Lane v. State
| Decision Date | 14 November 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-165, No. 99-166. |
| Parties | Erich LANE, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). Erich Lane, Appellant (Defendant), v. The State of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Sylvia Lee Hackl, State Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel; and Ryan R. Roden, Assistant Appellate Counsel.
Representing Appellee: Gay Woodhouse, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Robin Sessions Cooley, Senior Assistant Attorney General.
Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY,1 GOLDEN & HILL, JJ.
Appellant Erich Lane appeals from two judgments and sentences that were entered after he was convicted of burglary and second-degree murder.
We affirm.
Lane submits three issues for review by this Court:
Although the tragic event at the basis of this case occurred in the early morning hours of December 28, 1997, it appears that the problems began on December 25, 1997, when Lane, his live-in girlfriend, and the victim attended a Christmas party together. At around midnight, Lane went home, leaving his girlfriend and the victim at the party. The girlfriend and the victim spent the night together, and the girlfriend did not get home until around two o'clock the following afternoon. At around eight o'clock that evening, the girlfriend left and again spent the night with the victim.
Lane awoke on December 27, 1997, to find that his girlfriend had once again failed to return home the night before. He called various friends in an attempt to locate her but was unable to determine where she was. Lane was upset over the apparent breakup of his relationship and spent part of the day packing the girlfriend's belongings. During the course of the day, Lane had some friends over to his apartment where they drank alcohol and smoked methamphetamine. Later that evening, another friend arrived and informed Lane that his girlfriend was seeing the victim and they were together that evening. Upon hearing this news, Lane went into his bedroom and began slamming things around.
Later, Lane and another friend decided to drive around town in an attempt to find the girlfriend. Unsuccessful in this endeavor, Lane directed his friend to drive to the victim's house. Lane could tell the house was empty. He threw two large rocks through the front windows of the house and crawled through the broken windows. While inside the house, Lane stuffed the bathroom and kitchen drains with papers and clothing he had found in the house and turned on the faucets to cause a flood. Before exiting, Lane grabbed a lockbox and a box of glassware. He tossed the items into the car, and the two friends headed back to Lane's apartment. Realizing one of the boxes was filled with glasses, Lane dropped it off near some trash cans.
Mingles Billiards Lounge was on the route back to the apartment, and Lane instructed his friend to drive through its parking lot. The victim happened to be walking in the parking lot at that time on his way to warm up his vehicle. Lane confronted him. After an exchange of words, Lane went inside the lounge to talk to the girlfriend. It was at this point that the girlfriend told Lane their relationship was over. Lane told the girlfriend he still loved her and left upset.
Lane and his friend left Mingles and headed back to Lane's apartment. Once he got back to his apartment, Lane opened the lockbox. He kept some of the items he found inside and then instructed his friend to get rid of everything else. He told his friends to leave because "[t]his [was] not going to be a happy place."
In the meantime, the victim and the girlfriend returned to the victim's home and discovered the mess Lane had caused. The girlfriend called Lane to ask him why he did it. While she was talking to Lane, she said the victim was angry and was yelling and screaming in the background that he was going to "kick Erich's ass." Although the girlfriend was not sure whether Lane heard any of the things the victim was yelling, one of Lane's friends who had not yet left the apartment testified that, after hanging up the telephone, Lane seemed very nervous and told him to leave because the victim was on his way over and would be spraying bullets.
The victim did go to Lane's apartment. Lane maintains that the victim kicked in the door to gain access, but the physical evidence at the trial suggested the door was broken from the inside out because the glass was lying on the ground outside the door. In any event, the victim entered the apartment and proceeded to the bedroom where he was shot once from a distance of approximately four feet and three more times at point blank range. All four bullets entered the victim's back. As the victim lay slumped over Lane's bed, Lane called 911 and reported that he had just shot an intruder. The victim died from the gunshot wounds. Lane was arrested and charged with burglary and first-degree murder. The jury convicted him of burglary and second-degree murder. Lane appeals from those convictions.
In Lane's first claim of error, he contends the trial court did not adequately instruct the jury on the legal definition of an essential element of voluntary manslaughter. He maintains that, because voluntary manslaughter is a lesser-included offense of second-degree murder, the trial court should have provided the jury with an instruction defining "upon a sudden heat of passion." The state replies that the failure to give such a definition did not result in a violation of a clear and unequivocal rule of law.
Lane did not object to the instruction as given at the trial, nor did he offer an instruction with the proposed definition. We, therefore, review this claim under our plain error analysis.
A three-part test has been established for determining whether an error may achieve the status of plain error. First, the record must be clear as to the incident which is alleged as error. Second, the party claiming that the error amounted to plain error must demonstrate that a clear and unequivocal rule of law was violated. Finally, that party must prove that a substantial right has been denied him and as a result he has been materially prejudiced.
Bradley v. State, 635 P.2d 1161, 1164 (Wyo. 1981); see also Rivera v. State, 987 P.2d 678, 680-81 (Wyo.1999)
.
A trial court has a duty to instruct the jury on the general principles of law applicable to the case before it. Brett v. State, 961 P.2d 385, 389 (Wyo.1998). Jury instructions inform the jury about the applicable law so it may apply that law to its factual findings. Miller v. State, 904 P.2d 344, 348 (Wyo.1995). A trial court is given wide latitude in instructing the jury, and we will not find reversible error as long as the instructions given to the jury correctly state the law and adequately cover the relevant issues. Germany v. State, 999 P.2d 63, 69 (Wyo.2000). An appellant must demonstrate prejudicial error, and prejudice will not be demonstrated unless the instruction confused or misled the jury with respect to the proper principles of law. Lowseth v. State, 875 P.2d 725, 729 (Wyo.1994).
Jury instructions are to be written with the particular facts and theories of each case in mind and may differ from case to case because any one of several instructions may be legally correct. Miller, 904 P.2d at 348. A failure to give an instruction on an essential element of a criminal offense is fundamental error, as is a confusing or misleading instruction, requiring reversal of the defendant's conviction. Id. A court is not required to give an instruction defining a term, however, unless the term has a technical legal meaning so different from its ordinary meaning that the jury, without further explanation, might misunderstand its import in relation to the factual circumstances. Cardenas v. State, 811 P.2d 989, 996 (Wyo. 1991). "A jury instruction must leave no doubt as to under what circumstances the crime could be found to have been committed in the particular case." Pierson v. State, 956 P.2d 1119, 1126 (Wyo.1998).
The record clearly demonstrates that the jury received the following instructions:
If you are not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of first degree murder, he may, however, be found guilty of any lesser offense, the commission of which is necessarily included in the offense charged, if the evidence is sufficient to establish the guilt of such lesser offense beyond a reasonable doubt. The offense of first degree murder, with which the defendant is charged, may include the lesser offenses...
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