Court Summaries
| Publication year | 2011 |
| Pages | 48 |
Vol. 34, No. 4, 48. Court Summaries
Issue: August, 2011
Willis A. Center, Sr. v. State of Wyoming 2011 WY73 S-10-0211 April 27, 2011
Mr. Center pled nolo contendere to the crime of aggravated assault and battery. He received a 36-80 month sentence. He was given a furlough for the purpose of completing WYSTAR, an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment program in Sheridan, Wyoming. Mr. Center failed the treatment program. He was then placed in county jail to be transported to the Wyoming State Penitentiary. The sole rule of the case is that the district court should have credited Mr. Center for the time he was in the WYSTAR program. Justice Burke and Justice Voigt dissented on the basis that there is no authority for the sentence that was imposed that is prison but furloughed to WYSTAR before serving the prison sentence. According to these Justices, the only authority the Court has to suspend a sentence is Wyo. Stat. 7-13-302(a)(i) (Lexis 2011) and that statute then requires imposition of probation. The dissenters did not believe that the Court could grant a furlough because the furlough statute spoke only to the Department of Corrections' ability to grant furloughs. The dissenters concluded that the sentence is illegal because it is not authorized by statute.
Joe's Concrete and Lumber, Inc. v. Concrete Works of Colorado 2011 WY 74 S-10-0036 May 2, 2011
This is a simple breach of contract case with two important rules of law. Concrete Works of Colorado had a contract with the town of Marbleton to work on curbs and gutters. Concrete Works of Colorado contacted Joe's Concrete and Lumber, Inc. for the concrete. There was no formal written contract, but with each delivery, Joe's Concrete provided an invoice which contained the following provision: "purchaser also notes that all collection cost and attorney fees will be charged to this account if forced collection on this account is necessary." The first discrete issue is whether there is a contract. So can you deliver goods and on the invoice place terms that are enforceable as a contract if the goods are accepted? The jury found that there was a contract so the answer is "yes." The second question is how do you prove the attorney's fees? Must they be proven in the case in chief or must they be proven under W.R.C.R 54 after the case is determined on the merits? The rule is that if the attorney's fees claim is substantive and part of an element of damage, then it is proved in the case in chief. If not an element of damage, then it is proved through W.R.C.R 54. The difference in contract cases is in the language of the agreement. If the contract says "fees are recoverable to the prevailing party," then that is not substantive and W.R.C.R 54 applies. If, however, the contract reads, "that attorney's fees are part of the damages for breach," then it would be substantive to be proven at trial. The Court held that this provision was not substantive and, therefore, could be proven by means of W.R.C.R 54. The case was reversed so the decision on attorney's fees could be made under W.R.C.R 54.
In the Matter of the Adoption of RMS 2011 WY78 S-10-0209 Mays, 2011
EOS is the biological mother of RMS. JLS is the biological fa-/ther of RMS. EOS and JLS divorced in 2006. In 2008, Father was awarded primary custody of RMS and Mother was required to pay $250 per month in child support. Later in 2008, Father married Stepmother RS. In 2010, Father and Stepmother petitioned the court to adopt RMS. Their position was that Mother had abandoned the child since she had not paid child support in the last year prior to filing the adoption petition. EOS was $5000 in arrears on her child support. The district court allowed for the adoption and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed.
Mother argued that all that had been proven was that she was poor and uneducated and that she had an inability to pay child support, which did not amount to a willful failure to pay child. The general rule is that apparent inability or...
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