Hopkins v. State, S-18-0262
| Decision Date | 23 July 2019 |
| Docket Number | S-18-0262 |
| Citation | 445 P.3d 582 |
| Parties | Matthew Vernon HOPKINS, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Office of the Public Defender: Diane M. Lozano, State Public Defender; Kirk A. Morgan, Chief Appellate Counsel; Robin S. Cooper, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel. Argument by Ms. Cooper.
Representing Appellee: Bridget L. Hill, Wyoming Attorney General; Christyne M. Martens, Deputy Attorney General; Shawnna M. Lamb, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Lamb.
Before DAVIS, C.J., and FOX, KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, and GRAY, JJ.
[¶1] On March 14, 2017, Appellant Matthew Vernon Hopkins, a psychiatric addiction specialist, huffed from a can of Dust-Off, got behind the wheel of his car, and lost consciousness while driving to his office. He veered into oncoming traffic, hit another vehicle head on, and injured the other driver. The State filed criminal charges and a jury convicted Mr. Hopkins of aggravated assault and battery, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, and unlawful use of a toxic substance. On appeal, Mr. Hopkins challenges his conviction for aggravated assault and battery. Finding no error, we affirm.
[¶2] We restate and reorder the three issues Mr. Hopkins raises on appeal:
[¶3] The facts established at trial were largely uncontested. Mr. Hopkins owned a practice in Cody, Wyoming, where he specialized in adolescent and addiction psychiatry. Mr. Hopkins personally suffers from addiction—he is an alcoholic and abuses Adderall and air dusters. His medical license was suspended in 2003 and 2010 due to his addictions.1 Mr. Hopkins maintained sobriety for periods of time, but relapsed prior to the incident due to severe financial problems. Mr. Hopkins did not seek treatment because he feared he would lose his medical license permanently. Instead, he used air dusters (inhalants) to combat "the shakes" and anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal. He admitted air dusters made him light-headed, but denied that he had ever passed out from huffing prior to the incident. Mr. Hopkins abused the air dusters even though he read the warning label on the can and, as a psychiatrist, he knew the risks (including brain damage) of using air dusters and the effects of inhalants on the brain.
[¶4] On the morning of the incident, Mr. Hopkins used some "duster" shortly after he woke up. An hour later, he drove his son to school and headed to work. Mr. Hopkins began getting the shakes and stopped at his hotel room (where he lived temporarily) to get another can of Dust-Off. After he retrieved a can, Mr. Hopkins proceeded to drive himself to his office. He "possibly" used the air duster again while driving and passed out. His vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and he hit another vehicle head on.2 The other driver sustained injuries and required neck surgery. A forensic toxicologist found inhalants in Mr. Hopkins’ blood.
[¶5] In closing argument, defense counsel conceded Mr. Hopkins drove under the influence of a controlled substance and unlawfully used a toxic substance, but argued that the State failed to meet its burden on the "knowingly" element of the aggravated assault and battery charge. The jury convicted Mr. Hopkins of all three charges. This timely appeal followed.
[¶6] Mr. Hopkins’ issues on appeal all stem from his contention that he lacked the requisite mens rea for aggravated assault and battery under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(ii) (LexisNexis 2017). During trial, Mr. Hopkins asserted that even though subsection (a)(ii) is a general intent crime, it nonetheless requires some purposeful intent and foreseeability. He argued that the State had to prove that he purposefully hit the victim’s vehicle—not that he knowingly drove while under the influence of an inhalant. Mr. Hopkins reasoned that he could not have hit the victim’s vehicle on purpose because he was passed out when he veered into oncoming traffic and, further, that the incident was not foreseeable because he had never before lost consciousness while using inhalants. The district court disagreed with Mr. Hopkins’ position because it was an improper statement of the law. Consequently, the court did not allow Mr. Hopkins to argue his theory to the jury. Mr. Hopkins claims the district court erred in its ruling, which prevented him from providing a complete defense and resulted in a conviction based on insufficient evidence.
[¶7] We review a district court’s legal determinations de novo. Mraz v. State , 2016 WY 85, ¶ 29, 378 P.3d 280, 288 (Wyo. 2016) (citation omitted). To the extent Mr. Hopkins raises a statutory interpretation issue, our review is also de novo. Adekale v. State , 2015 WY 30, ¶ 12, 344 P.3d 761, 765 (Wyo. 2015).
The plain, ordinary, and usual meaning of words used in a statute controls in the absence of clear statutory provisions to the contrary. Where there is plain, unambiguous language used in a statute there is no room for construction, and a court may not look for and impose another meaning. Where legislative intent is discernible a court should give effect to the most likely, most reasonable, interpretation of the statute, given its design and purpose.
Id. (citations and quotation marks omitted).
[¶8] Wyoming’s aggravated assault and battery statute clearly states, in relevant part:
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502. Mr. Hopkins does not dispute that he caused the victim’s bodily injury or that his vehicle was a deadly weapon. His argument focuses on the "knowingly" requirement in subsection (a)(ii).
[¶9] Mr. Hopkins acknowledges that this portion of the aggravated assault and battery statute articulates a general intent crime. As a general intent crime, the only intent which need be proven beyond a reasonable doubt is that the act constituting the offense charged be done voluntarily. Harris v. State , 2006 WY 76, ¶ 26, 137 P.3d 124, 131 (Wyo. 2006) (citation omitted); Carfield v. State , 649 P.2d 865, 869 (Wyo. 1982) (citations omitted). "An act is voluntary if the actor intended to do it (as opposed to an event occurring accidentally or involuntarily)." Barrera v. State , 2017 WY 123, ¶ 31, 403 P.3d 1025, 1031 (Wyo. 2017). "If done voluntarily, ‘the inference thereupon arises that the defendant intended that which resulted.’ " Harris , ¶ 26, 137 P.3d at 131 (quoting Slaughter v. State , 629 P.2d 481, 483–84 (Wyo.1981) ; see also Tillett v. State , 637 P.2d 261, 264 (Wyo. 1981) (); Streitmatter v. State , 981 P.2d 921, 927 (Wyo. 1999) (citation omitted) ("The crime of aggravated assault [under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(iii) ] is a general intent crime, and its commission requires only that intent which the jury may infer from the commission of the proscribed act.").
[¶10] Mr. Hopkins argues, without citation to relevant authority or pertinent language in the statute itself, that the "proscribed act" under subsection (a)(ii) is the "intentional or knowing use of force or violence directed at another person." He reasons that because he was unconscious when his vehicle veered into oncoming traffic, he could not have "purposefully used his car as a deadly weapon." Moreover, he asserts that "the natural consequences of [his] actions" were not foreseeable because the inhalants had never before caused him to lose consciousness.
[¶11] Mr. Hopkins misreads Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(ii). There is no language in subsection (a)(ii) whatsoever that requires the State to prove a particular use of force or an act of violence, as Mr. Hopkins suggests. Subsection (a)(ii) simply and unambiguously proscribes causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon.3 Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(ii). Because Mr. Hopkins does not dispute that he caused bodily injury with a deadly weapon, the pertinent question is whether Mr. Hopkins voluntarily did so even though he was unconscious. See, e.g. , Saldana v. State , 685 P.2d 20, 22 (Wyo. 1984) (); Harris , ¶ 26, 137 P.3d at 131 (). In this case, the answer is yes.
[¶12] "Although a voluntary act is an absolute requirement for criminal liability, [not] every act up to the moment that the harm is caused must be voluntary." 1 Wayne R. LaFave, Subst. Crim. L. § 6.1(c) at 578–79 (3d ed. 2018) (footnote omitted). And, while the voluntary act must "concur" with the mental fault, "[t]he emphasis is upon results caused by the defendant, and any act or omission (with the prescribed state of mind) which causes that result will do." Id. § 6.3(c) at 617. A person, therefore, may be guilty of criminal homicide or battery even though he is unconscious or asleep at the time of the fatal or injurious impact. Id. at 618. For example, if A drives when he is extremely sleepy and hits another vehicle killing (or seriously injuring) a passenger, the act—which causes the death—is continuing to drive while knowing he is sleepy, which coincides with the required mental state. Id.
[¶13] Applying this...
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