Andy Jasper Vigil, Appellant (defendant) v. the State of Wyoming, Appellee (plaintiff)

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed Andy Jasper Vigil's convictions for three counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and two counts of conspiracy. The court announced that Wyoming abandons the five-part Dean test for admitting prior bad acts evidence and adopts the federal four-part Huddleston standard under Wyo. R. Evid. 404(b), holding that the State's burden to justify such evidence is triggered only by a timely and pertinent objection, with unobjected-to evidence reviewable only for plain error. Applying that framework, the court found no plain error in admitting the stepson's testimony about earlier cocaine exposure, no improper comment on Vigil's right to remain silence in the prosecutor's 'uncontroverted' remarks, and no misconduct in closing argument.