Triplett v. State, 90-53

• Decision Date: 05 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 90-53,90-53
• Citation: 802 P.2d 162
• Parties: Donald Lee TRIPLETT, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Page 162

802 P.2d 162

Donald Lee TRIPLETT, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. 90-53.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

Dec. 5, 1990.

Robert A. Hampe, Cheyenne, for appellant.

Joseph B. Meyer, Atty. Gen., Sylvia Lee Hackl, Deputy Atty. Gen., Karen A. Byrne, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., and Kaylin D. Kluge, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

Before URBIGKIT, C.J., and THOMAS, CARDINE, GOLDEN and MACY, JJ.

THOMAS, Justice.

The primary question to be resolved in this case is whether the trial court committed an abuse of discretion in refusing to grant the Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea filed by Donald Lee Triplett (Triplett) after the minor victim of an indecent liberties charge, ¹ Triplett's natural daughter, recanted from her report of sexual intercourse. A collateral issue is presented with respect to whether the trial court erred in admitting, at the hearing on the Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea, expert testimony relating to psychological patterns of victims of sexual abuse who recant. We conclude that the trial court correctly applied our standard with respect to withdrawal of pleas of guilty prior to sentencing, which is that, at the discretion of the court, the motion can be granted for any reason that is fair and just or serves as a plausible reason to grant the motion to withdraw the plea of guilty. We affirm the denial of the Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea, and we affirm the judgment and sentence.

In his Brief of the Appellant, Triplett articulates a rather lengthy statement of the issues in this way:

"I. The expert testimony in this [case] should not have been admitted over the strenuous objection of counsel for Appellant.

"That the Learned Trial Court erred in admitting into evidence, over objection, 'expert' testimony, and all of it, if relevant, is certainly not material, does invade the province of the fact finder, is without foundation and violates the rights of Appellant under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Sovereign State of Wyoming.

"II & III. That the Learned Trial Court erred (and abused its discretion) in failing and refusing to sustain Appellant's Motion to Withdraw Plea of Guilty by failing and refusing to apply the correct standard of proof, by limiting the time for hearing of this matter, by commenting upon the 'guilt' of this Appellant and that the Learned Trial Court erred in failing and refusing to apply the standard of proof delineated as a 'plausible reason' as to why Appellant should be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea; that the Learned Trial Court erred in failing and refusing to apply the standard expressed as 'Any reason the granting of the withdrawal of the plea seems just and fair' ... all to the prejudice of this Appellant and in violation of the rights granted to this Appellant under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Sovereign State of Wyoming."

The State of Wyoming, as appellee, complaining that Triplett's statement of the issues is "argumentative, compound, extended, and not questions * * *," says that the issues are these:

"I. Whether the trial court erred in admitting Dr. Heineke's testimony?

"II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in not allowing withdrawal of appellant's guilty plea?"

On August 30, 1989, as the result of statements made by the victim's mother, Triplett's wife, the victim was interviewed by law enforcement officers. The victim reported that, on the night of August 18, 1989, Triplett had made her sleep in his bed and, during that night, he had sexual intercourse with her. She reported that he had placed a pillow case under her buttocks and that he had sent her to the bathroom after the sexual intercourse. An older sister had been present at the family's mobile home residence on that same night, and she advised that the victim had told her about the sexual intercourse the following day. The older sister then went into the bedroom where Triplett and the victim had slept, and she discovered a pillow case folded up on the bed. When she lifted it up, she saw a ring on the sheets similar to a mark that would be left if someone had wet the bed. She corroborated the victim's statements about other events that occurred during the course of the night.

The investigator then interviewed Triplett who denied any involvement with the victim on the night of August 18, 1989. In the course of the interview, however, Triplett did say that he had sexual intercourse with the victim on a date that he selected as being August 20, 1989. The victim was asked about this second episode of sexual intercourse. She initially denied it. Subsequently, the victim told the investigator about the sexual intercourse on August 20 and explained that the reason she had denied this event when first asked about it was that she felt stupid because she didn't tell him about it during the first interview.

After waiving preliminary examination in the county court, Triplett was charged by information in the district court, in Count I, with the offense of taking immodest, immoral or indecent liberties "on or between the 18th or 19th day of August, A.D. 1989" and, in Count II, with taking immodest, immoral or indecent liberties on August 27, 1989. At his initial arraignment, Triplett entered a plea of not guilty to both counts. He subsequently changed his plea to guilty as to Count II. In exchange, and pursuant to the plea agreement, the state agreed to dismiss Count I. In response to a question of the trial judge directed at eliciting a factual basis for the plea of guilty, Triplett said:

"Well, the wife and two of my kids went to the grocery store, and we had been watching a few movies, and left this one with me. And she went by me and grabbed ahold of me and we was wrestling. And the next thing I know, we was having intercourse. And it was my fault, not her fault. I can't blame anybody but me for my action."

In response to a direct question from the court as to whether Triplett had intercourse with his daughter, Triplett replied, "Yes, sir, I did." Triplett agreed that, "It's a real bad indecent liberty * * *."

Almost two months later, a judgment was entered in which Triplett was found guilty of the charge of indecent liberties with a minor and a presentence investigation was ordered. On the same day, the Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea was filed. A hearing then was held on the Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea on January 30, 1990, and the victim, under oath, verified her recantation of her accusation of sexual intercourse. The record demonstrates that, over the years, the victim had made a number of allegations of impropriety against Triplett and had previously recanted from those accusations. At the hearing, Triplett denied ever having had sexual intercourse with the victim.

During the course of that hearing, the State called a professional counselor who testified that he had been employed at the Wyoming Regional Counseling Center for about twelve years and that he had been in practice some nine years prior to that. He outlined his educational qualifications and recounted, as his experience, that he had devoted about 40% of his practice to dealing with child sexual abuse. He reported some ninety-five victims that he had worked with, including both children and adolescents, male and female. He said he had dealt with twenty-five to thirty adult male perpetrators and reported familiarity with literature authored by other professionals in the area. He agreed that he had never discussed the matter with the victim, and he explained the dynamics of recantation of accusations of sexual abuse by victims. He testified that victims in incest situations can feel...