I have consumed a lot of theories, opinions, and naysaying about the recent court decision in the Wyoming Corner Crossing Case (known in the biz as Iron Bar Holdings, LLC v. Cape et al., No. 22-cv-67-SWS). It seems a lot of people are uncertain or, at least, very cautious about the meaning of that court order. I wanted to articulate my opinion. If you’re interested, please read this memo: 2023.06.16-letter-re-summary-of-opinion-by-trial-court-for-release-updatedDownload ..read more

Source: United States Senate – Office of Dan Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons March 17, 2023 Update — Governor Mark Gordon (R) signed SEA No. 0094 into law today. Accordingly, starting July 1, 2023, first-time, nonviolent felons may seek restoration of their civil rights, including the right to vote, the right to hold public office, the right to sit on a jury, and the right to keep and bear firearms following a five-year waiting period after they complete their criminal sentence. RAS The dust has nearly settled on the 2023 legislative session in Wyoming. On March 17, 2023, Gove ..read more

Inside a shopping center in Poland Source: WrS.tm.pl, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons On February 8, 2023, Oil City News published a story about a Casper police sergeant who faced a disciplinary suspension for entering a private business — a night club called “The Void” — without a warrant or probable cause that a crime had been committed or was being committed inside the club to conduct a “walkthrough.” You can read the article here. So, of course, I thought this would be a good opportunity to revisit the relationship between the Fourth Amendment and private businesses. The general rule ..read more

First of all, I am writing this from my cell phone. So, apologies for formatting issues or typos. Today, the United States Court of Appeals, for the Fifth Circuit, struck down a federal statute that prohibits individuals who are subject to protection orders from possessing firearms. And doing so, the court followed the United States Supreme Court’s decision last year in Bruen, which altered the legal framework courts must apply to determine if a law that affects a person’s right to bear arms for self-defense is constitutional under the Second Amendment. The Fifth Circuit focused its constituti ..read more

Source: The Library of Congress, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons;  Selected from “The War of the Nations: Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings,” published by the New York Times shortly after the 1919 armistice As discussed in this post, police are only required to give suspects those classic Miranda advisements that we’ve all heard on TV if the suspect is “in custody.” On December 13, 2022, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the murder conviction of Mario Mills and remanded Mr. Mills’s case for a new trial because it concluded the trial court incorrectly determined when Mr. Mills was ..read more

On June 29, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision that upended “centuries of tradition and practice” concerning the prosecution of crimes committed by non-Native Americans in Indian country, according to SCOTUSblog. In Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, 597 U.S. ____ (2022), the high court concluded that the federal government and states have “concurrent” or shared power to prosecute crimes committed by non-Native Americans in Indian country because (1) no law preempts a State’s jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed within the State and (2) Indian country within a State is n ..read more

(Source: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) SNAPSHOT Wyoming’s castle doctrine protects force used to protect against intruders or would-be intruders near vehicles adapted for overnight accommodation (i.e., sleeping in the vehicle). Wyoming’s castle doctrine does not require an intruder to attempt to enter a home or habitation. Wyoming’s castle doctrine may apply to would-be intruders just outside or near homes or habitations. On December 1, 2022, a closely divided Wyoming Supreme Court issued an opinion that expanded Wyoming’s “ca ..read more

Wyoming Territorial Prison, July 5, 2011 (source: cogdogblog, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons) The United States Supreme Court has long recognized the “natural desire” of incarcerated people to seek their release from confinement. See Conn. Bd. of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U.S. 458, 464 (1981). Wyoming law allows inmates to file motions to reduce, correct, or otherwise modify their terms of incarceration pursuant to Rule 35 of the Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedure. However, inmates have another, much narrower option for similar relief. “Clemency ..read more

The Wyoming Supreme Court recently issued two opinions that serve as important reminders to criminal defendants in Wyoming. First, a criminal defendant cannot withdraw a “no contest” or “guilty” plea after he is sentenced based only on the State’s sentencing argument about the quality or condition of the evidence against that defendant. Second, a criminal defendant who believes he may not be not guilty due to a mental disease or defect that affected his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law can enter a traditional “not gu ..read more

As a criminal defense attorney, one of the most important and enigmatic questions I get is: what sentence do you think the judge would give me for this? Important because, of course, the person wants to know what will happen to them; they want to plan for their lives and understand what the next few years (or longer) might look like. Enigmatic because, well, state court judges in Wyoming have wide discretion to impose any sentence they feel like for most crimes. State court judges in Wyoming have wide discretion to impose any sentence they feel like for most crimes. Trial courts “are free, i ..read more