Yung v. State
| Decision Date | 07 November 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-39,94-39 |
| Citation | 906 P.2d 1028 |
| Parties | Leland Geoffrey YUNG, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Leonard D. Munker, State Public Defender; and Deborah Cornia, Appellate Counsel, for Appellant.
Joseph B. Meyer, Attorney General; Sylvia L. Hackl, Deputy Attorney General; and Barbara L. Boyer, Senior Assistant Attorney General, for Appellee.
Before GOLDEN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, TAYLOR and LEHMAN, JJ.
Appellant contests his second-degree murder conviction. He raises a speedy trial issue; challenges the admissibility of his confession; the treatment of his affirmative defense; the sufficiency of the evidence; the jury's review of an exhibit; and the district court's refusal to admit expert testimony.
We affirm.
Appellant presents the following issues:
ISSUE I
Did the trial court err when it failed to dismiss for lack of speedy trial?
Did the court below err when it failed to suppress inculpatory statements which were obtained in violation of Appellant's constitutional rights?
Did the trial court err when it improperly instructed the jury on the law applicable to this case?
Did the trial court commit reversible error by upon request, providing jurors with unlimited review of testimony without notifying defense of the request or response?
Was there sufficient evidence to support a conviction of second degree murder?
Did the trial court den[y] Appellant his right to a fair trial when it ruled that it was inadmissible vouching for the credibility of a witness if experts testified that the Appellant fit the profile of a rape victim?
The State presents the following issues:
I. Did the State provide Appellant with a speedy trial?
II. Was Appellant properly mirandized and did he voluntarily confess to murdering Stephen Bennett?
III. Was the jury properly instructed on the law of the case?
IV. Did the district court err when it provided the jury access to a tape recorder so it could review an exhibit during deliberations?
V. Was the evidence produced at trial sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant was guilty of second degree murder?
VI. Did the trial court properly refuse testimony that either vouched for the credibility of Appellant or invaded the province of the jury?
II. FACTS
On July 20, 1992, appellant, Leland Yung (Yung), was hitchhiking from Montana to Louisiana. Stephen Bennett (Bennett), returning to his home in Casper, Wyoming, picked Yung up in Montana at approximately 4:00 p.m. The two stayed the night in a motel in Gillette, Wyoming. Yung claims that Bennett sexually assaulted him that night at gunpoint.
The next day, Yung and Bennett met several of Bennett's friends for drinks at two different bars and a private residence. The two eventually left Gillette and started for Casper with Bennett driving. Bennett was very intoxicated and Yung asked to drive. The two switched sides and Bennett placed his pistol on the dash of the car.
On the way to Casper, the two turned off onto a secondary road. At that point, according to Yung, Bennett reached over and placed his hand on Yung's crotch. A struggle ensued and Yung gained control of Bennett's pistol. Yung ordered Bennett out of the car. When Bennett walked to the rear of the car, Yung shot him in the back of the head. After shooting Bennett, Yung dragged the body off the side of the road behind a bush. Yung then left the scene.
On July 23, 1992, Yung was stopped for speeding in Little Rock, Arkansas. When asked for identification, Yung produced a wallet which contained Bennett's credit cards and social security card. He then told the officer that his name was Darrell Huffer. No records were found when Darrell Huffer's name was entered in the police computer. When informed of this, Yung stated that his name was Leland Yung and said he was seventeen years old.
The officer arrested Yung at approximately 10:35 a.m. for criminal impersonation. Yung was read his Miranda rights and indicated that he understood those rights. Yung was then taken to police headquarters in Little Rock and placed in an interview room. Near the end of a fifty-three minute interview which began at approximately 3:00 p.m., Yung confessed to killing Bennett. He said,
Yung was returned to Wyoming where he was charged with first-degree murder. A jury convicted him of the lesser included offense of second-degree murder. Yung appeals his conviction of second-degree murder.
III. DISCUSSION
Yung argues he did not receive a speedy trial. The right to a speedy trial is grounded in the constitutions of the United States and the State of Wyoming. However, constitutional analysis must be delayed until we have addressed the application of W.R.Cr.P. 48. This rule is a procedural mechanism by which a criminal defendant may enforce his constitutional right to a speedy trial. We have held that this rule is mandatory. McDermott v. State, 897 P.2d 1295, 1299 (Wyo.1995). The mandatory nature of W.R.Cr.P. 48 demands that counsel and the district courts be attentive to the requirements of the rule. It is the responsibility of the district court, counsel and the defendant to see that these requirements are fulfilled. W.R.Cr.P. 48(b)(1). It is the responsibility of this court when reviewing a conviction to ensure that the mandates of this rule and the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial have been met.
Constitutional analysis of a speedy trial claim requires that we consider the four factors articulated in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), and adopted by this court in Cosco v. State, 503 P.2d 1403, 1405 (Wyo.1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 971, 93 S.Ct. 2164, 36 L.Ed.2d 693 (1973). This test requires us to consider: (1) the length of delay; (2) the reason for the delay; (3) the defendant's assertion of his right; and (4) the prejudice to the defendant. Roderick v. State, 858 P.2d 538, 542 (Wyo.1993) (quoting Osborne v. State, 806 P.2d 272, 277 (Wyo.1991)). These four factors are weighed and balanced in light of all the relevant circumstances. Id.
The speedy trial clock, which for constitutional purposes began to run when Yung was arrested on July 23, 1992, ran for a total of 171 days before Yung's trial began on January 11, 1993. This delay is not presumptively prejudicial. Osborne, 806 P.2d at 277 (). Thus, the first factor, length of delay, neither mandates nor prohibits reversal.
The second factor requires us to consider the reasons for the delay. We accord less weight to delays not attributable to the prosecution. Id. at 278. Many delays in this case were attributable to the district court's schedule and the timetable under which the state crime lab was forced to process the forensic evidence. Defense counsel initially insisted on receiving scientific evidence from the crime lab at least thirty days prior to trial, but later withdrew this demand. After reviewing all the options with the parties, the district court set the trial for January 11, 1993. Because the delays in this case were caused by neutral factors, beyond the prosecution's control, we find no speedy trial violation under our delay analysis.
Although a defendant need not demand a speedy trial in order to establish a violation of the right, the question of whether he did so, and if so when, is relevant to our inquiry. Id. at 278. Yung's counsel did not demand a speedy trial until December 3, 1992. At that time, a January 25, 1993 trial date had been set for over a month, however, the district court agreed to reschedule the trial for January 11, 1993. Less than vigorous assertions of the right to a speedy trial are given little weight. Robinson v. State, 627 P.2d 168, 171 (Wyo.1981). Because Yung failed to assert his right to a speedy trial in a vigorous and timely manner, we accord this factor little weight.
The final factor considered in our analysis is the degree of prejudice suffered by the defendant. "Prejudice to the defendant may consist of (1) lengthy pretrial incarceration, (2) pretrial anxiety, or (3) impairment of the defense." Osborne, 806 P.2d at 278. Yung argues that he suffered pretrial anxiety while "the State's witnesses wanted to go on vacation * * *." He also asserts that his age and lack of emotional maturity contributed to his pretrial anxiety. Of the three prejudice factors we identified in Osborne, we find pretrial anxiety the least significant. Every criminal defendant will, as a matter of course, suffer some pretrial anxiety. A conviction need not be reversed simply because a seventeen-year-old defendant was incarcerated during the holidays, regardless of how the State's witnesses spend their time.
When these factors are weighed and balanced against all the relevant circumstances, it is clear that Yung was not denied his right to a speedy trial. The length of the delay was not excessive and was attributable to neutral factors beyond the prosecution's control. Further, Yung failed to assert his right to a speedy trial in a vigorous and timely manner. Finally, there is no indication in the record that Yung was prejudiced by the delay.
Yung also argues that his confession should have been suppressed. In support of this contention, he argues that the officer who arrested him for criminal impersonation in Arkansas did not have probable cause to make the arrest; that he should have been re-advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. State of Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) when he was questioned at police headquarters; that his confession was involuntary; and that his second confession is tainted by the first involuntary confession and must,...
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