Summary 2008 WY 6

Summary of Decision issued January 23, 2008

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Barnes v. State

Citation: 2008 WY 6

Docket Number: 06-285, 06-286

Appeal from the District Court of Laramie County, the Honorable Peter G. Arnold, Judge

Representing Appellant (Defendant): Diane M. Lozano, Wyoming State Public Defender; Tina N. Kerin, Appellate Counsel; and Kirk A. Morgan, Assistant Appellate Counsel.

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff): Patrick J. Crank, Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; David Willms, Assistant Attorney General; Kristen Dolan, Assistant Attorney General.

Facts/Discussion: Appellant pled no contest to possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, but reserved his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress statements he made to police before his arrest. In a consolidated appeal, he also claimed the district court erred in concluding he was not entitled to credit for time served while he was awaiting disposition of the possession charge and another unrelated charge. The district court declined to give him credit for time served because he had violated the conditions of his parole in a different matter and was incarcerated partly because he was awaiting a parole revocation hearing.
Order Denying Motion to Suppress Statements: Appellant contended that he made his statements during a custodial interrogation but the State argued the statements were made during a valid investigatory stop and were prompted by Appellant’s medical complaints.
Investigatory Stop v. Custodial Interrogation: The Court reviewed the record and noted that no one factor necessarily establishes custody for Miranda purposes. Although only one officer was present and the questioning lasted a few moments in a neutral setting, Appellant had been forcibly taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs when he was asked about the substance in the bags. The Court stated it was likely, a reasonable person in Appellant’s position would have considered himself to be in police custody.
Public Safety Exception to Miranda: Once Appellant began complaining of dizziness and shortness of breath, the detective’s questions were necessary to protect him from harm. The Court stated that under the particular circumstances in question, the detective’s actions before arresting Appellant and without Miranda warnings was reasonable.
Denial of Credit for Time Served: A defendant is entitled to credit for time spent in pre-sentence confinement against both the minimum and maximum sentence if he is unable to post bond for the offense of which he was convicted but not when his confinement would have continued despite his ability to post bond. Neither the parole board nor the district court credited Appellant for the time served between his arrest and sentencing. The parole board’s failure to credit for time served resulted in an unlawful sentence. To cure the error, the Court reversed the sentence and remanded to district court with instructions to give credit for time served.

Holding: The district court’s order denying the suppression motion was affirmed. The case was remanded for correction of the judgment and sentence.

Affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part.

J. Kite delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/3632s9 .

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