Defendant claimed the evidence of Scott's plan to testify falsely was "other bad acts" evidence and governed by W.R.E. 404(b), he did not specifically challenge the admissibility of the evidence or analyze it under the relevant factors. Instead, Defendant maintained that the prosecutor committed misconduct by failing to give Defendant notice of Scott's testimony. Finding that Defendant failed to demonstrate a clear violation of law or any prejudice, the Supreme Court affirmed his convictions.