Barrowes v. State

Decision Date01 March 2017
Docket NumberS-16-0155
Citation390 P.3d 1126
Parties Edward Christopher BARROWES, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
CourtWyoming Supreme Court

Representing Appellant: Office of the State Public Defender: Diane Lozano, State Public Defender; Tina N. Olson, Chief Appellate Counsel; Kirk A. Morgan, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel. Argument by Mr. Morgan.

Representing Appellee: Peter K. Michael, Wyoming Attorney General; David L. Delicath, Deputy Attorney General; Philip M. Donoho, Assistant Attorney General; Darrell D. Jackson, Faculty Director; K. T. Farrelly, Student Director; and Sierra M. Collver, Student Intern, of the Prosecution Assistance Program. Argument by Ms. Collver.

Before BURKE, C.J., and HILL, DAVIS, FOX, and KAUTZ, JJ.

DAVIS, Justice.

[¶1] Appellant Edward Barrowes challenges his conviction of aggravated vehicular homicide as defined by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-106(b)(ii) (LexisNexis 2015). He claims the evidence presented by the State was insufficient to establish that he drove in a reckless manner. We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶2] Was the evidence sufficient to support the jury's verdict that Barrowes was guilty of aggravated homicide by vehicle?

FACTS

[¶3] Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the State, see Hill v. State , 2016 WY 27, ¶ 20, 371 P.3d 553, 560 (Wyo. 2016), the facts established at trial are as follows. Barrowes is a professional semi-trailer truck driver with a commercial driver's license. A commercial driver's license certifies that a person has gone through the required training and testing and can legally operate a commercial motor vehicle weighing over a certain amount. Those holding a commercial driver's license are subject to federal regulations because of the higher level of knowledge, experience, and skill required to drive a commercial motor vehicle.

[¶4] The day before the accident, on April 21, 2015, Barrowes and his co-driver, Dennis Pehrson, departed Tremonton, Utah in a semi tractor pulling two trailers to the Denver area. They left around 4:30 p.m., and Pehrson drove the entire stretch from Utah to Colorado, while Barrowes rested in the sleeper berth behind the driver's cabin.1 This portion of the trip lasted until approximately 1:00 a.m. on the morning of April 22. During at least some of the time while Barrowes was to be resting in the sleeper portion of the tractor, the evidence indicated that he was sending and receiving text messages and possibly talking on the phone.

[¶5] Barrowes left the sleeper berth at around 2:00 a.m., while the two were waiting to pick up the return load and return to Utah. Their freight2 was ready to transport around 3:30 a.m. Barrowes took the wheel for the return trip to Tremonton, and Pehrson climbed into the sleeper berth.

[¶6] Around 6:45 a.m., Barrowes stopped in the vicinity of Rawlins for an hour and forty-five minutes, but it is unclear what he did during that time. He then continued west on Interstate 80.

[¶7] Forty-five minutes after he got back on the road, another professional truck driver operating a tractor-trailer behind Barrowes' truck observed the vehicle swerving "pretty bad at times" for around three miles over a period of three or four minutes. The vehicle was swerving so badly that the other truck driver did not pass and instead slowed down to keep some distance between the two rigs. He observed that every time Barrowes' truck would straighten up, it would soon start swerving again. The truck passed two exit ramps while the other driver observed its erratic movements. The rig was travelling around 65 miles an hour, below the posted limit on I-80.

[¶8] Meanwhile, another truck had broken down earlier on the west-bound shoulder of I-80 near Wamsutter. The owner of the vehicle, Aleksandr Kozak, came to the scene to render assistance to the driver. The rig was properly parked on the right shoulder of the road, and its hazard lights were flashing. Emergency reflective triangles were placed along the road, and Kozak wore reflective clothing. The weather was good and visibility was clear, so there were no impediments to seeing the broken-down truck.

[¶9] After swerving for three to four minutes, Barrowes' truck veered right at 65 miles per hour and crashed into the parked tractor-trailer rig. The truck struck Kozak as he was working on the truck and killed him. Pehrson, who was asleep in the sleeper berth, was thrown from his bunk when the side of the cab came apart. He suffered significant injuries that were not life-threatening. Barrowes did not hit the brakes or take any other type of evasive action before the crash because he was asleep at the wheel.

[¶10] Shortly after the crash, a highway patrolman arrived on the scene. Barrowes told the trooper that he "did not manage [his] drowsiness appropriately." The trooper asked Barrowes if he fell asleep at the wheel, and Barrowes said he had.

[¶11] Over two hours after the crash, Barrowes sent a text message stating: "I was rushing to get to Tremonton.... I should not have allowed my mind to be rushed." Barrowes told investigators of the Sweetwater County sheriff's office that he allowed scheduling to take precedence over tiredness, and he acknowledged that driving while drowsy is dangerous.

[¶12] The next day, April 23, Barrowes was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony, for Kozak's death, and also with driving a commercial vehicle while ill or fatigued, a misdemeanor. The State was later allowed to amend the information to replace the manslaughter charge with one count of aggravated homicide by vehicle. Its motion to dismiss the misdemeanor charge without prejudice was granted.

[¶13] As the case proceeded, Barrowes filed a motion that he had written without his counsel's knowledge. In that motion, Barrowes made several inculpatory statements. He admitted that he had put his schedule ahead of tiredness and safety, ignored safety concerns, and passed exits right before the crash. He said that he tried to fight off fatigue, but failed to do so, which resulted in the fatal accident. However, he also blamed the Wyoming Highway Patrol in part because state troopers will ticket trucks parked on off-ramps to allow a driver to rest.

[¶14] A three-day jury trial was held. The evidence the State presented included the above facts and the statements Barrowes made in the motion he had filed on his own.3 The jury found Barrowes guilty of aggravated homicide by vehicle. The district court sentenced him to a term of fourteen to eighteen years in prison. Barrowes timely perfected this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶15] When reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we must accept as true the State's evidence and give it the benefit of all reasonable inferences which can be drawn from it. Sweets v. State , 2013 WY 98, ¶ 14, 307 P.3d 860, 865 (Wyo. 2013). We cannot consider conflicting evidence presented by Barrowes. Id. "We do not substitute our judgment for that of the jury; rather, we determine whether a jury could have reasonably concluded that each of the elements of the crime was proven beyond a reasonable doubt." Id. We will not reweigh the evidence. Levengood v. State , 2014 WY 138, ¶¶ 11-12, 336 P.3d 1201, 1203-04 (Wyo. 2014).

DISCUSSION

[¶16] Barrowes claims the evidence presented by the State was insufficient to establish that he drove in a reckless manner, which is an essential element of felony aggravated homicide by vehicle. He argues that he was at most criminally negligent, which would only make him guilty of misdemeanor homicide by vehicle.

[¶17] Our analysis begins by reviewing the elements of aggravated homicide by vehicle. The statute setting forth this crime provides as follows:

(b) A person is guilty of aggravated homicide by vehicle and shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than twenty (20) years, if:
* * *
(ii) He operates or drives a vehicle in a reckless manner, and his conduct is the proximate cause of the death of another person.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-106(b)(ii). In turn, recklessly is defined in Wyoming's Criminal Code:

A person acts recklessly when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the harm he is accused of causing will occur, and the harm results. The risk shall be of such nature and degree that disregarding it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation[.]

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-1-104(a)(ix). We have held that this definition applies to aggravated vehicular homicide cases. Breazeale v. State , 2011 WY 10, ¶ 15, 245 P.3d 834, 839-40 (Wyo. 2011).

[¶18] The district court also instructed the jury on the lesser included offense of homicide by vehicle:

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section [dealing with aggravated homicide by vehicle], a person is guilty of homicide by vehicle and shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both, if he operates or drives a vehicle in a criminally negligent manner, and his conduct is the proximate cause of the death of another person.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-106(a). Criminal negligence consists of the following, as the district court properly instructed the jury:

"Criminal negligence" is defined as the following conduct: A person acts with criminal negligence when, through a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise, he fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the harm he is accused of causing will occur, and the harm results. The risk shall be of such nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation[.]

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-1-104(a)(iii).

[¶19] Barrowes argues that the evidence presented does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted recklessly, and that a reasonable jury could not have found that he did so. He points to his...

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7 cases
  • Ogden v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • September 13, 2022
    ...when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, reasonably supports the jury's verdict. See Barrowes v. State , 2017 WY 23, ¶ 30, 390 P.3d 1126, 1131 (Wyo. 2017) (concluding there was sufficient evidence to support Mr. Barrowes’ conviction of aggravated homicide by vehicle even though......
  • Ogden v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • September 13, 2022
    ...when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, reasonably supports the jury's verdict. See Barrowes v. State, 2017 WY 23, ¶ 30, 390 P.3d 1126, 1131 (Wyo. 2017) (concluding there was sufficient evidence to support Mr. Barrowes' conviction of aggravated homicide by vehicle even though ......
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    • United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming
    • May 8, 2017
    ...a crime only requiring reckless conduct rather than an intentional act. Id. at 1007 ; see also Barrowes v. State , 2017 WY 23, ¶¶ 17-18, 390 P.3d 1126, 1128-29 (Wyo. 2017). After considering earlier Wyoming cases not directly resolving the issue and relying on limited authority from other j......
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    • July 30, 2018
    ...there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude that Mr. Hyatt was the driver. Barrowes v. State , 2017 WY 23, ¶ 19, 390 P.3d 1126, 1129 (Wyo. 2017). Mr. Hyatt argues that there was no evidence he was the driver of the truck that was the subject of the REDDI reports. "Identi......
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