Summary 2010 WY 116

Summary of Decision issued August 17, 2010

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

Case Name: Dougherty v. State

Citation: 2010 WY 116

Docket Number: S-10-0017

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

Representing Dougherty: Diane M. Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Kerin, Appellate Counsel; Eric M. Alden, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel.

Representing State: Bruce A. Salzburg, Wyoming Attorney General; Terry L. Armitage, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Graham M. Smith, Special Assistant Attorney General.

Facts/Discussion: Dougherty was convicted by a jury of abusing a vulnerable adult. He walked into the victim’s room, masturbated in front of her, and then left. Dougherty argued the State failed to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the act of masturbating in front of the victim resulted in a violation of the charged offense of intentional abuse of a vulnerable adult because the act did not constitute “punishment.”

Conclusion: Dougherty’s act of masturbating in front of the victim was not committed in a disciplinary context and therefore could not be considered punishment as used in § 35-20-102(a)(ii)(C). Accordingly, because Dougherty’s conduct did not fit within the definition of “punishment”, the Court found there was insufficient evidence of “abuse” and therefore the conviction could not stand.

Reversed.

J. Voigt delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/29f4sck .

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. Please note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you pinpoint cite to a quote, you should cite to this paragraph number rather than to any page number. If you need assistance using the Universal Citation format, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library.]