FOX , Justice . [ 1] The City of Torrington (the City) sought judgment declaring that it has the authority to set rates for electricity it provides to customers outside its corporate limits, and that it has broad discretion to utilize revenues from the provision of electricity for other City expenses. The district court determined that the Public Service Commission (PSC) has the exclusive jurisdiction to set rates for electricity provided by municipalities to customers outside the...
HILL , Justice . [ 1] Trefren Construction Co. (Trefren Construction) appeals the district court's denial of its motion to substitute the real party in interest and the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendants, V&R Construction, LLC, and Cocca Development, Ltd. We find the district court erred in dismissing the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, abused its discretion in denying the motion to substitute, and erred in prematurely ruling on the merits of the...
KAUTZ , Justice . [ 1] Tommy Hood suffered a neck injury at work in 2008. The Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (Division) awarded him benefits related to that injury, and paid his associated medical bills. In April 2011, Mr. Hood began experiencing short losses of consciousness, known as "syncope," which he attributes to treatment of his neck injury. The Division paid for attempts to diagnose the cause of Mr. Hood's black outs, and paid for treatment of injuries to his...
KAUTZ , Justice . [ 1] Appellee/Respondent City of Laramie (City) discharged Appellant/Petitioner Bret Vance from his position as a firefighter after random breathalyzer tests performed while he was on duty detected alcohol in his system. He appealed the discharge, and after an evidentiary hearing, the Civil Service Commission (Commission) reduced his discipline from discharge to a suspension (Commission Decision # 1). Both the City and Mr. Vance petitioned the district court for review of...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] The purchasers of a health claims administration company learned that they had not acquired all the assets they contracted to purchase. After continuing to operate the business for 18 months, they stopped making payments on the Promissory Note and commenced an action asserting breach of contract, among other claims. The seller counterclaimed for breach of contract, seeking full payment under the Asset Purchase Agreement, and the purchasers raised the affirmative...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) denied Mr. Jensen's worker's compensation claim on the grounds that he failed to prove a causal relationship between his automobile accident and his prior work-related accident. The district court upheld that decision. We affirm. ISSUES [ 2] 1. Did the OAH properly apply the second compensable injury rule 2. Was the OAH's conclusion that Mr. Jensen did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his automobile...
HILL , Justice . [ 1] This appeal arises out of an action by Alexandra Meiners, as personal representative of the Estate of Theodore Meiners, to enforce a divorce settlement agreement entered into between Theodore Meiners and his former wife Colleen Meiners. The district court granted summary judgment to Alexandra Meiners on some claims and to Colleen Meiners on other claims. After the district court certified its ruling as final pursuant to W.R.C.P. 54(b), Alexandra Meiners appealed the...
BURKE , Chief Justice . [ 1] Donald Young appeals his conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol. He contends that the district court erred in permitting the State to introduce expert testimony involving retrograde extrapolation to prove that Mr. Young's blood alcohol level was above 0.08% while he was driving on the night in question. 1 We affirm. ISSUE [ 2] The issue to be resolved, as set forth by the State, is whether the district court committed plain error when it...
KAUTZ , Justice . [ 1] The Appellants, Felix Felicis, LLC, Carol Baker and Mark Stein (hereinafter the Baker-Steins), filed a Complaint against the Appellees, Riva Ridge Owners Association and the members of the Association's Board of Directors and Site Committee, Cody Mueller, John Campbell, and Jeff Hussey, after the Site Committee rejected the Baker-Stein's building plans for their home and writer's studio in the Riva Ridge subdivision outside of Jackson, Wyoming. The Baker-Steins...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] Appellant Justin John Sadler was convicted by a jury of aggravated assault under Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-2-502(a)(iii) (threatening to use a drawn deadly weapon). Prior to his trial in state court, Mr. Sadler was convicted in federal court of being a felon in possession of a firearm, based on the same circumstances that gave rise to his state charges. The State indicated that it would seek to admit this prior conviction under W.R.E. 609(b) if Mr. Sadler testified. The...
DAVIS , Justice . [ 1] Appellant Marvin Clay challenges the denial of his motion to suppress evidence supporting a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol. We affirm. ISSUE [ 2] Did the district court err in denying Appellant's motion to suppress FACTS [ 3] In the late evening of December 19, 2014, a Cheyenne police officer stopped Appellant's car after it exited the parking lot of the Eagle's Nest Bar in Cheyenne, Wyoming. From that point on, the facts are disputed...
BURKE , Chief Justice . [ 1] Appellant, Mary Leib, sought benefits from the Wyoming Workers' Compensation Division after she developed abscesses in her breasts. The Division denied the claim. Ms. Leib requested a contested case hearing, and the Medical Commission upheld the Division's determination after finding that she had not met her burden of proving that her condition was related to her employment. Ms. Leib appealed to the district court, which affirmed the Medical Commission's...
DAVIS , Justice . [ 1] Appellant Jeffery Allen Lafferty was incarcerated awaiting trial for 811 days before pleading guilty to two counts of taking indecent liberties with his minor stepdaughter. Mr. Lafferty argues on appeal that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. We affirm. ISSUE [ 2] Was Mr. Lafferty denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial FACTS The Case Initially Filed — Docket No. 31-585 [ 3] The saga began on November 2, 2012, when the State...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] In 2011, Lance Bean was arrested for the 1972 rape and murder of Sharon Reher. He was charged with first-degree murder, rape, and attempted rape. The jury acquitted him of the rape and murder charges, but convicted him of attempted rape. The district court sentenced Mr. Bean to a suspended sentence of five to eight years in prison, and placed him on probation for five years. Mr. Bean appeals, claiming that the district court abused its discretion when it failed to...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] In 2006, Charles Palmer, Jr. pled guilty to three counts of second-degree sexual assault. The district court sentenced him to three consecutive sentences of eight to sixteen years and credited ninety-nine days of presentence confinement toward his first sentence. In 2015, Mr. Palmer filed a motion to correct illegal sentence, claiming that he was entitled to credit for presentence confinement on all three of his consecutive sentences. The district court denied that...
DAVIS , Justice . [ 1] Appellant Mother challenges a district court decision terminating parental rights to two of her minor children pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. 14-2-309(a)(iv) and (v) (LexisNexis 2015). She presents a myriad of arguments, ranging from a challenge to subject matter jurisdiction to a claim that the evidence was insufficient to support the termination. We affirm. ISSUES [ 2] Mother presents the following issues, which we have refined and reordered somewhat: 1. Did...
KAUTZ , Justice . [ 1] Brittany Leanne Poignee appeals the district court's order revoking her probation. She does not question the district court's actions at the time of her revocation, but claims she was denied the assistance of counsel when her probation was extended more than a year earlier. We conclude Ms. Poignee's challenge to the probation extension order is barred because she did not appeal it. Consequently, we affirm. ISSUES [ 2] Ms. Poignee presents the following issue on...
HILL , Justice . [ 1] Richard Redding was charged with felony interference with a peace officer after having pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge arising out of the same events. The district court denied Mr. Redding's motion to dismiss the felony charge on double jeopardy grounds, and Mr. Redding thereafter entered an unconditional plea of no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor interference. On appeal, Mr. Redding contends his second misdemeanor conviction violated the double...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] A jury convicted Ernest Ray Watts of aggravated assault and battery in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-2-502(a)(i) (Lexis-Nexis 2015), as a result of an altercation with his girlfriend. Mr. Watts appeals, arguing that the prosecutor's incorrect statement regarding the presumption of innocence and his attempt to define "reasonable doubt" in his closing argument constituted prosecutorial misconduct, the cumulative effect of which denied him his right to a fair trial. We...
BURKE , Chief Justice . [ 1] The jury in Casey J. Carter's trial for felony interference with a peace officer deliberated approximately four hours before it informed the district court it was deadlocked. The district court provided the jurors with a supplemental instruction urging them to continue deliberating. A short time later, the jury returned a guilty verdict. On appeal, Mr. Carter claims that the district court's supplemental instruction improperly coerced the jury, and that he was...
