Summary 2012 WY 160

Summary of Decision December 19, 2012

Justice Voigt delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Names: RAYMOND SANDOVAL v. STATE OF WYOMING, ex rel., WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

STACEY NELSON v. STATE OF WYOMING, ex rel., WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

STACEY L. NELSON and RAYMOND SANDOVAL v. CITY OF LARAMIE

Docket Numbers: S-12-0031; S-12-0032; S-12-0073

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

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

Representing Appellants in Case Nos. S-12-003, S-12-0032 and S-12-0073: R. Michael Vang of Fleener & Vang, LLC, Laramie, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee in Case Nos. S-12-0031 and S-12-0032: Gregory A. Phillips, Attorney General; Robin Sessions Cooley, Deputy Attorney General; Douglas J. Moench, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Michael T. Kahler, Senior Assistant Attorney General.

Representing Appellee in Case No. S-12-0073: David C. Clark, Laramie City Attorney, Laramie, Wyoming.

Date of Decision: December 19, 2012

Facts: This opinion encompasses three separate appeals that involve two appellants, but all challenged the same Laramie ordinance. While the appeals have not been consolidated, the Court joined them for the purpose of opinion. The appellants, Raymond Sandoval (Sandoval) and Stacey L. Nelson (Nelson), challenged the validity of Laramie Enrolled Ordinance 1592 in their contested case hearings regarding the suspension of their driver’s licenses before the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and in a declaratory judgment action. The district court affirmed the suspension of their driver’s licenses and dismissed the petition for declaratory judgment, finding that the claims were not justiciable.

Issues: 1. Did the OAH hearing examiners err when they determined that the appellants were given the proper Wyoming Implied Consent Advisement and that further advisement regarding a Laramie municipal ordinance was not necessary?

2. Did the district court err when it dismissed the appellants’ petition for declaratory judgment after finding they did not raise a justiciable controversy?

Holdings: The OAH examiners appropriately found that Laramie Enrolled Ordinance 1592 did not change the nature of the advisements law enforcement officers are required to provide an individual pursuant to Wyoming’s implied consent statutes. Consequently, the OAH also properly upheld the appellants’ driver’s license suspensions. Additionally, the district court did not err when it dismissed the appellants’ petition for declaratory relief. The appellants failed to present the district court with a justiciable claim and the district court correctly concluded that the issues presented in the petition should have been brought in the appellants’ criminal proceedings. Affirmed.

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

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