Ralph Kimball

The case involved consolidated lawsuits by the owner of a building damaged in a natural gas explosion, along with his insurer, and by tenants operating a garage business whose contents were destroyed; both sought recovery from the defendant public utility that supplied gas in Douglas, Wyoming. After a jury trial resulted in verdicts for the defendant, the plaintiffs appealed, arguing primarily that the trial court should have declared the defendant in default because it failed to timely pay costs and post a bond after obtaining an order changing venue, and that a new trial should have been granted on various grounds including evidentiary insufficiency and jury misconduct. The Wyoming Supreme Court held that the relevant statute's directive to adjudge an abandoning defendant in default was not mandatory but instead permissive, allowing the trial court to exercise discretion rather than automatically impose default, and that the trial judge did not abuse discretion in denying the motions for default or new trial. The judgments for the defendant were therefore affirmed.

proceduretorts & liability

The case arose in a criminal proceeding when a male defendant charged with felony objected to women serving on his trial jury, arguing that the Wyoming Constitution guarantees a jury of men only and that the 1949 statute making women eligible for jury service was unconstitutional. The court addressed certified questions on whether women are eligible as petit jurors in district court cases and whether Chapter 61 of the 1949 Session Laws is valid. It answered that women are eligible, the statute is a valid enactment, and it does not violate Article 1, Section 9 or other provisions of the state constitution. The reasoning focused on the historical context of jury qualifications, the constitution's equality provisions confirming women's civil and political rights, and interpretations from other states holding that references to "men" in jury clauses do not restrict legislative authority to expand eligibility.

criminal lawcivil rightsprocedure

The case involves a pedestrian plaintiff injured in a highway collision with an automobile driven by defendant Thomas Vukelic. The trial court entered judgment for the plaintiff after a bench trial. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, concluding that any variance between the pleadings (which alleged the wife was driving) and the proof (that the husband was driving) was immaterial under the applicable statutes. The court further held there was no substantial evidence of the defendant's negligence or to support recovery under the last clear chance doctrine, given the plaintiff's own contributory negligence.

torts & liabilityprocedure

This case concerns a father's appeal from a district court order approving the adoption of his two young daughters by the Lucas family without his consent, which was granted on grounds that he had abandoned the children after placing them with his mother and later the petitioners following personal hardships including his second wife's death. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the adoption order and directed dismissal of a related counterclaim for child support costs. The court held that the evidence failed to show the father's intent to forgo all parental duties, noting his arrangements for the children's care, occasional financial contributions, and lack of communication during a work absence in Alaska did not constitute abandonment when the children remained in stable temporary care. The court also ruled that monetary claims for support were improperly litigated in the adoption proceeding under applicable civil procedure rules.

family lawprocedure

This case concerned the enforceability of a 1931 postnuptial agreement in which a husband promised to waive his statutory right, under what is now Wyo. Stat. § 6-301, to elect to take one-half of his wife's estate rather than accept the terms of her will, which left him less than that amount. The wife had died in 1945 without children, and the executor sued for a declaratory judgment that the agreement barred the surviving husband from filing an election in probate court. The trial court upheld the agreement as valid but ruled it did not affect the husband's separate statutory exemptions. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, holding the agreement unenforceable because it was supported only by the wife's promise to return to the marriage and the husband's receipt of $100, without any showing of additional consideration or circumstances that would estop the husband from exercising his statutory right after her death. The court dismissed the executor's cross-appeal as moot.

family lawproperty

This case involves a worker's compensation claim by the widow and children of Gerald R. White, who died after suffering a crushing injury to his chest and shoulders while repairing a truck axle for his employer, Maverick Production Company. The district court awarded benefits, finding that the injury contributed to White's death from coronary thrombosis 22 days later. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the award, holding that there was substantial evidence, including medical expert testimony and witness accounts of White's deteriorating condition, to support the finding that the accident was a predisposing cause of the fatal blood clot. The court reasoned that the expert opinion linking the trauma to clot formation was sufficient, especially given the worker's prior good health and the lack of alternative explanations.

labor & employment

The case involved a dispute over ownership of mineral rights in 80 acres of land in Big Horn County, Wyoming, where the plaintiff sought to quiet title against the defendant's adverse claim. The plaintiff traced its title through conveyances that severed the mineral estate and a 1923 merger of corporations under Delaware law, while the defendant asserted ownership via prior conveyances or adverse possession. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's judgment in favor of the plaintiff, holding that the mineral fee had been properly transferred, the corporate merger was authorized and effective, and a plaintiff not in possession could still maintain an action to quiet title or obtain declaratory relief.

propertyprocedure

This case concerned a probate proceeding in which the administrator of Mason Rigby's estate sought to sell the decedent's real property, including 1601 acres of patented land and leased state school land, to pay debts and distribute proceeds to heirs. The property was subject to a 1941 lease granting lessees McIntosh and Grieve both a right of first refusal to renew and an option to purchase on terms the lessor would offer. At a public auction, the lessees bid the appraised value but sought to match a higher bid by invoking their option; the trial court approved aspects of the sale, but the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the order directing the sale of the real property. The court reasoned that the administrator acts under statutory authority for estate administration rather than as an agent of the heirs or decedent, so the sale was not the voluntary transaction contemplated by the lease option, and the lessees therefore had no preferential right over other bidders.

propertyprocedure

The case involved Barbara Roberts appealing a judgment dismissing her claims against the estate of Ora P. Roberts for wages for services performed and money loaned from 1927 to 1940. The lower court sustained a demurrer after she had initially filed the claims in probate proceedings as administratrix, waived the wage claim based on her belief she was the widow, and later sought to amend and pursue it following a court determination that no legal marriage existed. The court reversed the judgment, ruling that the probate rejection order did not operate as res judicata under the governing statutes and that her waiver amounted to a mistake of remedy rather than an election of remedies barring the action. The case was remanded for further proceedings on the merits of the claims.

family lawprocedure

This case involved a real estate broker suing a property owner to recover a sales commission after allegedly finding a buyer for the defendant's property. The trial court ruled in favor of the defendant on a general finding, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the judgment. The property had been listed for a cash sale price of $6,500 with a 5% commission, but the broker did not produce a buyer able to pay cash, and testimony conflicted on whether the seller had agreed to modified financing terms involving a mortgage and installment payments. The court held that the evidence supported the conclusion that the broker had not found a buyer willing and able to purchase on terms the defendant had accepted.

propertybusiness & regulatory

This case involved a petition for a writ of mandamus filed in the Wyoming Supreme Court by a Republican Party nominee seeking to compel the Secretary of State to certify his candidacy for the office of Secretary of State to fill a vacancy created by the death of the incumbent 26 days before the November 1944 general election. The state central committee had nominated the relator after the death, but the Secretary refused to certify the nomination under statutes providing that no election to fill a vacancy could occur if it arose less than 25 days before the election. The court denied the writ, holding that party central committees lacked authority under Wyoming law to make original nominations in these circumstances. The statutes permitted committees to fill vacancies only in limited cases delegated by convention or primary, and the legislature had explicitly restricted their power to make new nominations not arising from prior primary selections. The court found no inherent power in the committee to act beyond these statutory limits.

elections

This case involved a workers' compensation claim by the dependent family of miner Lee Hamilton, who was fatally injured when struck by a coal car in a haulage-way at the Swigart coal mine. The employer contested the claim, arguing that Hamilton's injury resulted solely from his own culpable negligence in entering a prohibited area where he had no work duties and had been expressly forbidden to go, as warned by posted signs, bulletins, and supervisors. The district court found in favor of the employer after a bench trial, disallowing the claim, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed on review. The core reasoning was that the violated rule limited the scope of employment rather than merely regulating conduct within it, rendering Hamilton an intruder or trespasser at the time of injury and making his negligence the sole cause. The court also upheld the denial of a new trial based on newly discovered evidence.

labor & employment

The case involved a dispute between ranch owner W. Cameron Forbes and his former manager Charles D. Long over whether Forbes had promised to increase Long's monthly salary by $50, retroactive to the start of his employment in 1929. Long sued to recover the additional pay after his 1939 discharge, claiming an oral modification to the original at-will employment agreement made during a 1932 conversation; Forbes denied making any such promise. After two jury trials, the second resulting in a verdict for Long on the contract claim, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the judgment in Long's favor. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding that the promise was made and that Long's continued service provided valid consideration for the modification of the at-will employment contract.

labor & employment

The case involved a wife suing her husband for personal injuries from an accident, raising whether Wyoming's Married Women's Act permitted interspousal tort actions that were barred at common law. The court affirmed dismissal of the suit. The reasoning examined the common-law doctrine that spouses are one legal person, preventing such suits, and analyzed whether the Act's provisions on separate legal status and suits "as if she were sole" eliminated that bar or left it intact under modern conditions; a majority of the judges concluded the disability persisted, while one would have allowed the action. The opinion also addressed related concerns such as insurance coverage and potential effects on domestic relations but did not resolve them as grounds for decision.

family lawtorts & liabilityprocedure

This case involved Dutch Maid Bakeries appealing a judgment denying its request for an injunction to enforce a non-compete agreement against defendants Harry Schleicher and his wife, who admitted breaking a promise not to manufacture or sell bakery goods in Cheyenne until December 31, 1943. The trial court refused relief on the ground that Dutch Maid's conduct during the underlying 1937 business transactions—including the organization of the corporation, transfer of bakeries from Schleicher and Wigwam, and related employment arrangements—had been unfair and unjust. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, finding substantial evidence that the plaintiff's actions, such as its control through dummy directors and termination of Schleicher's employment, savored of injustice and warranted denial of equitable relief. The court reasoned that while the employment contract might have been terminable at will if viewed in isolation, the broader context of the business transfer and investment made such termination inequitable.

business & regulatorylabor & employment

The case involved Charles Burnett, who was injured in March 1940 while manufacturing grain doors and sought workers' compensation benefits from Mason Roberts, alleging an employer-employee relationship under the Workmen’s Compensation Law. The sole issue on appeal was whether substantial evidence supported a finding that Burnett was Roberts' employee rather than an independent contractor at the time of the injury under their oral agreement for grain-door production. The court reversed the award of compensation, holding that Burnett was an independent contractor because he controlled his own work hours, owned and repaired all machinery used, managed the place of work and any helpers, supplied nails and other materials, and shared in the proceeds without Roberts exercising control over the details of the work. The court further noted that even if Burnett performed some hauling tasks as an employee, that separate arrangement did not make him an employee for purposes of the grain-door contract under which he was injured.

labor & employment

This case involved a dispute over a 1926 contract (the "2% agreement") in which the Thompsons promised to convey to plaintiff Houghton, as trustee, a 2% interest in oil and gas production from a 320-acre tract once that interest had earned $4,000 under a contemporaneous drilling lease with Bryner. After the Bryner lease was surrendered without the $4,000 threshold being met and a new lease (the Huber lease) later produced royalties, Houghton sued for specific performance of the conveyance and accumulated royalties. The trial court ruled for defendant Thompson on a general finding, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the contract's language and context limited the obligation to production under the specific Bryner lease then being negotiated, not to any future lease. The court reasoned that the parties did not address or provide for the contingency of a new lease after surrender, and subsequent events like changed drilling conditions did not extend the promise.

propertybusiness & regulatory

This case involved a November 1938 collision on an icy Wyoming highway between plaintiff's southbound truck and defendant's westbound coupe entering from a side road. After a bench trial, the court found both drivers negligent, dismissing the plaintiff's petition and the defendant's cross-petition. Plaintiff appealed, claiming insufficient evidence supported the finding of his negligence. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial judge could reasonably conclude plaintiff's speed of at least 25 mph on the slippery downgrade without chains violated the statutory duty to drive at a reasonable speed with due regard for conditions and other traffic, even though he had the right of way.

torts & liability

This case involves a worker's compensation claim under Wyoming law for the death of a commission agent operating a bulk gasoline station for Standard Oil. The workman was fatally injured in a car accident while returning from vacation after picking up two barrels of oil from the employer in Casper to transport back to Greybull, with plans to handle business matters en route. The district court awarded compensation to his dependents, finding the death resulted from employment activities. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the award, reasoning that transporting the oil was part of the employment and occurred while at work in a place required by the employer's business, and that any independent contractor issue was not properly raised below.

labor & employment

This case concerned whether musicians performing at the defendant's Palace Gardens venue qualified as performing "employment" subject to the state's Unemployment Compensation Act, requiring the defendant to make contributions on their behalf. The court decided that the orchestra leaders or contractors were independent contractors meeting all three statutory conditions for exemption under section 2(i)(5), so their services were not covered employment. The core reasoning was that the evidence supported findings of freedom from control, that the service was outside the usual course of the defendant's business, and that the leaders were engaged in an independently established trade, applying the statute's own definition of employment rather than common-law tests.

labor & employment