Court Summaries

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming,United States
• Citation: Vol. 45 No. 4 Pg. 34
• Publication year: 2022
• Pages: 34
• Year: 2022
• topic: Contracts,Constitutional Law,Employment Law,Personal Injury Law,Civil Procedure

Court Summaries Vol. 45 No. 4 Pg. 34 Wyoming Bar Journal August, 2022

Anna Reeves Olson, J.

Park Street Law Offices Casper, Wyoming

Kate Berens v. Eric L. Mumme & the Bd. of Trustees of Cheyenne Regional Med. Ctr.

S-21-0175

2022 WY 50

April 14, 2022

Kate Berens filed a complaint against Eric Mumme, her co-worker; and CRMC, her employer. She asserted claims of battery and negligence against Mumme, alleging he engaged in "horseplay" in the workplace which injured her. She asserted that CRMC was liable for her injuries because it failed to properly supervise Mumme.

When Berens filed her complaint on March 18,2021, the clerk gave her a receipt, confirming the court received both payment and the complaint, which identified the assigned judge. The judge recused himself on April 12,2021, and entered an order assigning the case to a different judge. Four days later, Berens moved to peremptorily disqualify the new judge. The district court denied the motion as untimely, holding that W.R.C.P. 40.1(b)(l)(B)(i) and 40.1(b)(1) (H) required Berens to file a peremptory disqualification motion within 14 days of March 18, the date she received the clerk's receipt with notice of the assigned judge.

On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed and held that the receipt generated at the time Berens' complaint was filed was not sufficient to start the 14-day period for a peremptory disqualification motion because notice was not entered on the record as required by Rule 40.1(b)(1)(H), which states that a peremptory disqualification motion "shall be filed no later than fourteen days after: (i) the entry of a notice assigning the judge as described in subsection (H) . . . ." Subsection (H) states that "[n]o later than five (5) days after a complaint is filed, the clerk of court shall enter a notice of assignment of judge."These rules create two prerequisites for a peremptory disqualification motion under these circumstances. First, there must be a formal notice of assignment, and second, the clerk must enter the notice of assignment within five days of a plaintiff filing a complaint. A plaintiff has 14 days from the time notice of assignment is entered to file a peremptory disqualification motion. W.R.C.P. 40.1(b)(l)(B)(i).

Here, Berens' motion was timely because she filed her peremptory disqualification four days after the first entry of assignment, which was within the 14-day period.

Joshua David Levenson v. State of Wyoming

2022 WY 51

S-21-0176

April 20,2022

In August 2018, Highway Trooper Shane Carraher was parked along 1-80 patrolling traffic. At 8:40 p.m., he observed a Nissan traveling eastbound with several semi-trucks. After the Nissan passed, Trooper Carraher decided to follow it at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

When Trooper Carraher reached the Nissan, he was in the left lane and the Nissan was in the right lane, both travelling east-bound. Trooper Carraher positioned his patrol car slightly behind the Nissan's rear bumper and noticed that the Nissan was traveling very close to the semi-truck in front of it. Trooper Carraher then stopped the Nissan for following the semi too closely.

Trooper Carraher approached the Nissan and contacted the driver, Angeliah Busch, and the passenger, Joshua Levenson. The Trooper informed them of the reason for the stop and later did a search of the car, which revealed 42 pounds of marijuana in the Nissan.

Levenson moved to suppress the evidence and argued that the initial traffic stop was pretextual, unreasonable, and that the Trooper's own driving conduct created a safety hazard that violated Art. 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The district court denied the motion. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed and noted that for the initial traffic stop to be constitutional, it must be reasonable under all of the circumstances. This includes objectively analyzing the officer's conduct to determine if he was justified in initiating the stop. Here, the Court found that the traffic violation for following too...