Warner v. State
| Decision Date | 29 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | S-20-0190 |
| Parties | Dale L. WARNER, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Office of the State Public Defender: Diane Lozano, Wyoming State Public Defender; Kirk A. Morgan, Chief Appellate Counsel; H. Michael Bennett, Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel, Corthell and King Law Office, P.C., Laramie, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Bennett.
Representing Appellee: Bridget Hill, Wyoming Attorney General; Jenny L. Craig, Deputy Attorney General; Joshua C. Eames, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Kristen R. Jones, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Jones.
Before FOX, C.J., and DAVIS, KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, and GRAY, JJ.
[¶1] Dale Warner, a minor, took guns and ammunition to Sage Valley Junior High School as part of a plan to shoot nine individuals and as many other people as he could. After his plan was thwarted, he was arrested and charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder. Mr. Warner's motion to transfer his case to juvenile court was denied. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-237(b) sets forth seven determinative factors that are to be weighed by the district court in deciding whether to transfer a case to juvenile court. Mr. Warner asserts the district court abused its discretion in weighing the factors under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-237(b) because it placed undue weight on a single factor, "[t]he seriousness of the alleged offense ...." We affirm.
[¶2] Did the district court abuse its discretion in denying the motion to transfer the case to juvenile court?
[¶3] At three days old, Mr. Warner was removed from his biological parents and placed in foster care. For the next eleven years, he was moved from foster home to foster home—over twenty different placements in all—before he arrived at the Warners. He was adopted by the Warners who later divorced. After the divorce, Mr. Warner split time between his adoptive parents’ homes.
[¶4] From his early years, Mr. Warner maintained sporadic contact with his biological father, which consisted mostly of occasional phone calls. On Friday, November 9, 2018, Mr. Warner learned his biological father had died. He took the news hard and first reacted by attempting suicide.1 When he did not succeed, he turned to drugs and alcohol and spent the weekend consuming copious amounts of both. On Monday, November 12, Mr. Warner returned home to sleep. After he awoke on Tuesday, he conceived a plan to kill nine specific people and as many others as he could to honor his biological father. As the plan evolved, it included: obtaining guns and ammunition; hiding his actions from his brother; protecting a friend from being killed or injured by gun shots; and praying that his adoptive family did not get sued as a result of his actions.
[¶5] Before leaving for school, Mr. Warner sent his brother ahead to the bus stop. Next, he stopped by his adoptive father's truck and grabbed two guns and some ammunition. He concealed one gun in his waistband and the other in his duffel bag. He, then, boarded the bus and on the way to school said a prayer to God that his plan—the shooting—would be in his favor and that his adoptive family would not get sued because of his actions. When Mr. Warner got to school, he waved three of his friends over and opened his duffel bag to show them the gun and ammunition. He explained that he was going to kill six classmates and his teacher in his third hour class, the principal, the assistant principal, and anyone else he could. One of these friends shared his third hour class. Mr. Warner told that friend to get down when the shooting started and then threatened to shoot that friend if he told anyone about the plan. After this, Mr. Warner went to his locker and changed into a loose sweatshirt to better conceal the gun in his waistband. He put his duffel bag with the other gun and ammunition in his locker and went to his first hour class.
[¶6] While in first hour, he made two internet searches—one on "How Mass School Shootings Affect the Education of the Students Who Survive" and another on how to go to jail for real. He then left class to go to his locker. On the way, he saw another boy in the hallway and stopped to talk. Mr. Warner told that boy that he planned on getting into trouble during third hour. Confused, the boy asked Mr. Warner to repeat what he had said. Mr. Warner repeated himself and asked the boy if he wanted to see his gun. He did, and Mr. Warner pulled up his sweatshirt revealing the gun tucked into his waistband. Mr. Warner then warned this boy not to tell, and the two returned to their separate classrooms.
[¶7] Shortly thereafter, Mr. Warner's hallway companion reported his conversation with Mr. Warner to Principal Quinn. Principal Quinn went to find Mr. Warner in his first hour class. He sat down next to Mr. Warner and asked if he had a gun. Mr. Warner admitted that he did and allowed Principal Quinn to remove the gun and confiscate the ammunition Mr. Warner was carrying. Principal Quinn escorted Mr. Warner to the athletic director's office and instructed the secretary to call the police. He then left the assistant principal and the athletic director in charge of Mr. Warner while he retrieved the duffel bag from Mr. Warner's locker.
[¶8] Mr. Warner was charged with nine counts of attempted first-degree murder for those potential victims that he specifically identified. Mr. Warner filed a motion to transfer his case to juvenile court. The transfer motion was assigned to another judge.2 After a two-day hearing, Mr. Warner's motion was denied. Mr. Warner appeals.3
[¶9] Decisions to transfer criminal proceedings from district court to juvenile court are within the sound discretion of the court and our review is for an abuse of discretion. Sam v. State , 2017 WY 98, ¶ 10, 401 P.3d 834, 842 (Wyo. 2017) (citing Hansen v. State , 904 P.2d 811, 824 (Wyo. 1995) ); see also Sen v. State , 2013 WY 47, ¶ 9, 301 P.3d 106, 112 (Wyo. 2013). A district court abuses its discretion when the court's decision "exceeds the bounds of measured reason in light of those matters properly before the court." Hansen , 904 P.2d at 824 (citing Curl v. State , 898 P.2d 369, 373 (Wyo. 1995) ). The issue is whether the court could "have reasonably concluded as it did." Thompson v. State , 2021 WY 84, ¶ 15, 491 P.3d 1033, 1039 (Wyo. 2021) (quoting Majors v. State , 2011 WY 63, ¶ 11, 252 P.3d 435, 439 (Wyo. 2011) ).
[¶10] In Wyoming, cases involving minors who are at least fourteen years old and charged with a violent felony "may be originally commenced either in the juvenile court or in the district court ...." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-203(f)(iv) (LexisNexis 2021); JB v. State , 2013 WY 85, ¶ 6, 305 P.3d 1137, 1139 (Wyo. 2013). If a minor's case is originally commenced in district court, then the minor may file a motion to have his case transferred to juvenile court. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-237(g) ; JB , ¶ 6, 305 P.3d at 1139. The determinative factors to be considered by the judge in deciding whether the case should be transferred are:
[¶11] Mr. Warner appeals the district court's determination that his case should not be transferred to juvenile court. Mr. Warner relies on JB , 305 P.3d 1137. He argues that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to transfer because the court placed undue weight on a single factor, "[t]he seriousness of the alleged offense ...." The State counters that the district court did not place undue weight on any single factor and did not abuse its discretion. The State contends that the district court weighed all the factors under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-237(b) and reasonably concluded that Mr. Warner's case should not be transferred to juvenile court.
[¶12] In JB , JB, a fifteen-year-old boy, stood lookout while two others robbed and attacked two people in their home. JB , ¶¶ 1, 3, 305 P.3d at 1138. JB entered the home after the initial attack and struck one of the victims on the head with a dresser drawer.5 Both of the home's occupants were killed. Id. JB was charged in district court with nine felonies including "two counts of first degree murder, two counts of conspiracy to commit first degree murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and one count of first degree arson." Id. JB filed a motion to transfer his case to juvenile court which was denied. Id. ¶ 4, 305 P.3d at 1138–39.
[¶13] The dispositive issue in JB was whether the district court improperly placed the burden of...
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Rosen v. State
...appropriate transfer decisions, based on the factors set forth in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-237(b). Warner v. State, 2021 WY 133, ¶¶ 9, 23, 498 P.3d 1016, 1018, 1023 (Wyo. 2021) (upholding district court's exercise of discretion in denying transfer motion); Sam v. State, 2017 WY 98, ¶¶ 10-11, ......