Summary 2012 WY 136

Summary of Decision October 30, 2012

Justice Hill delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: JUAN CARLOS VALDEZ VENEGAS v. THE STATE OF WYOMING

Docket Number: S-12-0025

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

Appeal from the District Court of Albany County, Honorable Jeffrey A. Donnell, Judge.

Representing Appellant: Bert T. Ahlstrom Jr., Cheyenne, WY.

Representing Appellee: Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Jeffrey Pope, Assistant Attorney General.

Date of Decision: October 30, 2012

Facts: After being charged with driving while under the influence, Juan Carlos Valdez Venegas (Venegas) appealed a district court’s denial of his motion to suppress based upon his contention that the officer’s stop was based upon an improper anonymous informant. Additionally, Venegas asserted that there was insufficient evidence for a jury to convict him.

Issues: Venegas states three issues:

1. Whether the decision of the lower court to deny the motion to suppress of the defendant was in error, or constituted an abuse of discretion, and/or was arbitrary and capricious under the facts and circumstances of this case.

2. Whether there was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant of the charge of driving while under the influence, as applied to him, and under the facts and circumstances of this case.

3. Whether the trial court erred in denying [Venegas’s] motion for new trial in light of the insufficiency of evidence adduced at trial.

Holdings: The district court’s denial of Venegas’s motion to suppress is affirmed. Furthermore, there was substantial evidence for a jury to convict Venegas at trial. 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]