William A. Riner

This case involved plaintiffs seeking to enjoin Wyoming state water officials from interfering with their claimed water rights on lands originally allotted under 19th-century treaties creating the Wind River Indian Reservation and later conveyed to non-Indian owners after partial cession of reservation lands. The trial court denied the injunction after finding that the plaintiffs had not established superior rights over other users. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the plaintiffs failed to prove specific quantities of water used or irrigated acreage as required for injunctive relief, that their rights had not been formally adjudicated, and that the evidence was insufficient to support an order against the officials. The court noted that any rights should be determined through proceedings before the state Board of Control rather than by injunction in this action.

propertyfederal powerprocedure

In State v. Paulas, the defendant was charged with arson for allegedly setting fire to a haystack valued at $25 or more belonging to another person in Platte County, Wyoming, on May 16, 1953. A jury convicted him after a trial in which he represented himself, based primarily on circumstantial evidence including footprints found near the stack and leading toward his residence across a traveled gravel road. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial, holding that the trial court's jury instruction on circumstantial evidence was inadequate because it failed to require that the facts exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence other than guilt. The court further concluded that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, as the tracks could not be positively traced across the road and other explanations remained possible.

criminal law

The case involved a landowner who trapped and killed beaver damaging her property, stored the pelts, and then sued the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission along with various officials after they seized the pelts, seeking actual and punitive damages. The central issue was whether a state agency could be sued for tort damages without the state's consent. The court affirmed the lower court's ruling sustaining a demurrer, holding that such a suit against an agency performing a governmental function does not lie absent legislative consent. This decision rested on longstanding Wyoming precedents interpreting the state constitution to require explicit legislative authorization for suits against the state or its agencies.

procedurepropertytorts & liability

This case concerned the estate of Fred Jansen, who died intestate in 1952 leaving ten children as heirs and an estate valued at about $36,000. The district court ruled that a $6,211.91 bank account Fred had transferred into a joint account with his son Elmer Jansen and Elmer's wife shortly before his death constituted an advancement that must be charged against Elmer's share of the inheritance. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed that ruling on appeal. It held that the presumption of an advancement arising from a parent's transfer of property to a child is overcome by evidence of contrary intent, and the record here—including Elmer's long unpaid management of the father's properties and the circumstances of the transfer—showed overwhelmingly that Fred did not intend the joint account as an advancement. The matter was remanded for entry of an order consistent with that conclusion.

family lawproperty

The case involved Leo Wagner's conviction in Casper municipal court for driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, resulting in a $100 fine. Wagner appealed to the district court but took no action to prosecute the appeal over multiple court terms. The city moved to dismiss the appeal for failure to diligently prosecute, the district court granted the motion, and Wagner appealed that dismissal. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the statutory speedy-trial discharge provision (W.C.S. 1945 § 10-1313) does not apply to appeals from municipal-court convictions already obtained, and that a defendant must affirmatively request a trial de novo rather than passively await dismissal.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involves a workers' compensation claim under Wyoming law by Leo Carey, a truck driver employed by Schroeder Mining Company, who was injured by lightning while in the company office after turning in his time card at the end of his shift. The lightning entered through the ungrounded electrical system connecting the office to a high-voltage government line, which lacked proper grounding, lightning arresters, or other safeguards despite prior incidents of storm damage to company equipment. The trial court denied benefits, ruling the injury was an act of God that did not arise out of the employment. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, holding that Carey's required presence at the office exposed him to a heightened risk from lightning due to the employer's deficient electrical setup, which was not shared by the general public, and thus the injury was compensable. The court remanded for further proceedings on the extent of disability and an award.

labor & employment

The case involved Nick C. Benaris's conviction in Casper municipal court for violating a city ordinance prohibiting driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs, resulting in a $100 fine. Benaris attempted to appeal to the Natrona County District Court but did not file a transcript of the police justice's proceedings or a copy of the complaint as required by Wyoming statutes governing appeals from municipal courts, which follow procedures similar to those from justice of the peace courts. The district court dismissed the appeal on the city's motion, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the appellant bears the responsibility to ensure all necessary records are properly transmitted and filed, consistent with its prior ruling in State v. Anderson.

criminal lawprocedure

This case is the second appeal of a family dispute in which plaintiff Ethel Hawkey sued defendants including Williams, concerning allegations of mistreatment and strained relations between Hawkey, her mother Nona, and the grandchildren. After the Supreme Court previously reversed a dismissal and remanded, the trial court on retrial heard additional evidence, made findings of fact in favor of the plaintiff, and entered judgment accordingly. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that where the evidence is sharply conflicting, appellate review is limited to determining whether substantial evidence supports the trial court's findings, and that the court must accept the successful party's evidence as true while disregarding conflicting evidence from the opposing side.

family lawprocedure

This case concerns a dispute over the administration of an insolvent decedent's estate with assets in both Colorado (domiciliary probate) and Wyoming (ancillary probate). The ancillary administrator in Wyoming, where the local estate appeared solvent, paid claims filed by Wyoming creditors in full after proper notice, without regard to Colorado creditors who had not filed claims in the Wyoming proceedings. The District Court approved the ancillary administrator's final accounting over objections from the domiciliary administrator. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that local assets under ancillary administration are primarily for satisfying local creditors, that ancillary proceedings are governed solely by the local court, and that claims must be timely filed in the jurisdiction where payment is sought under principles of conflict of laws and the absence of statutes allowing foreign representatives to act extraterritorially.

procedureproperty

This case involved a dispute between contractor George Lasich and property owner Clarence Wimpenney over performance and payment under a written contract to build a house on Wimpenney's lot in Riverton, Wyoming. Lasich sought full payment while Wimpenney claimed credits and deductions for incomplete items such as exterior painting, garage work, and other adjustments. The district court entered judgment with various offsets, and the Wyoming Supreme Court modified it by correcting a typographical error in one amount, allowing credit for garage doors, and granting the owner credit for painting costs the contractor should have covered, then affirmed the judgment as modified. The core reasoning rested on the contract's explicit terms for staged payments, completion standards, lien clearance, and allowances for changes or deficiencies, as applied to the evidence of work actually performed and expenses incurred.

propertybusiness & regulatory

The case concerned a dispute between ranch owners (plaintiffs) holding surface rights to approximately 400 acres in Wyoming and oil companies (defendants) holding federal oil and gas leases on the same land, which had been patented subject to mineral reservations under the Acts of July 17, 1914 and December 29, 1916. These statutes permitted mineral lessees to reenter the surface for operations reasonably incident to extraction, upon payment of damages to crops and improvements or posting of a bond. After the plaintiffs sought a continuance of the trial, the district court ordered them to pay half the defendants' related expenses as a condition; when they later failed to pay and the case was dismissed, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed. The court reasoned that the plaintiffs had accepted the continuance on the terms set by the trial judge and therefore could not later challenge the cost order or the resulting dismissal, consistent with state statutes authorizing courts to impose costs for continuances.

propertyprocedure

This case is an appeal from a manslaughter conviction in Wyoming state court, where defendant Virginia M. Jones was found guilty of fatally shooting her husband with a rifle during a domestic dispute on March 30, 1953. The opinion details the couple's history of abuse, the events leading to the shooting, and the circumstances of the defendant's questioning by law enforcement afterward. The court reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial, holding that statements made by the defendant to officers were inadmissible because they were not shown to be voluntary, given the forced injection of a narcotic, misleading statements by the county attorney, and other coercive conditions during interrogation. The decision emphasizes that confessions or admissions must be spontaneous and free from extraneous influence under established legal standards.

criminal lawprocedure

This case arose from a 1953 Wyoming statute (Ch. 137) that sought to detach certain lands from Albany County and annex them to Converse County, with the change conditioned on voter approval in a special election to be called by the Albany County commissioners. The plaintiff, a resident of the affected territory, petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel the commissioners to set and hold the election after they declined due to errors in the statutory boundary descriptions. The court held that the act contained uncorrectable defects in defining Converse County's boundaries, which could not be remedied through judicial interpretation or rewriting without exceeding the court's authority, and that the legislature's intent could not be salvaged from the plain but flawed language. Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and directed the district court to dismiss the mandamus action, leaving any fix to future legislative action.

electionsprocedure

This case involved an unemancipated minor son, through his mother as next friend, suing his father for damages from injuries sustained in an airplane crash during a pleasure flight, alleging the father's ordinary negligence in failing to ensure adequate fuel and in executing an emergency landing. The district court sustained the father's demurrer and dismissed the petition, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed that judgment. The court held that, absent statutory authorization or allegations of willful or malicious conduct, an unemancipated child may not maintain a tort action against a parent for negligence, as such suits would disrupt family tranquility, interfere with parental discipline, and contravene public policy favoring family unity.

family lawtorts & liability

In Tompkins v. Byrtus, plaintiffs sued defendants for $273.60 in damages plus exemplary damages, alleging that defendants negligently constructed a dam on their driveway that diverted rainwater from its natural course into plaintiffs' newly built cabin, causing flooding during heavy rains. Defendants answered that any damage resulted from plaintiffs' own failure to provide proper drainage for their property. After a jury trial, the jury returned a general verdict for the defendants, and the district court entered judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' petition with costs. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, applying the rule that it must credit the evidence favoring the prevailing party, disregard conflicting evidence, and find no prejudicial error in the trial court's handling of an interpreter, incidental testimony about a later patio, or other assigned errors. The court concluded that the evidence supported the verdict under established appellate standards.

torts & liabilityproperty

The case involved a criminal prosecution of John Berger for assault with intent to kill Henry Boles arising from a September 13, 1951, confrontation at Berger's Wyoming ranch involving disputes over stray bulls and neighbors. After a jury trial in Crook County, Berger was convicted of the lesser offense of assault with intent to commit manslaughter and sentenced to two to three years in prison. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court identified errors in the jury instructions, including conflicting and undefined references to a nonexistent crime of aggravated assault, and determined that the evidence supported at most a conviction for simple assault rather than the charged or convicted offenses. The court therefore reversed the judgment regarding intent to commit manslaughter, affirmed the conviction only as to simple assault, and remanded for resentencing on that lesser charge, while giving the State the option to pursue a new trial.

criminal law

This case involved a civil suit by plaintiff Lee R. Glover against defendant John Berger for assault and battery, stemming from Berger shooting Glover with a rifle at Berger's home in 1951; Glover sought compensatory and punitive damages for severe, permanent injuries to his arm and hand. Berger admitted the shooting but asserted self-defense and defense of another, claiming Glover and a companion approached threateningly, and he also raised provocation as a defense. After a change of venue, a jury convicted Berger in a related criminal case of assault and battery and awarded Glover substantial damages in the civil trial. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, holding that the trial court properly refused a jury instruction that could encourage disagreement, that the verdict was supported by the evidence on lack of justification, and that the damages were not excessive given the facts including the plaintiff's medical needs and lost earning capacity.

torts & liabilitycriminal lawprocedure

The case involved a dispute between plaintiff Ralph Metcalfe and defendant John H. Winchester, Jr., over payment for plowing services on land in Johnson County, Wyoming, stemming from an oral agreement to lease the property that was never reduced to writing. Metcalfe sought recovery in quantum meruit after ceasing work when the lease was not executed, while Winchester admitted some plowing but counterclaimed for damages arising from Metcalfe's failure to seed and farm the land as agreed. The trial court awarded Metcalfe $1508, but on appeal the Wyoming Supreme Court modified the judgment downward to $605, holding that Metcalfe's willful refusal to complete seeding entitled Winchester to an offset for lost crop value and related costs. The court also addressed evidentiary issues, ruling that photographs taken by Winchester of the plowed land's condition should have been admitted as they accurately depicted relevant facts and could have been verified by his testimony.

propertyprocedure

In Hawkey v. Williams, plaintiff Ethel Hawkey sued her sister Jennie Williams and the executrix of their mother Nona Williams' estate, alleging that she had assigned her one-third interest in inherited ranch properties to her mother in reliance on oral promises that she and her sister would share equally upon the mother's death; instead, the mother conveyed the real estate to Jennie and left her will giving Ethel only one dollar. The district court granted defendants' motion to dismiss the petition at the close of plaintiff's evidence. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, holding that the evidence could support impressing a constructive trust on the property based on the oral agreement to devise it equally, as failure to honor such a promise would constitute fraud, and that no creditor's claim was required to be filed in probate under these circumstances. The court remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

family lawpropertyprocedure

The case involved workers' compensation claims arising from a fatal car accident on April 29, 1952, in which two employees of Brannan Motor Company, Mox William Weidt Jr. and Paul C. Smith, died while traveling in a company vehicle to attend a carburetor school in Cheyenne at the direction of the company's president. Weidt was driving at excessive speeds, evading a highway patrol officer, and ultimately crashed into a telephone pole. The District Court of Laramie County awarded benefits in both cases, but on appeal the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the award for Weidt's estate and remanded with instructions to dismiss, while affirming the award to Smith's widow and children. The court reasoned that Weidt's conduct constituted culpable negligence that barred recovery, whereas Smith, as a passenger, was not shown to have engaged in culpable negligence because he lacked opportunity to intervene and the employer had furnished the transportation as part of the employment.

labor & employmenttorts & liability