Robert F. Schmunk, Appellant (defendant) v. the State of Wyoming, Appellee (plaintiff)

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the first-degree murder conviction because multiple evidentiary errors and prosecutorial misconduct, viewed together, deprived the defendant of a fair trial. The court held that the jury should not have heard references to prior misconduct and polygraph matters, speculative testimony about the defendant's guilt, or hearsay concerning the victim's plans to leave. The court also held that the prosecutor's unsupported theory that the defendant had a dark or split personality constituted plain error.