Blevins v. State

• Decision Date: 27 April 2017
• Docket Number: S-16-0191
• Citation: 393 P.3d 1249
• Parties: Danell BLEVINS, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

393 P.3d 1249

Danell BLEVINS, Appellant (Defendant),

v.The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

S-16-0191

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

April 27, 2017

Representing Appellant: Office of the Public Defender: Diane M. 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; Christyne Martens, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Caitlin F. Young, Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Young.

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

KAUTZ, Justice.

[¶1] A jury convicted Appellant Danell Blevins of felony exploitation of a vulnerable adult, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 6-2-507(a) and (d) (LexisNexis 2015). On appeal, Ms. Blevins challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's conclusion that the victim, Richard Tefertiller, was a vulnerable adult. She also claims the district court improperly instructed the jury on the mental element of the crime.

[¶2] We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶3] Ms. Blevins presents the following issues on appeal:

I. Did the State present sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Tefertiller was a vulnerable adult as defined by statute?

II. Did the jury instruction that exploitation sufficient to establish the felony conviction need be a "reckless or intentional act" misstate the law?

The State offers a similar statement of the issues.

FACTS

[¶4] Ms. Blevins was a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic in Evanston, Wyoming. Mr. Tefertiller, who was approximately 73 years old during the time at issue, was a disabled veteran. He frequented the VA clinic for evaluation and treatment of a host of medical and mental issues. Mr. Tefertiller's medical history included bouts of colon and prostate cancer, the latter resulting from his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Mr. Tefertiller also had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of his service in Vietnam. The PTSD caused him to anger quickly and have recurrent nightmares. Mr. Tefertiller drank significant amounts of alcohol to self-medicate his PTSD and help him sleep. Whether as a consequence of his drinking, his age or other issues, Mr. Tefertiller fell and injured himself on occasion and had memory problems.

[¶5] Ms. Blevins befriended Mr. Tefertiller and, in 2014, asked him to lend her money so that she could continue her education to become a registered nurse (RN). During the period between January 23, 2014 and January 2, 2015, Mr. Tefertiller gave Ms. Blevins $39,550. At least $39,000 was a loan for her education,¹ which she was supposed to repay once she obtained her degree. Ms. Blevins did not enter an RN program and, instead, used most of the money for things other than education.² She paid bills, gave some of the money to her sister, and went on a vacation.

[¶6] Mr. Tefertiller's daughters learned about his loans to Ms. Blevins and contacted her to discuss repayment. She refused to talk to them about the loans, claiming the transactions were between her and Mr. Tefertiller. The daughters alerted the VA, which, together with the Evanston police department, began an investigation. The State charged Ms. Blevins with one count of intentionally exploiting a vulnerable adult, a felony. She was tried before a jury in April 2016, and the jury found her guilty of the crime. The district court sentenced Ms. Blevins to serve one to four years in prison and ordered her to reimburse $39,000 to Mr. Tefertiller. She filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court.

DISCUSSION

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Establish Mr. Tefertiller was a Vulnerable Adult

[¶7] Ms. Blevins claims her conviction should be reversed because the State did not present sufficient evidence that Mr. Tefertiller was a vulnerable adult. In analyzing her claim,

[w]e do not consider "whether or not the evidence was sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but [instead] whether or not the evidence could reasonably support such a finding by the factfinder." Hill v. State , 2016 WY 27, ¶ 13, 371 P.3d 553, 558 (Wyo. 2016) (citing Levengood v. State , 2014 WY 138, ¶ 12, 336 P.3d 1201, 1203 (Wyo. 2014) ). "We will not reweigh the evidence nor will we re-examine the credibility of the witnesses." Hill , 2016 WY 27, ¶ 12, 371 P.3d at 558 (citation omitted). We review the sufficiency of the evidence "from this perspective because we defer to the jury as the fact-finder and assume they believed only the evidence adverse to the defendant since they found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." Oldman [v. State ], 2015 WY 121, ¶ 5, 359 P.3d [964] at 966.

Mraz v. State, 2016 WY 85, ¶ 19, 378 P.3d 280, 286 (Wyo. 2016), quoting Bean v. State , 2016 WY 48, ¶ 45, 373 P.3d 372, 387 (Wyo. 2016). In addition,

this Court examines the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Faubion v. State , 2010 WY 79, ¶ 12, 233 P.3d 926, 929 (Wyo. 2010). We accept all evidence favorable to the State as true and give the State's evidence every favorable inference which can reasonably and fairly be drawn from it. We also disregard any evidence favorable to the appellant that conflicts with the State's evidence. Id .

Harnden v. State , 2016 WY 92, ¶ 5, 378 P.3d 611, 612–13 (Wyo. 2016) (quoting Pena v. State , 2015 WY 149, ¶ 16, 361 P.3d 862, 866 (Wyo. 2015) ).

Worley v. State, 2017 WY 3, ¶ 17, 386 P.3d 765, 771 (Wyo. 2017).

[¶8] Ms. Blevins was convicted of felony exploitation of a vulnerable adult under §§ 6-2-507 (a) and (d) :

(a) Except under circumstances constituting a violation of W.S. 6-2-502 [aggravated assault and battery], a person is guilty of abuse, neglect, abandonment or exploitation of a vulnerable adult if the person intentionally or recklessly abuses, neglects, abandons, intimidates or exploits a vulnerable adult.

....

(d) Exploitation of a vulnerable adult is a felony punishable by not more than ten (10) years in prison, a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both, and registration of the offender's name on the central registry.

[¶9] Section 6-2-507(e) directs the reader to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 35-20-102(a) (LexisNexis 2015) for the definitions of various terms used in the statute. "Exploitation" and "vulnerable adult" are defined in relevant part as:

(ix) "Exploitation" means the reckless or intentional act taken by any person, or any use of the power of attorney, conservatorship or guardianship of a vulnerable adult, to:

(A) Obtain control through deception, harassment, intimidation or undue influence over the vulnerable adult's money, assets or property with the intention of permanently or temporarily depriving the vulnerable adult of the ownership, use, benefit or possession of his money, assets or property[.]

....

(xviii) "Vulnerable adult" means any person eighteen (18) years of age or older who is unable to manage and take care of himself or his money, assets or property without assistance as a result of advanced age or physical or mental disability [.]

Sections 35-20-102(a)(ix) and (xviii).

[¶10] The terms "advanced age" and "mental disability" are also defined by statute. "Advanced age" means "a person who is sixty (60) years of age or older." Section 35-20-102(a)(xxi). "Mental disability" is defined in relevant part as:

a condition causing mental dysfunction resulting in an inability to manage resources, carry out the activities of daily living or protect oneself from neglect, abuse, exploitation or hazardous situations without assistance from others.

Section 35-20-102(a)(xvi).³ In arguing that the evidence was insufficient to establish that Mr. Tefertiller was a vulnerable adult, Ms. Blevins does not focus on whether or not Mr. Tefertiller was of advanced age or physically or mentally disabled, but, rather, upon whether those attributes made him unable to manage and care for himself or his money, assets, or property without assistance. Considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, the record contains sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Mr. Tefertiller met the legal definition of vulnerable adult.

[¶11] Mr. Tefertiller's daughters, Candace Tefertiller and Holly Barnes, testified about his physical ailments during 2014, including on-going issues with mobility and injuries from falls. Ms. Tefertiller was a physical therapist and described the evolution of his mobility problems. She said that, in 2014, she told him she was concerned that he would fall on the stairs at his house. Mr. Tefertiller's medical records confirm that he was injured from falling in 2014. Because of Mr. Tefertiller's physical problems, he had a housekeeper who cleaned and did laundry, and Ms. Barnes and her children took care of the yard. In fact, Ms. Barnes said that in 2014, other than a little grocery shopping that Mr. Tefertiller did himself, "we took care of everything."

[¶12] Ms. Barnes testified that, during the relevant time, Mr. Tefertiller also had mental problems which affected his ability to care for himself and his assets. She stated he suffered from PTSD, was regularly intoxicated, and had memory problems. Ms. Barnes assisted Mr. Tefertiller by taking him to some of his appointments and helping him remember his schedule. Although she did not identify a specific time period, Ms. Tefertiller testified that her father had significant drinking and cognitive problems prior to 2015.

[¶13] Mr. Tefertiller's medical records corroborated his daughters' testimony about his memory loss, alcoholism and other mental problems. In June 2014, a health care provider noted that Mr. Tefertiller exhibited memory problems, even raising the possibility that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The provider stated in his notes that Mr. Tefertiller had not been filling his prescriptions and he had tried to convince Mr. Tefertiller to allow someone to...