Gary H. Richmond, Appellant (defendant Below) v. State of Wyoming, Appellee (plaintiff Below)

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed Gary Richmond's conviction and mandatory life sentence for first-degree felony murder — killing a human being during an attempt to perpetrate robbery under § 6-54, W.S.1957. The court held that dismissal of the first complaint at a preliminary hearing for lack of probable cause was not an acquittal, did not place Richmond in jeopardy, and did not bar refiling before another justice of the peace; that his tape-recorded and signed confession was knowingly and voluntarily obtained with full Miranda warnings and without unnecessary delay under Rule 5(a), W.R.Cr.P.; that manslaughter and assault and battery are not lesser included offenses of felony murder; and that an instruction on post-acquittal civil commitment was properly refused. Justice McClintock, concurring in the result and joined by Justice Rose, and Justice Rose, specially concurring, objected to the majority's decision to resolve the confession claim under Article 1, Section 11 of the Wyoming Constitution rather than the Fifth Amendment actually raised, contending the substitution was unauthorized appellate practice that jeopardizes United States Supreme Court review.