Michael Golden

In Durfee v. Durfee, a mother petitioned to modify the divorce decree to obtain primary physical custody of the couple's two children, while the father petitioned to increase her child support obligation. The district court denied the mother's request after finding no material change in circumstances since the original decree, granted the father's request to raise child support, and ordered the mother to pay half of the father's attorney fees and costs. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the mother failed to demonstrate a material change in circumstances sufficient to reopen the custody determination under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-204(c), as her improved personal situation was not substantial enough to overcome the interest in finality and her allegations against the father were unsupported or contradicted by the evidence. Because the custody ruling stood, the court found the mother's challenges to the support and fee orders moot.

family law

In Abitbol v. State, the Wyoming Supreme Court addressed consolidated appeals from two criminal cases involving drug possession, fraud, and related charges, where defendant Rhonda Abitbol challenged the presentence incarceration credit awarded in concurrent sentences. The court affirmed the judgment in one case (No. 16747) but reversed in the other (No. 16623), remanding for additional credit of seven days for time served between a bond revocation hearing and release. The reasoning focused on specific periods of custody tied to bond violations and revocations, finding that credit was due only for time after a hearing where the court had effectively continued detention, while denying credit for other intervals because Abitbol caused delays, violated bond conditions, or failed to establish a legal basis for credit related to Arizona custody or sentencing scheduling. The opinion emphasized that sentencing delays were not unreasonable and compared favorably to precedents allowing several months between plea and sentencing.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved the termination of BA's parental rights to her son FM by the Laramie County Department of Family Services following a neglect petition and the child's placement with relatives. The mother appealed the district court's termination order, challenging the lack of a guardian ad litem appointment for the child and the sufficiency of evidence supporting termination. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the order and remanded with directions to dismiss the petition, finding that the Department had not made reasonable efforts at reunification as required and that the evidence failed to clearly and convincingly establish the mother's present unfitness under the statute. The court applied strict scrutiny to the termination proceeding and noted deficiencies in case planning and compliance with statutory requirements.

family law

This case arose from a condemnation action by Rissler & McMurry Co. to obtain a surface easement across the Snodgrass property for road access to a limestone quarry on nearby state land. After Rissler dismissed the action prior to retrial, the trial court denied the landowners' motion for attorney fees based on alleged bad faith or lack of diligent prosecution, awarded costs to the landowners as the prevailing party, and denied Rissler's motion for costs. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the record contained no evidence of bad faith by Rissler and that the American rule on attorney fees applied absent such proof. The court further ruled that Rissler's offers of judgment were ineffective under W.R.C.P. 68 because they lacked a definite monetary sum or were untimely, while finding no abuse of discretion in awarding costs to Snodgrass.

propertyprocedure

In Coones v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., borrower James Coones sought damages from the FDIC, as receiver for a failed bank, claiming inadequate notice of the sale of repossessed collateral under the UCC and reimbursement for expenses incurred while preserving that collateral as a debtor-in-possession during his Chapter 11 bankruptcy. After prior proceedings barred the FDIC from obtaining a deficiency judgment due to the notice violation and remanded on other claims, the district court granted summary judgment to the FDIC on remand. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the absolute bar on deficiency recovery already provided the remedy for the notice failure under Wyo. Stat. § 34.1-9-507(a) and that further recovery would constitute impermissible double recovery; that an agister’s lien under Wyo. Stat. § 29-7-101 was unavailable to an owner for services on his own property; and that Coones failed to establish the elements of unjust enrichment. The core reasoning centered on equitable limits on statutory remedies, the scope of lien statutes, and the absence of cogent support for equitable claims.

business & regulatorypropertyprocedure

The case involved RM's challenge to a district court ruling that he was the presumed father of minor child STM under Wyoming's parentage statutes and that the state's action to declare the father-child relationship was timely filed, along with his claim that the court had not properly considered his custody rights on equal footing with the mother's. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's determinations in full. It held that the applicable limitations period under Wyo. Stat. § 14-2-104(a)(i) permits an action at any time to establish the father-child relationship for a man presumed to be the father, which applied because the child was conceived while RM was married to the mother and born within 300 days of the marriage's termination, and that retroactive application of such periods is constitutional. On custody, the court found that the child had lived with the mother for over ten years, RM had failed to meet support obligations, and RM presented no evidence supporting modification of the existing arrangements.

family law

In Cargill, Inc. v. Mountain Cement Co., Mountain Cement Company and Salt Creek Welding sued Cargill for breach of express and implied warranties under Wyoming's Uniform Commercial Code after receiving defective steel plates for use in building a silo, resulting in a jury verdict for the plaintiffs that the district court reduced by prior settlement amounts from other parties. Cargill appealed on grounds including whether it qualified as a seller, statute of frauds applicability, jury instructions on causation and delegation, peremptory challenges, and discovery rulings, while the plaintiffs cross-appealed issues such as prejudgment interest and the scope of set-offs. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment and verdict in full, applying UCC principles to uphold liability and warranty findings, approving the jury instructions and peremptory challenges as proper, and endorsing the set-off reductions on equitable grounds and because the plaintiffs had endorsed the approach at trial.

business & regulatoryprocedure

This case concerns whether a minor child can pursue a paternity action to establish that a man is her natural father, despite prior legal proceedings. The child's mother had previously stipulated to dismiss a paternity action with prejudice and obtained a divorce decree stating the child was born of her marriage to another man. The district court ruled in favor of the child, finding the putative father to be the natural parent and ordering support, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed. The court reasoned that the child has a separate and independent statutory cause of action for paternity and was not a party to the earlier actions, so preclusion doctrines like res judicata and collateral estoppel do not apply to bar her claim.

family law

This case involved a worker's compensation claim in which employee Roger Robles sought additional benefits after experiencing recurring back pain at home, arguing it was causally related to a prior work-related injury for which he had already received benefits. The administrative hearing examiner denied the claim, finding insufficient evidence to establish the required connection between the injuries. On judicial review, the district court reversed the examiner and awarded benefits, concluding that the agency had ignored or misinterpreted relevant medical evidence. The Wyoming Supreme Court reversed the district court, holding that it had improperly re-weighed the evidence, which is the agency's role as the trier of fact, and that the examiner's decision was supported by the record under the applicable standard of review for administrative contested cases.

labor & employmentprocedure