Summary 2008 WY 70

Summary of Decision issued June 20, 2008

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

Case Name: Edrington v. State

Citation: 2008 WY 70

Docket Number: S-07-0171

Appeal from the District Court of Laramie County, the Nicholas G. Kalokathis, Judge.

Representing Appellant (Defendant): Sylvia Lee Hackl of Cheyenne, Wyoming; Michael H. Reese of Michael Henry Reese, PC, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff): Bruce A. Salzburg, Wyoming Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Jenny L. Craig, Assistant Attorney General.

Facts/Discussion: Edrington contested the district court’s decision to revoke his probation. Edrington was terminated from his court ordered program at TRP because of his repeated violation of the program’s rules. Appellant argued that he was incapable of following the rules and that his violations were not willful because he suffers from a mental illness. After the Court considered the evidence in the record from the probation officer, the director of the TRP program, a forensic psychologist and Appellant himself, the Court stated that the district court was not clearly erroneous when they concluded that Edrington acted willfully in violating the rules.

Holding: Edrington’s mental health diagnosis was called into doubt by his attempts to manipulate the diagnosis. Additionally, the mental illness with which he was diagnosed would not have prevented him from understanding the rules of his program or the nature and consequences of his actions. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it revoked his probation and reinstated his full sentence.

Affirmed.

C.J. Voigt delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/5k2y4c .

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