Hamilton v. State

• Docket Number: S-23-0068
• Decision Date: 08 September 2023
• Citation: 2023 WY 89
• Parties: SHAWN KENNETH HAMILTON, Appellant (Defendant), v. THE STATE OF WYOMING, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

1

2023 WY 89

SHAWN KENNETH HAMILTON, Appellant (Defendant),
v.
THE STATE OF WYOMING, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. S-23-0068

Supreme Court of Wyoming

September 8, 2023

Appeal from the District Court of Natrona County The Honorable Daniel L. Forgey, Judge

Representing Appellant: Office of the State Public Defender: Diane Lozano, Wyoming State Public Defender; Kirk A. Morgan, Chief Appellate Counsel; Robin S. Cooper, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel.

Representing Appellee: Bridget Hill, Attorney General; Jenny L. Craig, Deputy Attorney General; Kristen R. Jones, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Darrell D. Jackson, Faculty Director Prosecution Assistance Program; Kaylee A. Sims, Student Director Prosecution Assistance Program.

Before FOX, C.J., and KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, GRAY, and FENN, JJ.

FOX, CHIEF JUSTICE.

2

[¶1] Shawn Kenneth Hamilton was convicted of five counts of sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor involving two victims. After this Court affirmed his conviction, Mr. Hamilton filed a petition under the Post-Conviction Determination of Factual Innocence Act alleging he was factually innocent of three convictions involving victim JP because JP recanted her trial testimony. The district court heard the petition on the merits and denied it. Mr. Hamilton appeals and we affirm.

ISSUE

[¶2] Did the district court clearly err by denying Mr. Hamilton's Factual Innocence Petition?

FACTS

[¶3] In 2016, Mr. Hamilton was convicted of five counts of sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor; three of the sexual abuse of a minor counts stemmed from incidents involving victim JP, who was between five and six years old at the time of abuse. Hamilton v. State, 2017 WY 72, ¶¶ 4-6, 396 P.3d 1009, 1011 (Wyo. 2017). In 2021, JP told law enforcement she lied in her trial testimony regarding Mr. Hamilton's sexual abuse. Mr. Hamilton petitioned the district court asserting he was factually innocent based on JP's recantation. He stated under oath that he would offer more than recantation evidence to support his petition. The district court granted Mr. Hamilton a hearing and he called JP as his only witness. JP testified that in 2021 she told law enforcement, not under oath, that she lied in her 2016 trial testimony against Mr. Hamilton. She further testified, however, that she recanted while she "was in a psychosis and . . . wasn't in [her] right mind" and her 2016 trial testimony was in fact accurate. On cross-examination JP stated that she...