Court Summaries
| Jurisdiction | Wyoming,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 35 No. 2 Pg. 54 |
| Pages | 54 |
| Publication year | 2012 |
Vol. 35, No. 2, 54. Court Summaries
Issue: April, 2012
Daniel Walker v. State of Wyoming
2012 WY1
S-11-0103
January 4, 2012
This is a criminal case involving jury instructions and 404(b) evidence. Mr. Walker was charged and convicted of felony stalking of his ex-wife. The charge was based on a violation of a permanent order of protection. Stalking requires proof of a "course of conduct" that is reasonably likely to "harass." The allegation that led to the charge was that Mr. Walker was in Wal-Mart and he approached his daughter and ex-wife making a snide comment. That conduct violated the order of protection. Prior to trial the State filed a notice of intent to use 404(b) evidence; namely, all the prior contacts that allowed his ex-wife to get the order of protection originally. The district court allowed the evidence under W.R.E. 404(b). The court then instructed that these acts were to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. The legal problem is that those alleged prior bad acts are elements of felony stalking and must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt not by a preponderance of the evidence. The alleged prior bad conduct was not 404(b) evidence but instead was substantive evidence of a violation of the felony stalking statute. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed.
Shepherd of the Valley Care Center
V. Rebecca K. Fulmer
S-10-0236
February 2, 2010
This is a workers' compensation case. Ms. Fulmer was a Certified Nursing Assistant at Shepherd of the Valley Care Center (hereinafter "Shepherd of the Valley"). She was denied benefits by the Division. The Office of Administrative Hearings (hereinafter "OAH') upheld the decision, but the District Court reversed. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed holding that Ms. Fulmer was entitled to workers' compensation benefits.
Ms. Fulmer had two work related injuries while at Shepherd of the Valley. The first injury occurred August 12, 2008, when Ms. Fulmer was helping Seth Darrison move a patient. During the lift she heard and felt her hip pop causing her to have pain in her right hip. A physical therapist assistant at Shepherd of the Valley massaged the hip and popped it back into place. Ms. Fulmer then returned to work. Later, that afternoon, Ms. Fulmer was performing a patient transfer by herself. After the transfer, she began to experience pain in her right hip. This patient should have been a two-person transfer. She was seen by Dr. Snyder who diagnosed a lumbar strain.
The second injury occurred on August 30, 2008. Because of the earlier hip injury, Ms. Fulmer was on a light-duty restriction. As such, her responsibilities included passing ice and water to residents. This involved pushing an ice cart through the halls, emptying pitchers in the rooms, and refilling those pitchers with ice and water. While performing this task, Ms. Fulmer felt her hip snap and fell to the floor. She was diagnosed with a fractured right hip which required surgery.
Dr. MacGuire performed an independent medical examination on Ms. Fulmer. It was her opinion that this was a fatigue fracture and part of the process of normal aging; thus not compensable. She further opined that "this fracture could have occurred at any time, and since she was not in the act of bending, twisting, or lifting, there does not appear to be an occupational cause for her fragility fracture." Dr. Turner disagreed that Ms. Fulmer suffered a fatigue fracture. It was his opinion that a stress fracture occurred on August 12, 2008, that was missed on the earlier x-ray. Dr. Turner concluded that Ms. Fulmer's twisting or pivoting during the task of passing out ice and water caused the fracture to complete.
The Division and the OAH denied benefits. It was their position that as to the first injury later in the day, there was culpable negligence because she transferred the patient without help, which was against company policy, and therefore the injury was not...
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