Harry Scott Harnsberger

In State v. Posey, the defendant was charged with and convicted of feloniously uttering a $1,000 check with intent to defraud the payee while knowing he lacked sufficient funds or credit at the drawee bank. The court reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding that the trial court erred by excluding defense evidence of the defendant's bank balance, related payments, and account activity that could show adequate funds or credit at the relevant time. The court further reasoned that the jury instruction was prejudicial because it incorrectly suggested the bank's refusal to pay the check alone established the defendant's knowledge of insufficient funds, whereas the statute requires independent proof of scienter and the refusal itself does not create any presumption of fraudulent intent.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved Charles Ditzel, convicted of embezzlement under Wyoming statute § 9-328 for failing to apply funds received from Kassler & Company in the manner directed by closing statements, instead using them in other ways without accounting for them when required. The Supreme Court of Wyoming considered two issues: whether the trial court erred by excluding Ditzel's testimony regarding alleged approval or consent from Kassler & Co. or its representative to divert the funds, and whether the statutory embezzlement charge was sufficient when it omitted the words "unlawfully and feloniously." The court held that the excluded testimony was direct evidence of permission rather than hearsay and should have been admitted, as the questions themselves revealed its competent, relevant, and material nature without need for an offer of proof; the charge was adequately stated in the statute's language. The conviction was reversed and the case remanded due to prejudicial error in excluding the evidence.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved a petition for a writ of mandamus by Blonder to compel Goodbrod, the recorder of Pumpkin Buttes Mining District, to accept and record lode mining claim location certificates without complying with local district regulations that required assignment of royalties and other payments to surface owners. The lower court granted a peremptory writ ex parte without prior notice to the defendant. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, holding that state statutes no longer required recording with the district recorder after a 1895 amendment deleted that requirement, leaving only county clerk recording as mandatory; thus, the district regulations imposing additional duties were invalid and created no enforceable obligation on the recorder. The court also noted that county recording alone provides full legal protection to locators.

propertyprocedurebusiness & regulatory

This case involved a divorce action in which the wife was granted an absolute divorce and a property settlement from her husband. The husband appealed, arguing that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over him because two summonses were defective in their return dates and manner of service, violating Wyoming statutes governing process. The court held that both summonses failed to meet statutory requirements for timely and proper service, rendering them ineffective to confer jurisdiction. Although the husband participated in the proceedings after his special appearance objecting to jurisdiction was overruled, the court concluded he did not waive the objection because he consistently preserved it at every stage. The judgment was therefore reversed.

family lawprocedure

In Arnold v. State, multiple defendants already serving penitentiary sentences for prior convictions were jointly tried in Carbon County district court on charges of felonious assault with intent to commit murder in the second degree; three were convicted by the jury of the lesser offense of assault and battery, while the others were acquitted, leading to a judgment imposing fines, costs of $904.70, and jail sentences on the convicted defendants to be served after completion of their existing terms. The convicted defendants moved to amend the judgment and retax costs on grounds including improper indefinite sentencing, joint liability for costs without apportionment, and deferred execution of the new sentences, while the acquitted defendants also sought relief; the trial court corrected the sentence to a definite six-month term but otherwise denied the motions. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the judgment as modified, reducing the costs assessed against one defendant to $57.60 on the basis that the record did not permit reallocation beyond what the trial court had implicitly found regarding shared evidence, while upholding the remainder of the sentencing and cost provisions.

criminal lawprocedure

In this quiet title action, plaintiff Milliron Oil Company sued multiple defendants including appellant Hillberry to establish its ownership of oil, gas, and other mineral rights beneath certain lands, relying on a 1916 deed from the Mill Iron Cattle Company and prescriptive possession. Hillberry countered that he held superior title to the minerals through a chain from George Merrill, tax deeds, and long-term adverse possession of both surface and subsurface. The trial court quieted title to the minerals in the plaintiff, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed. The core reasoning was that both parties' titles derived from the common source of the Mill Iron Cattle Company, which had severed surface rights (conveyed to Merrill) from mineral rights (conveyed to the plaintiff); under the rule that parties claiming from the same source are estopped from denying that source's title, the plaintiff's mineral deed was superior to Hillberry's surface-only grant.

property

This case involved a negligence claim by a minor plaintiff, through his mother, seeking damages for injuries from a car accident. The defendant car owner’s salesman had loaned the vehicle to a 15-year-old boy for a test drive without checking his license or driving history; the boy drove at excessive speeds on a highway, lost control while passing another vehicle, and caused a rollover. The plaintiff alleged both a defect in the car’s sway bar and the salesman’s failure to investigate the driver’s competence as causes of the accident. The trial court found that the defect did not contribute to the crash and that the salesman had not acted negligently, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the evidence supported the findings, that apparent competence was sufficient absent known incompetence, and that youth alone does not establish unfitness to drive.

torts & liability

The case concerned the estate of Grace Peterson, where the United States filed a claim for an unpaid promissory note balance more than four years after the statutory deadline for creditor claims had passed following notice to creditors. The probate court ordered the administrator to pay the claim from estate funds despite its rejection for untimely filing. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, ruling that the lower court exceeded its jurisdiction because state probate statutes mandatorily bar late claims and prohibit payment of such claims from estate assets administered in Wyoming, regardless of the claimant's identity.

propertyprocedure

This case arose from injuries to plaintiff Jimmie Marken, who was crushed between trucks while assisting in moving a drilling rig in Wyoming oil fields. Empire Drilling Co. was responsible for the move using its Mack truck and other vehicles; after the Mack truck became stuck in mud, Marken positioned himself between vehicles to chain them for assistance, and the load moved backward without warning, pinning him. A jury awarded Marken approximately $21,000, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the defendant was not entitled to a directed verdict and that the jury instructions, taken as a whole, adequately covered contributory negligence and proximate cause without prejudicing the defendant's rights.

torts & liabilityprocedure

In Smith v. Lewis, a licensed real estate broker sued a property owner to recover a commission on the sale of ranch land, relying on an alleged oral employment agreement and the reasonable value of services performed. The trial court entered judgment for the owner, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed. The court found that the owner had expressly refused to list the property or agree to any commission, the broker's telegram referencing a price above the owner's net figure did not create a contract, and the owner's later requests for assistance with inventories and abstracts were consistent with the broker acting as the buyer's agent rather than ratifying an agency relationship with the owner. Evidence that the sale closed at the owner's stated net price without any commission obligation further supported the judgment.

propertybusiness & regulatory

The case concerned the City of Riverton’s effort to open a through road across a dedicated public park by removing trees and a telephone pole, which prompted two residents and taxpayers to seek and obtain a perpetual injunction barring the city from creating such a road. The court affirmed the injunction, ruling that a prior unappealed judgment had conclusively established the park as dedicated to public use without reservation and that this determination was binding as res judicata on the city and all others. It further held that the plaintiffs had standing as residents and taxpayers, that public use had not created a prescriptive right to a road, and that the proposed route would function as a through street rather than an access road. The decision noted that the injunction left open the possibility of non-through access roads serving park facilities.

propertyprocedure

The case involved a contract dispute between adjacent property owners where Casper Lodge No. 22 agreed to pay Corbridge $2,880 to underpin and strengthen the foundation of its building during construction of a new lodge next door, with Corbridge acknowledging responsibility for any resulting damage. After the work, Corbridge sued for the contract price, and the Lodge counterclaimed for damages including settlement, cracks in walls and floors, and roof damage from construction debris, claiming over $24,000 in repairs. The trial court awarded Corbridge the full contract amount, granted the Lodge partial damages of $2,481.37 on certain items while disallowing others like the full cost of an acoustical ceiling, and entered a net judgment for Corbridge of $398.63. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court's findings on the nature and extent of damages were supported by the evidence and that the judge could reasonably apply common sense and judgment to conflicting testimony on repair costs without reversible error.

propertytorts & liabilityprocedure

This case involved a dispute over funds garnisheed from the sale of defendants' sheep, where plaintiffs obtained a judgment and the United States intervened twice—first claiming a mortgage interest and later an assignment—to assert priority to the money. After the trial court set a hearing on the second intervention but the United States did not receive notice of the date and failed to appear, leading to dismissal of its petition, the United States moved to vacate the dismissal. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the denial of that motion, holding that the failure to appear resulted from an excusable misunderstanding about the entry and service of the scheduling order, and directed that the issues be tried on the merits in the interest of justice. The court rejected plaintiffs' arguments for dismissing the appeal and emphasized that procedural defaults should not prevent adjudication where reasonable reliance on court processes caused the nonappearance.

procedurefederal power

The case involved a lawsuit by plaintiff Watson to recover on a $1,025 check issued by defendant Klindt that was dishonored upon presentation. Klindt admitted issuing the check but filed cross-claims alleging that Watson had fraudulently induced him to buy a release of an oil, gas, and mineral lease by misrepresenting sole ownership of the lease, forcing Klindt to pay an additional sum to a partner. The trial court permitted Watson to file a late answer to the cross-claims, denied default judgment, and after trial entered judgment for Watson on the check amount. On appeal, the court affirmed, holding that the evidence showed the release transaction occurred between Watson and the landowners rather than directly with Klindt, that Watson had disclosed relevant facts, and that no fraud was established. The judgment was supported by undisputed evidence and stipulations regarding the check.

propertyproceduretorts & liability

The case involved a plaintiff whose building and contents were damaged by a fire allegedly caused by a gas furnace that the defendant utility company had removed, adjusted, and reinstalled earlier the same day. The plaintiff sued for negligence in the reinstallation and thermostat adjustment, and the trial court instructed the jury that negligence could be inferred if the heater was under the defendant's exclusive control and the overheating would not ordinarily occur without carelessness. After a jury verdict, judgment was entered for the plaintiff in the amount of $22,636.86. On appeal, the defendant challenged the jury instruction and raised procedural objections to the record and briefs, but the court held the procedural defects were curable, found no reversible error, and affirmed the judgment.

torts & liabilityprocedure

The case involved Ann Helton, who was charged with first-degree murder after shooting and killing her husband in their kitchen on October 15, 1952, using a .38 caliber revolver. She was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and sentenced to a prison term of twenty to twenty-five years. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court reviewed extensive evidence including witness testimony, photographs of the scene, and the defendant's statements, finding insufficient proof of malice to support the second-degree murder conviction. However, the court rejected the defendant's claim of self-defense based on the circumstances of the shooting and the evidence presented. The court therefore vacated the murder judgment, upheld a manslaughter conviction, and directed the trial court to resentence the defendant accordingly.

criminal law

This case concerns an appeal by Rocky Mountain Sheep Company challenging the damages awarded when Carbon County, Wyoming, formally established the Pass Creek Road as a county highway across the company's land in 1951. The Board of County Commissioners had initiated proceedings under state statutes after the company disputed any prior right of way, appointed viewers and appraisers, and assessed damages based on a 150-foot width; the district court partially recognized a prior 60-foot prescriptive easement but the supreme court reviewed the findings. The court held that because the road had never been officially established as a county road before 1951, the county lacked any prescriptive right to a 60-foot strip, entitling the company to compensation for the full taking. It therefore remanded the matter to the district court for new findings and a proper ascertainment of damages under the governing statutes.

propertyprocedure

In State v. Callaway, the defendant was tried and convicted under a Wyoming statute for willfully receiving, concealing, and aiding in the concealment of a stolen Hereford cow carcass valued at $250, knowing it to have been stolen from the Bar Cross Land & Livestock Company. The information charged the offense substantially in the language of the statute without naming the thieves or specifying details of the original larceny, and the trial court admitted evidence including parts of the animal and overruled a demurrer. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the conviction and remanded for a new trial, holding that the defendant was entitled to a jury instruction on the proper consideration of uncorroborated testimony from an accomplice thief, even though the statute elements were adequately alleged and certain evidence was properly admitted. The court noted that one thief testified for the state and another for the defense, both having been paroled after pleading guilty, and found the lack of the accomplice instruction deprived the defendant of a fair trial.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved a guardian's petition to sell real and personal property of an incompetent ward to cover medical expenses and ranch operations due to insufficient income. The court had previously ordered the sale after finding it necessary for the ward's best interests, and after receiving bids, confirmed the sale of the "Home Ranch" and other assets to Odell-Arney Ranch Corp., despite objections from the guardian ad litem. On appeal, the court affirmed the confirmation, holding that it was within the trial court's discretion to confirm the sale if in the ward's best interest, and that all procedural requirements were met without any unauthorized reservations or sales of interests not owned by the ward.

family lawpropertyprocedure

This case involved a direct appeal by defendant Rocky Mountain Cementers, Inc. from a Natrona County district court judgment awarding plaintiff Ruegamer $5,915.06 on claims for unpaid salary from December 1950 to May 1951, unreimbursed business expenses, and a $3,750 loan made to the company in connection with a stock transfer agreement among the founders. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, holding that substantial evidence supported the plaintiff's accounts of the salary, loan, and expense arrangements, which were to be paid in cash rather than credited against stock purchases. The court also found no reversible error in the admission of an expense itemization list or the exclusion of certain defense testimony, and rejected the argument that federal tax withholding was required before wages were actually paid.

business & regulatorylabor & employmentprocedure