Summary 2012 WY 107

Summary of Decision August 7, 2012

Justice Golden delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: DONALD E. INMAN v. THE STATE OF WYOMING

Docket Number: S-11-0211

URL: http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Opinions.aspx

Appeal from the District Court of Campbell County, Honorable John R. Perry, Judge.

Representing Appellant: Robert J. O’Neil, Attorney at Law, Gillette, Wyoming

Representing Appellee: Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Meri V. Geringer, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Geringer.

Date of Decision: August 7, 2012

Facts: Donald Inman (Inman) appealed his aggravated assault and battery conviction. Inman did not deny that he assaulted the victim, but claimed he acted in defense of himself and his family. On appeal, Inman 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. Affirmed.

Issues: Inman presented the following issues on appeal:

1. The denial by the Honorable District Judge John R. Perry of Defendant’s Motion in Limine: WRE 701 dated January 5, 2011 and the admission of improper lay opinion evidence of Gillette Detective Becky Elger; and

2. The denial by the Honorable District Judge John R. Perry of Defendant’s Motion for Judgment of Acquittal – Criminal Rule 29(c) dated March 25, 2011.

Holdings: The district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing Detective Elger’s Rule 701 opinion testimony, and it properly denied Inman’s motions for judgment of acquittal. Affirmed.

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

[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. You will also note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you need to provide a pinpoint citation to a quote the universal portion of the citation will use that paragraph number. The pinpoint citation in the P.3d portion will need to have the reporter page number. If you need assistance in putting together a citation from this, or any future opinion using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library and we will provide any needed assistance]