KITE , Justice . [ 1] Robert Owen Marshall, III pleaded guilty to a third or subsequent offense of possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony, and misdemeanor driving while under the influence. On appeal, he claims the district court erred by ordering him to receive and pay for a substance abuse assessment and by relying on the assessment at sentencing to determine he was a qualified offender and recommend he receive substance abuse treatment while incarcerated. [ 2] We...
HILL , Justice . [ 1] Gary and Susan Beach (Plaintiffs) filed a complaint against Sonjia Weinstein and Trey Warren (Defendants) alleging injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by Defendants' failure to maintain a property they rented to Plaintiffs. Defendants made a W.R.C.P. 68 offer of settlement, which Plaintiffs did not accept. Following a jury verdict in Defendants' favor, Defendants filed a motion for costs in the amount of $45,410.62 pursuant to W.R.C.P. 68, W.R.C.P. 54(d),...
DAVIS , Justice . [ 1] Mark Icenhower was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. The arresting highway patrol trooper read him the statutorily required implied consent advisement before requesting that he submit to a breath test. Mr. Icenhower initially refused to take the test until the trooper said that a search warrant would be obtained and that Mr. Icenhower could be taken to the hospital, tied down, and have blood drawn. After considering that scenario, he...
BURKE , Chief Justice . [ 1] This dispute arose from an unsuccessful business venture involving the bottling and sale of "premium bottled mineral water" by Beartooth Mountain Springs, LLC. Philippe Lajaunie and Daren Singer were owners and co-managers of Beartooth. Mr. Singer ran the day to day aspects of the business. In 2011, Mr. Lajaunie 1 filed suit against Mr. Singer 2 claiming that Mr. Singer had breached his fiduciary duties as a manager and member of Beartooth. Mr. Singer...
KITE , Justice . [ 1] A jury found Trent Breon Dean guilty of felony stalking, for stalking his victim in violation of a protection order. He appeals his conviction and sentence, claiming the district court improperly instructed the jury concerning the elements of the crime of stalking and the State did not present sufficient evidence to establish that he acted with the requisite intent. We affirm. ISSUES [ 2] The issues for our determination are: 1. Whether sufficient evidence was...
KITE , Justice . [ 1] David Michael Norgaard claims he was subjected to cruel and/or unusual punishment in violation of the United States and Wyoming constitutions when he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole upon his second conviction for sexual abuse of a minor. We acknowledge the punishment is harsh, but, under the circumstances presented here, we find it is valid under both constitutions. Consequently, we affirm. ISSUES [ 2] Mr. Norgaard presents the...
DAVIS , Justice . [ 1] Appellant Caleb Campbell entered a conditional guilty plea to felony possession of marijuana, reserving his right to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence under Wyoming Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2). We remand to the district court for further consideration of that motion in accordance with this opinion. ISSUES [ 2] Campbell raises three questions relating to his underlying claim that police officers obtained evidence against...
FOX , Justice . [ 1] The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Workers' Safety and Compensation Division (Division) determined that Phylis Stevens' avascular necrosis (AVN) in her right hip was not caused by her October 2010 slip and fall at work, and denied her claim for medical treatment of the AVN. After a contested case hearing, the hearing examiner for the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) agreed with the Division that Mrs. Stevens' right hip AVN was not caused by her fall...
DAVIS , Justice . [ 1] Appellee LF sought a judgment determining that Appellant LP was not the biological father of KEP. Appellant claimed to be KEP's actual and presumptive parent, and that Mother's lawsuit was untimely. He also claims to be entitled to parental rights by virtue of de facto parentage or parentage by estoppel. The district court granted Appellee's petition to establish that Appellant was not KEP's father, and Appellant challenged that determination in this appeal. We...
KITE , Justice . [ 1] After a jury found Christopher Ray Counts guilty of aggravated burglary and kidnapping and found him to be a habitual criminal, the district court sentenced him to two concurrent life sentences. Mr. Counts appealed and this Court affirmed the conviction. Counts v. State, 2012 WY 70, 277 P.3d 94 (Wyo.2012) ( Counts I ). Mr. Counts later filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence 1 on the ground that one of the convictions relied upon for the habitual criminal...
BURKE, Chief Justice. [ 1] This case involves a medical malpractice claim filed on behalf of J.K., a minor, against Appellee, Leigh A. Montes, M.D. The district court dismissed the complaint, ruling that the cause of action was barred by the two-year statute of limitations contained in Wyo. Stat. Ann. 1-3-107. J.K. challenges that decision in this appeal. She contends that the statute, as applied to minors, violates the Wyoming Constitution. 1 We agree and reverse the district court's...
BURKE, Chief Justice. [ 1] Jeffrey Irene incurred serious injuries after being struck and pinned under a vehicle driven by Douglas Downs in the early morning hours of December 30, 2007. Mr. Downs had been arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol approximately two hours prior to the incident and was detained at the Natrona County jail. Eric Overlie, a licensed bail bondsman and an agent of Lederman Bonding Company, posted bail to procure Mr. Downs' release from custody. Mr....
FOX, Justice. [ 1] Appellant SAS appeals the district court's order terminating her parental rights to her two children, AGS and AMLD. SAS alleges that the district court lacked jurisdiction to terminate her parental rights because the Department of Family Services (DFS) and the district court did not comply with statutorily mandated deadlines; that DFS failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that parental rights should be terminated; and that cumulative errors committed...
DAVIS, Justice. [ 1] This is an action for partition of a ranch. Appellant Alice A. Platt challenges a district court order which requires the construction of a new ditch to carry the water she received to her parcel of land. We find that the orders entered by the district court are not sufficiently complete to establish that a partition in kind can be made without manifest injury to the value of the property, and that the district court's order is clearly erroneous because it is not...
DAVIS, Justice. [ 1] Appellant Kim Reifer challenges the revocation of his probation on constitutional grounds. He contends that the district court failed to properly advise him about the dangers of representing himself in the revocation proceedings, and that without the required warnings, his decision to forego counsel could not have been knowing and intelligent. We affirm. ISSUE [ 2] The issue for our determination is whether Appellant validly waived his Sixth Amendment right to counsel....
FOX, Justice. [ 1] Kenneth Levengood was convicted of aggravated assault and battery under Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-2-502(a)(iii) for threatening to use a drawn deadly weapon on his ex-girlfriend. On appeal, Mr. Levengood contends there was insufficient evidence that he threatened to use the weapon. We affirm. ISSUE [ 2] Was the evidence presented at trial sufficient to prove Mr. Levengood threatened to use the knife he was carrying FACTS [ 3] On the morning of January 9, 2013, as twelve-...
KITE, Justice. [ 1] Over sixteen years after pleading guilty to second degree murder, Roger D. Pfeil filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea, for a sentence reduction and/or to correct an illegal sentence. The district court ruled the provision of Mr. Pfeil's sentence that required him to repay the costs of his presentence confinement in county jail was illegal and vacated it, but denied the remainder of his claims. [ 2] We affirm. ISSUES [ 3] The issues we must resolve in this...
BURKE, Chief Justice. [ 1] Appellant, Richard Cameron Wilkerson, challenges his conviction for second-degree murder for the killing of Brian Newman. He contends the district court erred in instructing the jury on the malicious intent element of second-degree murder. Mr. Wilkerson further claims there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. We conclude that the jury instructions regarding the definition of malice were in accord with our precedent. However, we also conclude that...
DAVIS, Justice. [ 1] Inmate Kenneth Nicodemus appeals from the denial of a Wyoming Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) motion for relief from a district court order that dismissed a civil suit against three employees of the Wyoming Department of Corrections (DOC). We affirm. ISSUES [ 2] Nicodemus raises two issues, which we restate as follows: 1. Did the district court abuse its discretion by ignoring Bear Cloud v. State, 2013 WY 18, 294 P.3d 36 (Wyo.2013) ( Bear Cloud II ), when it denied...
FOX, Justice. [ 1] Appellant Deon Allen Leonard was convicted of four counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. He was sentenced to thirteen to fifteen years on each count, to be served consecutively. Mr. Leonard now appeals the district court's denial of his W.R.Cr.P. 35 motion, and alleges that he has been sentenced to multiple terms of imprisonment for the same offense in violation of the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and Wyoming Constitutions. We find that Mr....
