Wyoming Supreme Court

The Court affirmed Munoz’s second-degree murder conviction and the denial of his Rule 21 motions. It held the evidence sufficient, found no material prejudice from the transferred-intent instruction, concluded the Wyoming Constitution does not require a more protective ineffective-assistance prejudice standard, and…

The Wyoming Supreme Court sustained the State’s Bill of Exceptions and held that the district court erred by dismissing the charges for a speedy-trial violation under Rule 48. The court concluded that resetting trial after the competency suspension was a continuance in the due administration of justice, that the…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the acceptance of Underwood’s Alford pleas and his sentence, concluding that he did not establish plain error in the district court’s handling of accommodations for his intellectual disability.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Garcia’s motion to reduce his sentences under Rule 35(b). It held that the record did not support his claim that the district court failed to consider his motion, that his commendable conduct in prison did not establish an abuse of discretion, and that Rule 35(b) was…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the ruling upholding the 96-day deadline for changing or declaring party affiliation before a primary. It concluded that primary voting is protected by the Wyoming Constitution, but the deadline imposes only a slight, uniform burden that is justified by the State’s interest in…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the divorce property division, including periodic payments to Husband from Wife’s annual business-share distributions, Wife’s responsibility for associated tax consequences, and the parties’ equal responsibility for a loan from Husband’s mother.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed termination of Mother’s parental rights under the independent statutory ground in § 14-2-309(a)(v), which Mother did not challenge on appeal. It also concluded that DFS’s shortcomings in visitation, meetings, and transportation did not improperly interfere with Mother’s parental…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the defense judgment in a medical malpractice and institutional negligence action arising from an alleged patient-on-patient touching incident in a psychiatric unit.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed termination of Father’s parental rights under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(v), concluding clear and convincing evidence showed that the child had been in foster care for the required period and that Father was unfit to have custody and control.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s findings that Wagonhound acted in good faith, that a private road was necessary, that the selected route was reasonable, and that the awarded damages were proper, while reversing the district court’s imposition of the second sentence of Condition 4 and Condition…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment and six‑to‑eight‑year sentence, denied the appellant’s petition to file a pro se brief after the deadline, and allowed the court‑appointed counsel to withdraw.

The Wyoming Supreme Court granted the motion to withdraw appellate counsel and affirmed the district court’s order denying the defendant’s motion to correct an illegal sentence, after the appellant failed to file a required pro se brief.

The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the Laramie County Board of Equalization’s order remanding the assessor’s valuation to downgrade the home’s condition from average to fair, holding the Board’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence.

The court held that Wyoming's school-funding model violated equal-protection guarantees because teacher-salary funding did not reflect true costs and the legislature failed to apply cumulative, annual inflation adjustments.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s denial of Melber’s motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that he was not entitled to present‑sentence credit for his 259‑day Iowa confinement because it was not solely attributable to his Wyoming charge, and the Court lacked jurisdiction to review his…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's sentence, holding that presentence confinement credit is only owed for days the defendant was detained solely because of a financial inability to post bond, not for time served due to probation revocation, resulting in a credit of 64 days.

The court affirmed Mr. Brown’s convictions, holding that he waived any challenge to the validity of the K9’s free-air sniff by failing to raise it in a timely suppression motion and failing to establish good cause for the omission.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed a preliminary injunction barring Clement from acting or holding himself out as a manager or decision-maker for Cowboy Racing. Although the district court improperly phrased its order as a final conclusion without consolidating the injunction hearing with trial on the merits, the…

The court affirmed Walker’s convictions, holding that the district court properly excluded most evidence concerning his wife’s conduct because it lacked a sufficient connection to Walker’s intent and risked confusing the jury, while allowing adequate impeachment and defense evidence.

The Wyoming Supreme Court granted appointed appellate counsel's motion to withdraw after reviewing the Anders brief and the record and after Guerriero failed to file a pro se brief.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed Todd’s conviction for attempted sexual exploitation of a child, holding that the evidence supported a finding that he took a substantial step toward enticing the child to engage in masturbation, which is explicit sexual conduct under the statute.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's order entered after a limited remand, which found that Paul Sorum made a personal oral guarantee to pay Mike Sikorski for the Clean Crude storage-tank leases with personal funds if the company did not pay, breached that guarantee, and reaffirmed the $114,537.56…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's award of primary physical custody to Mother after her relocation from Cody, Wyoming to Colorado. Although both parents were found fit and competent caregivers, the court held the district court acted within its discretion because Mother's unilateral move rendered…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's entry of default judgment against William Lopez in favor of Samantha Ritter following a 2015 car accident. The court held that Lopez waived his due process challenge to service at a known vacant address by failing to raise it below, but addressed the…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Rene Irisrose Daniels's W.R.A.P. 21 motion for a new trial, which alleged trial counsel was ineffective for failing to seek suppression of her statements to law enforcement, failing to object to a detective's interview questions about non-existent eyewitnesses, failing…

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed a district court order holding Guy Morrison III in civil contempt for frustrating the parties' court-ordered filing of a joint 2021 federal tax return.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support Duncan’s sexual exploitation convictions, that the jury instructions were not plain error, and that the aggregate sentence was not cruel punishment under the state constitution.

The court affirmed the denial of Glenn’s suppression motion, holding that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop him based on an objectively reasonable mistake that his bicycle lacked a front light.

The court affirmed the conviction and restitution order. It held that sufficient evidence supported finding the exploitation occurred in Converse County because Beedy took control of the vulnerable adult’s property there, and it held that the clothing expense was sufficiently connected to that criminal conduct.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed Marler’s convictions and sentences, rejecting challenges to the admission of other-acts evidence, limits on impeachment and the rule of completeness, alleged prosecutorial misconduct, and cumulative error.

The court affirmed the judgment for the defendants, holding that Lacher waived appellate review of the partial grant of the motion in limine by failing to make an offer of proof.

The court affirmed the termination of both parents’ parental rights to the three children. It held that the Department’s procedural shortcomings did not improperly affect Father’s fundamental parental rights, and Father abandoned any challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence under the independent statutory ground.

The Supreme Court of Wyoming affirmed the denial of the Estate's claims against Katya Hutton concerning alleged undisclosed or misused condominium rental income. It held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by declining to impose Rule 37 sanctions because the Estate had not established a discovery…

The court held that the district court violated a clear rule of law by determining the willfulness of probation violations during the adjudicatory phase rather than the dispositional phase.

The court affirmed the denial of Campbell's motion to suppress, holding that the affidavit supporting the initial warrant established probable cause to search his residence for evidence related to a stolen U-Haul.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s decision upholding Albany County’s 2023 Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone amendments, including the 35-acre minimum lot size.

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the denial of both parties’ motions to enforce a purported global settlement agreement. It held that the parties lacked mutual assent on essential terms governing ditch access and the visual-storage restriction, leaving the agreement too indefinite to enforce.

The court held that Allen’s guilty plea did not waive his challenge to a pretrial order requiring him to liquidate personal property to maintain appointed counsel because the challenge did not concern his guilt, conviction, or plea voluntariness.

The court held that the appeal was technically moot because the Wyoming Boys’ School purged its contempt and the juvenile was later adjudicated delinquent, but reviewed the issues under all three recognized mootness exceptions.

The Wyoming Supreme Court summarily affirmed the divorce decree because Father’s opening and reply briefs lacked cogent legal argument and pertinent authority. The Court therefore did not reach the merits of the custody, visitation, or marital-debt issues.