Summary 2012 WY 119

Summary of Decision September 10, 2012

Justice Voigt delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: RICHARD DEAN YOUNGBERG  v. THE STATE OF WYOMING

Docket Number: S-11-0202

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

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

Representing Appellant (Plaintiff/Defendant): Elisabeth M. W. Trefonas, Assistant Public Defender, Jackson, Wyoming

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff/Defendant): Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Stewart M. Young, Faculty Director, Joshua B. Taylor, Student Director, Kyle A. Ridgeway, Student Intern, Prosecution Assistance Program.

Date of Decision: September 10, 2012

Facts: The appellant, Richard Dean Youngberg, was convicted of one count of check fraud and was sentenced to seven to ten years of incarceration.  On appeal, the appellant claimed that the prosecutor committed misconduct when he told the jury in closing argument that the appellant was informed that there were problems with his checking account on March 17, 2010.  The appellant argued that the prosecutor’s statement was not consistent with the evidence presented at trial and, as a result, entitled to a new trial.

Issues: Did plain error occur when the prosecutor referred to the officer’s testimony regarding when the appellant was notified of problems with his checking account?

Holdings: Plain error did not occur when the prosecutor argued in his closing statement that the appellant was informed on March 17, 2010, of problems with his checking account, and despite that information, continued to write checks on the account.  This argument was consistent with the facts presented at the trial and, therefore, does not amount to prosecutorial misconduct.  The appellant’s conviction is 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] 

Summary 2012 WY 109

Summary of Decision August 9, 2012

Justice Hill delivered the opinion for the Court. Reversed and remanded.

Case Name: GARY LEE CARTER v. THE STATE OF WYOMING

Docket Number: S-11-0298

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

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, Honorable Nena R. James, Judge.

Representing Appellant: Diane M. Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Olson, Chief Appellate Counsel; and Kirk A. Morgan, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel. Argument presented by Mr. Morgan.

Representing Appellee: Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Stewart M. Young, Faculty Director, Prosecution Assistance Program; Joshua Beau Taylor, Student Director; and Richard E. McKinnon, Student Intern. Argument presented by McKinnon.

Date of Decision: August 9, 2012

Facts: Gary Lee Carter was tried and convicted by a jury of a single felony charge of possessing, with intent to deliver, two grams of methamphetamine in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-7-1031. The court sentenced Carter to twelve to fifteen years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary. On appeal, Carter contended that plain error occurred when the prosecutor elicited expert witness testimony that Carter was guilty of being a drug dealer. Also, Carter alleged that the prosecutor committed misconduct when arguing facts not in evidence during closing argument. The Court reversed.

Issues: Carter stated two issues for the Court’s consideration:

Plain error occurred when the prosecutor elicited expert witness testimony that Carter was guilty of being a drug dealer.

The prosecutor committed misconduct when he argued facts not in evidence in closing argument.

Holdings: The Court reversed Carter’s conviction and remanded this case for a new trial. Based upon an expert witness improperly testifying as to his opinion on Carter’s guilt and the prosecutor arguing facts not in evidence during closing, the Court could not say with confidence that Carter received a fair trial.

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]

Summary 2012 WY 50

Summary of Decision April 5, 2012

[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] 

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

Case Name:  MIACHEL G. MAIER v. THE STATE OF WYOMING

Docket Number: S‑11‑0070

URL: http://wyomcases.courts.state.wy.us/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=465308

Appeal from the District Court of Uinta County, Honorable Dennis L. Sanderson, Judge

Representing Appellant (Plaintiff/Defendant):  Diane M. Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Olson, Appellate Counsel; Kirk A. Morgan, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel.  Argument by Mr. Morgan.

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff/Defendant): Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Stewart M. Young, Faculty Director, Joshua B. Taylor, Student Director, Gregory Asay, Student Intern, of the Prosecution Assistance Program.  Argument by Mr. Asay.

Date of Decision: April 5, 2012

Facts: Miachel G. Maier, the appellant, was convicted of both first-degree and attempted first-degree sexual assault.  He appealed those convictions, arguing that he was prejudiced by the admission of hearsay testimony and by prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument.  He also argued that he was denied his right to effective assistance of counsel at trial due to his attorney’s failure to object to either the hearsay testimony or the prosecutor’s closing remarks.

Issues: Whether the district court committed plain error by admitting hearsay testimony by one of the state’s witnesses.  Whether the prosecutor commit misconduct in the presentation of his closing argument. Whether defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the hearsay testimony and to the prosecutor’s statements in his closing argument.

Holdings:  The appellant argued his convictions should be reversed because he was prejudiced by the admission of hearsay testimony and by prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument.  Although the Court agreed that inadmissible hearsay was presented to the jury, the appellant was not prejudiced as a result.  The appellant’s own testimony provided the jury with sufficient evidence upon which to convict.  The prosecutor’s statements in his closing argument represented reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence as elicited at trial and fairly summarized the main facts of the case.  The appellant also argued that he was denied his right to effective assistance of counsel for failure to object to the hearsay testimony and to the prosecutor’s closing argument.  The appellant failed to demonstrate that his trial counsel’s performance was so deficient as to require reversal of his conviction.  Affirmed.

Justice Voigt delivered the opinion for the court.

Summary 2012 WY 43

Summary of Decision March 21, 2012

[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] 

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

Case Name: Chad Faron Mebane v. The State of Wyoming 

Docket Number: S-11-0196

URL: http://wyomcases.courts.state.wy.us/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=465274

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, Honorable Jere A. Ryckman, Judge

Representing Appellant (Plaintiff/Defendant):  Diane Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Olson, Appellant Counsel; David E. Westling, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel; Wyoming Public Defender Program

Representing Appellee (Plaintiff/Defendant): Gregory A. Phillips, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General

Date of Decision: March 21, 2012

Facts: The Appellant, Chad Faron Mebane, appealed from his convictions of possession of methamphetamine, a misdemeanor, and two counts of delivery of methamphetamine.  Mebane asserted that the trial court erred by failing to advise him before he testified that he had a right not to testify and, as a result, his choice to testify was not made intelligently. 

Issues: Mebane raised the following issue on appeal: Did the trial court’s failure to inform Mr. Mebane of his constitutional right to remain silent and not testify result in an uninformed waiver of that right and result in Mr. Mebane incriminating himself at trial?

The State rephrased the issue as: Did the district court commit plain error by failing to advise Mebane of his right to remain silent immediately before he testified on his own behalf at trial?

Holdings: The Court found that Mebane was adequately advised by the trial court at arraignment of his right to remain silent and held that he voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waived his right to remain silent. Having concluded that no error occurred in this case, the Court found no need to proceed with the remainder of the plain error analysis.  The judgment and sentence of the district court was affirmed.

District Judge Sanderson delivered the opinion for the court.