Law v. State

• Citation: 2004 WY 111,98 P.3d 181
• Parties: William J. LAW, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Decision Date: 24 September 2004
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming

98 P.3d 181

2004 WY 111

William J. LAW, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. 03-4.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

September 24, 2004.

Representing Appellant: Kenneth M. Koski, State Public Defender; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel. Argument by Ms. Domonkos.

Representing Appellee: Patrick J. Crank, Wyoming Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Theodore E. Lauer, Director, and Brandon N. Delozier, Student Intern, of the Prosecution Assistance Program. Argument by Mr. Delozier. Before HILL, C.J., and GOLDEN, LEHMAN, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.

GOLDEN, Justice.

[¶ 1] After a jury trial, William J. Law was convicted of stalking in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-506(e)(iii) (LexisNexis 2004).¹ On appeal, Law challenges the admission of a knife into evidence and claims that certain remarks made by the prosecutor in voir dire and closing constituted prosecutorial misconduct requiring reversal. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Law presents two issues² for review by this Court:

1. Whether the trial court committed reversible error when it admitted evidence which was irrelevant and highly prejudicial.

2. Whether prosecutorial misconduct occurred when the state argued for the jury to convict Mr. Law for reasons other than the evidence and when the state preconditioned the jury during voir dire.

The State essentially agrees with the phrasing of the issues.

FACTS

[¶ 3] In 1994, Law married AC, and the couple had a son. The marriage was rocky, and the couple divorced in 1998. The couple attempted a reconciliation, and Law moved back in with AC in 1999. AC accepted a job offer in Cheyenne as a civilian employee at Warren Air Force Base. The couple moved to Cheyenne in 2000, continuing to live together in a house owned solely by AC.

[¶ 4] In May 2001, Law pled guilty to child endangerment for striking Adam. Law was placed on probation for one year. The relationship continued to deteriorate and in September 2001, AC wrote a letter to Law essentially telling Law to move out of her house by the end of the year. Law did not move out of the house by the end of December. In early January 2002, AC found an envelope on the window of her car when she was leaving her workplace on the base. In the envelope were a couple of newspaper articles: one on children generally and the other a horoscope to the effect that AC needed to pay attention to someone she was neglecting. AC assumed Law placed the envelope on her window because Law, as a veteran, had full access to the base. AC contacted an attorney who sent Law a Notice to Quit, essentially evicting Law from AC's house. Law finally moved out of the house on January 11, 2002.

[¶ 5] A few days after Law moved out, AC began receiving hang up phone calls from pay phones around town. AC and her neighbors saw Law drive by her house frequently, usually in the mornings. AC set up a camera in her front window to record passing cars, but the camera could only record the general make, model, and color of the cars. It could not capture the license plate number or the identity of the driver. On January 25, 2002, a message was left on AC's voice mail that was too garbled to understand. On February 14, 2002, Law went to a neighbor's house and left flowers for the neighbor to give to AC. In March, Law gave flowers to their son, to give to AC. AC saw Law driving through her neighborhood a few days later. AC spoke to Law that evening and told him to leave her alone. She did not want him to contact her either directly or through their son. Law wanted to continue the conversation and left repeated messages on AC's home phone and work phone. AC contacted the safe house for information on how to obtain a stalking protection order. On March 22, 2002, AC filed for a stalking protection order in circuit court. On March 29, the proceeding resulted in a mutually agreed upon no-contact order, restricting Law from contacting AC or driving on certain streets in her neighborhood.

[¶ 6] On March 30, AC drove her son down to Denver where he boarded a flight to San Antonio to spend time with his maternal grandmother. Later that same evening, after AC returned to Cheyenne, AC went out to a local club. Law walked in, saw her and walked out. On April 1, AC awoke to find her phones did not work. She went outside and discovered that the box containing the telephone lines had been opened and her phone lines disconnected. On April 2, AC attempted to fill up the gas tank on her car and discovered a foreign substance, presumably ceiling tile material, jammed into the gas tank. On April 3, AC went out to the Outlaw Saloon. Upon her return home she discovered a garbled message on her voice mail. She was able to make out the message. It essentially suggested that she should not be hanging out in bars and such activity would be used against her in a custody dispute over their son. Despite being garbled, AC testified that she was one hundred percent certain the message was from Law. After discovering the message, AC went out to her car to see if the gas tank had been tampered with and discovered the remains of a package of sugar and a package of Sweet `N Low in the tank.

[¶ 7] After each of the incidents described in the prior paragraph, AC contacted law enforcement. Initially, law enforcement found no proof that Law was involved. AC declined an offer by law enforcement that they speak to Law, fearing that an approach by law enforcement would only escalate Law's alleged stalking behavior. Because law enforcement could not offer much help under the circumstances, AC decided to hire private security. She contacted David Lopez, a private investigator, and Mark Thayer, the owner of Century Security Services. As it happened, AC had meetings with both men scheduled at her house for the early evening of April 4, 2002. Lopez arrived first, and then Thayer arrived around 6:00 in the evening. Lopez had finished his meeting with AC and was just leaving. Within a few minutes of Lopez having left the house, Lopez called and told AC that he thought he saw Law's car parked a few blocks from her house. AC confirmed the license plate number to Law's car. Thayer left AC's house to drive around and look for Law in the neighborhood. AC then received information from her next-door neighbor that the neighbor had seen Law running down an alley in the neighborhood.

[¶ 8] Thayer spotted Law walking down a sidewalk a few blocks from AC's house. When Law spotted Thayer, he crouched down behind a pickup truck and stayed there until Thayer passed. Thayer left the area because he knew he had been spotted by Law and did not believe Law would do anything while he knew Thayer was still around. Lopez, meanwhile, was still watching Law's car. A few minutes after Thayer left the area, Lopez reported that Law got into his vehicle and left the area. Thayer attempted to follow Law but Law was speeding away from the area and Thayer did not want to pursue him.

[¶ 9] Thayer and Lopez both returned to AC's house. Law enforcement was contacted, and Officer Robert Bower responded. Officer Bower took statements from AC, Lopez, Thayer, and the neighbor. Officer Bower then went to interview Law. Law was not home so Officer Bower waited until Law returned. Officer Bower observed Law drive up and park in the driveway in the vehicle whose description he had been given. Officer Bower approached Law while Law was still in his car, identified himself, and asked if he could speak to him about a report from AC implicating him in violating the no-contact order and stalking. Law voluntarily agreed to speak to Officer Bower, turned off his car and exited the car so they could speak.

[¶ 10] Officer Bower asked Law why he had been in the neighborhood where AC lived. Law denied being in that neighborhood. Officer Bower indicated to Mr. Law that he did not believe Law. Law then said that he had visited a store in the area but had not stopped anywhere near AC's neighborhood. Because Law continued to lie to Officer Bower, Officer Bower placed Law under arrest for stalking. Law gave Officer Bower permission to search his vehicle. As a result of this consensual search, Officer Bower found a large knife in the passenger compartment of Law's vehicle. The knife was on the backseat floorboard accessible to Law from the driver's seat. When asked about the knife, Law replied that it was his grandfather's from World War II and he always carried it with him in his vehicle for protection. The knife found in Law's car was introduced into evidence in Law's trial. AC testified that she had never seen the knife and had never known Law to carry a knife in his car when they were together.

[¶ 11] Officer Bower informed Law of his Miranda rights and Law agreed to continue to talk to the officer. Initially Law continued to deny that he had stopped anywhere near AC's neighborhood. When Officer Bower informed Law that he had three independent witnesses who saw him in the neighborhood, Law changed his story. Law stated that he had received a call on his cell-phone from his son and pulled over to talk to his son. He just happened to be in AC's neighborhood when he pulled over. Law stated he did not get out of the car at any time. Officer Bower told him the witnesses saw him outside his vehicle and Law changed his story again, stating that he got out of the vehicle for better reception on his cell-phone, but never left the side of the car. Officer Bower told Law the witnesses placed him away from his car. Law then suggested he may have walked a little distance from the car toward an alley but he never entered the alley. Officer Bower informed Law that he had been seen in the alley. Law stated he did walk down the alley but had no idea he was headed towards AC's house. He was paying attention to the phone conversation. Officer Bower asked Law why he hid behind a pickup...