Court Summaries
| Citation | Vol. 46 No. 4 Pg. 32 |
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 32 |
Anna Reeves Olson
Anna Reeves Olson is Senior Counsel in the Casper office of Long, Reimer Win-egar LLP.
Myron Woods v. State
S-22-0125
April 17, 2023
In February 2020 at 8:00 p.m., the Cheyenne Police Department received an emergency call about a disturbance at the home of Brittany Jackson. Officer Warren responded and found Jackson, Myron Woods, and his wife, Evelyn Rodriguez, at the scene. Officer Warren interviewed Jackson and learned that she was Woods' ex-girlfriend. Jackson also stated that while she and Woods were doing a custodial exchange, Woods grabbed her neck and pushed her. Officer Warren determined there was not enough probable cause to arrest Woods at that time.
At 10:00 p.m., Officer Warren returned to Jackson's residence after she called asking for further investigation. At this encounter, Officer Warren observed marks on Jackson's neck and now believed he had probable cause to arrest Woods for domestic battery. Officer Warren did not try to obtain an arrest warrant, believing it was not required.
At 11:30 p.m., Officer Warren and two other officers arrived at Woods' home. Rodriguez, who was visibly pregnant, opened the door and remained at the threshold of the home. Woods also came to the door and stood behind Rodriguez.
The officers asked Woods to step out of his home but he declined. After asking more questions, Officer Warren then reached across the threshold of the home to grab Woods' wrist and pull him out. Woods pulled his hand away and the officers entered the house, pushing through Rodriguez, to arrest Woods.
Woods was charged with domestic battery and interference with a peace officer. Woods filed a motion to suppress, which the court denied.
On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed and noted that W.S. § 6-5-204(a) states that "a person commits a misdemeanor . . ., if he knowingly . . . resists arrest by a peace officer while engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties." The Supreme Court reasoned that the officers' warrantless entry into Woods' home to effectuate a warrantless arrest was unlawful because it violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, thus, the officers were not "engaged in the lawful performance" of their official duties at the time of the arrest. This is because the Fourth Amendment requires officers to obtain a warrant before entering a home, absent consent or exigent circumstances.
The Court held that because Jackson did not consent and Woods: (1) did not possess any weapons; (2) did not pose an immediate threat to Jackson; and (3) could not destroy any evidence, the entry into his home without a warrant was per se unreasonable.
James Bullard Minter v. State
S-22-0209
April 21, 2023
In 1998, the State of Georgia indicted James Minter on one count of felony child molestation and he pled not guilty. Later, Minter pled guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor sexual battery pursuant to a plea agreement. His plea was accepted and he was sentenced to 12 months confinement.
By 2019, Minter had moved to Wyoming and when he applied for a firearm, his background check revealed the Georgia conviction. Subsequently, the Natrona County Sheriff's Office told him that he needed to register as a Wyoming sex offender.
Minter registered but filed a petition in district court seeking relief from the requirement. The district court held that his misdemeanor conviction in Georgia was the equivalent of felony second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in Wyoming and he was required to register.
On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed and noted that in Wyoming an "offender" is required to register when a person is convicted of a register- able offense. However, one who has merely been charged with a registerable offense does not need to register.
The Court reasoned that Minter's Georgia conviction could not be deemed the foreign equivalent of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in Wyoming because in order to be convicted of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor pursuant to W.S. § 6-2-315(a)(ii), the victim must be under the age of 13. Here, the elements of the felony that Minter was charged with were dismissed and were not proven or pled to, especially the age of the victim in Georgia. Therefore, there was no conviction for a registerable offense, there was not known to be an offender, and Minter was not required to register. The Court also held that the state may not require someone to register before it knows that the potential offender was convicted of a registerable offense.
Hopeful Partnership, Hopeful Ltd., & Ted Simo-la v. Etchepare, LLC, et al.
S-22-0171 2023 WY 33
May 3, 2023
In March 2021, Etchepare, a Wyoming LLC, filed a petition for quiet title and declaratory judgment naming Hopeful Partnership, Hopeful Ltd., 14 other entities, and Ted Simola as defendants. The petition sought to establish ownership of mineral interests in Laramie County.
In conjunction with the filing of its petition, Etchepare filed an affidavit for service by publication. The affidavit stated that the address of one defendant, a Pennsylvania entity, could not be ascertained after a reasonable and diligent search. The affidavit did not contain the known addresses of the defendants but asserted that "after the first publication" "the notice of publication . . . will be mailed to each defendant whose address is known by certified mail." Subsequently, notice of complaint and service by publication was sent by certified mail to all defendants with a known address. Service by publication was completed and no defendant was personally served.
Etchepare filed two applications for entry of default. Together, these applications requested an entry of default against ten defendants but did not request entry of default against the Hopeful entities or Simola.
In June 2021, Simola filed an answer in his individual capacity. He asserted the Hopeful entities dissolved in March 1990 and that he now held the mineral interests, together with other parties, as tenants in common.
In March 2022, Etchepare...
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