Naugher v. State
| Decision Date | 07 August 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-176,83-176 |
| Parties | Emerson NAUGHER, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Leonard D. Munker, State Public Defender, Sylvia Lee Hackl, Appellate Counsel, and Martin J. McClain, Asst. Appellate Counsel, Wyoming Defender Aid Program, Cheyenne, for appellant.
A.G. McClintock, Atty. Gen., Gerald A. Stack, Deputy Atty. Gen., John Renneisen, and Mary B. Guthrie, Senior Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.
Before ROONEY, C.J., and THOMAS, ROSE, BROWN, and CARDINE, JJ.
The only question in this case is whether Naugher was entitled to have the jury instructed that it could consider his intoxication in determining whether he acted with the specific intent required for the commission of the crime charged. An appropriate instruction with respect to the effect of intoxication upon specific intent was offered by Naugher at his trial, but the district court refused to give it. We conclude that the district court properly refused to give the offered instruction, and we affirm the judgment and sentence.
In his brief Naugher states the issue to be:
"Whether the trial [court] committed prejudicial error when it refused to instruct the jury that evidence showing Appellant acted while in a state of intoxication could be considered in determining whether Appellant acted with the specific intent necessary to convict him of aggravated robbery."
In its brief the State of Wyoming restates the issue in this way:
"Was it error for the trial court to refuse to offer an instruction that defendant's intoxication could affect his ability to form the specific intent necessary to commit aggravated robbery?"
Early in July the victim in this case was "riding the rails" in search of employment. In the train yard at Laurel, Montana, the victim met Naugher and another individual named Drayton. The victim inquired of Drayton and Naugher where they were traveling, and upon learning that their destination was Florida the victim decided to travel with them. The victim then volunteered to obtain some liquor to take with them if one of the two would accompany him to a liquor store. Drayton went with him, and the victim purchased two bottles of beer, which he and Drayton consumed, two-fifths of white port wine and a pint of vodka. They took the wine and vodka with them back to the railroad yard.
The victim, Drayton, Naugher, and an unidentified older man boarded an open freight car attached to a train headed for Cheyenne. The victim, Naugher and Drayton settled down in one end of the car while the other man went to the opposite end. As they were traveling, the victim, Naugher and Drayton began to drink the wine and vodka, passing the bottles around. The victim, who had been traveling all of the previous day and night, soon became intoxicated and went to sleep. His next clear recollection was awaking in a hospital bed in Sheridan, Wyoming. He was taken to the hospital after having been found wandering near the railroad tracks, and it was discovered that he was suffering from numerous injuries, including a broken nose, a dislocated shoulder and cuts and bruises, as well as a possible concussion. The victim did not have a clear recollection of what had occurred from the time he went to sleep in the railroad car until he found himself in the hospital.
The record discloses that the victim was without some of his property following his encounter with Naugher and Drayton. Property which he was missing was found in the possession of Naugher. Treating physicians testified that serious bodily injury had been inflicted upon the victim in accordance with the definition found in § 6-1-104(a)(x), W.S.1977 (June 1983 Rev.), which states:
"(x) 'Serious bodily injury' means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes miscarriage, severe disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ."
The State relied upon testimony from Drayton to establish the events of the robbery and infliction of injury upon the victim. This was possible because of a plea bargain entered into with Drayton pursuant to which he was permitted to plead guilty to simple robbery, and a recommendation for probation instead of incarceration was submitted to the district court. The fact of this arrangement was made known to the jury both during the opening statement of the prosecution and during Drayton's testimony. Drayton testified that the three men began drinking the wine and vodka soon after they boarded the train. He said that Naugher "was pushing [the victim] quite a bit of wine and liquor." The victim, according to Drayton, soon became intoxicated and passed out. Naugher then began emptying the victim's pockets, taking a pocket knife, a wallet containing twenty dollars and his identification. Drayton testified that when the victim began to awaken Drayton controlled him while Naugher struck him twice with a pipe. Naugher and Drayton then dragged the victim to the door of the moving freight train and forced him to jump, leaving his other possessions behind. After the victim was found near the railroad tracks in Sheridan the train was stopped in Gillette, and Naugher and Drayton were arrested. A personal search of Naugher disclosed the pocket knife, the wallet, and nail clippers belonging to the victim, were in Naugher's possession.
Soon after the victim was discovered and taken to the hospital Naugher and Drayton were charged with the crime of aggravated robbery as defined in § 6-2-401(c)(i), W.S.1977 (June 1983 Rev.). In the Wyoming Criminal Code of 1982, § 6-2-401 defines the crime of robbery as follows:
Section 6-3-402(a), W.S.1977 (June 1983 Rev.), provides as follows:
"(a) A person who steals, takes and carries, leads or drives away property of another with intent to deprive the owner or lawful possessor is guilty of larceny."
The charge against Drayton was resolved by his plea of guilty in accordance with the plea bargain. Naugher was convicted after a trial to a jury. He then was sentenced to a term of not less than five and not more than fifteen years in the penitentiary. This appeal is taken from that judgment and sentence.
After the close of the evidence Naugher offered his requested Instruction A, which provided:
1
The district court refused the requested instruction, and in accordance with the requirement of Rule 31, W.R.Cr.P., 2 Naugher's counsel stated his objection to the refusal in this way:
"We object to the failure to give Instruction A because we believe that the evidence shows satisfactorily that all of the parties were drinking heavily including the defendant and that the drinking may have been a factor in the crime."
The record does not disclose any claim of intoxication by Naugher prior to the offering of the proposed instruction. The only evidence came from Drayton and the victim. The victim said:
Drayton testified as follows:
In his argument to this court Naugher places primary reliance upon Goodman v. State, Wyo., 573 P.2d 400 (1977). In that case this court reversed a conviction of murder in the first degree because we held that the defendant was entitled to an...
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