Burnett v. State

2011 WY 169, 267 P.3d 1083, 2011 Wyo. LEXIS 175, 2011 WL 6793716
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 28, 2011
DocketNo. S-11-0081
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2011 WY 169 (Burnett v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burnett v. State, 2011 WY 169, 267 P.3d 1083, 2011 Wyo. LEXIS 175, 2011 WL 6793716 (Wyo. 2011).

Opinions

BURKE, Justice.

[T1] Brodey A. Burnett was convicted on one count of attempted second degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault and battery. The trial court merged all three counts for purposes of sentencing, and sentenced Mr. Burnett to a prison term of twenty to thirty years. Mr. Burnett appeals his [1085]*1085conviction, focusing mainly on jury instrue-tions he claims were improper. We will affirm.

ISSUES

[T2] Mr. Burnett presents three issues, which we have reworded slightly:

1. Was the jury properly instructed on the elements of attempted second degree murder?
2. Was the jury properly instructed on the definition of "recklessly," one of the elements of aggravated assault and battery?
3. Does the fact that the elements of attempted second degree murder and the elements of aggravated assault and battery are identical deny Mr. Burnett due process of law?

FACTS

[T3] On December 25, 2009, Willie Wheeler and his younger brother, Beau, spent the day snowboarding. As they returned home to Lander that evening, Willie1 received a phone call from Amber Mefferd, whom he described as a "good friend." She invited Willie and Beau to join her and Alyssa Jurado at a party at another friend's home in Riverton. They agreed, and met Ms. Mef-ferd and Ms. Jurado at the party at about 10 p.m. Because Willie had plans for the next day, the four decided to leave the party around midnight. They were going to leave Ms. Jurado's car at her mother's home in Riverton, then all of them would take Willie's SUV to his home in Lander.

[¶4] As they left the party, they saw Mr. Burnett standing near Ms. Jurado's car. Willie recognized Mr. Burnett from a previous encounter. According to Willie's testimony, Mr. Burnett "showed up" at a party at Willie's home a few months earlier, and "Problems did arise." Beau also testified to a previous "confrontation with Mr. Burnett." Nevertheless, Mr. Burnett asked them for a ride, saying that he wanted to "party out" with them at Willie's home in Lander. He was told there was not going to be a party at Willie's home because they were all going home to get some sleep. But Mr. Burnett was "insistent," and Beau eventually agreed to give him a ride as far as Ms. Jurado's mother's home. Mr. Burnett lived nearby, and Beau told him he could walk home from there. They left, with Willie and Ms. Mef-ferd in Willie's SUV, and Beau, Ms. Jurado, and Mr. Burnett in Ms. Jurado's car.

[¶5] Beau testified that, during the ride to Ms. Jurado's mother's home, Mr. Burnett "was saying stuff about my brother and wanting to fight him and all of that." According to Ms. Jurado, Mr. Burnett was "yelling around. He was just yelling." They arrived at Ms. Jurado's mother's house, and Beau parked Ms. Jurado's car at the curb. Willie stopped his SUV nearby. Mr. Burnett exited Ms. Jurado's car and approached Willie's vehicle, asking Willie again for a ride to Lander to party. Willie again told Mr. Burnett that they were not going to party, and refused to give him a ride. Mr. Burnett responded by yelling at Willie and "pounding" on the windows of the SUV. Apparently referring to their earlier encounter, Mr. Burnett asserted that "this stuff between us isn't over," and said it was time to finish it. Willie responded, "Okay, let's settle it right here," and stepped out of his SUV. Preparing to fight with Mr. Burnett, Willie took off his jacket and handed it to Beau, who was standing nearby. Willie provided this testimony about the incident that followed:

Q [by the Prosecutor] After you tossed your jacket to Beau, what did you do?
I started approaching Mr. Burnett. }|>
And what happened? ©
He pulled a knife. |p
He pulled a knife from where? ©
Out of his front right pocket.... [>
What did you do when you saw that? ©
I put my hands up and told Mr. Burnett, "Hey, we don't need to do anything stupid tonight. You don't want to ruin your life, you don't want to ruin mine. Just call it good and we'll go from here." >
[[Image here]]
Q Did you have anything in your hands?
A No, ma'am.
[1086]*1086Q Where was Beau at that point?
A He was still at the back of the truck by the back doors, still about four, five [feet] away from me.
Q -What did you do at that point after you told him you didn't want any trouble?
What happened next?
A I went to ... get a flashlight out of the back of my truck.
Q Why were you looking for a flashlight at that point?
A To defend myself....
Q As you were reaching into that vehicle or looking for the flashlight that you described, what happened next?
A One of the girls, I don't know which one it was, screamed, and I felt a large pound on my back. I didn't know what it was. Thought it was just a punch.

[¶6] Ms. Mefferd and Ms. Jurado also thought Mr. Burnett had punched Willie in the back. Beau, however, had seen the knife in Mr. Burnett's hand, and yelled to Willie that he had been stabbed. Beau tried to get Willie into the SUV and away from Mr. Burnett, but Mr. Burnett came at them again, cursing and lunging at them with the knife. After chasing them around the vehicle, Mr. Burnett "took off to the east." Willie and Beau jumped into the SUV, with Willie in the driver's seat and Beau in the back seat. Willis drove away.

[¶7] Willie drove only a short distance before he began coughing up blood. He stopped the vehicle and started to get out so that Beau could drive. He collapsed to the ground. Beau helped him into the back seat, then got in behind the wheel. As Beau started driving toward the hospital, Ms. Ju-rado called 911. When they arrived at the hospital, Willie was taken into the emergency room and received immediate medical attention.

[¶8] One of the doctors who treated Willie in the emergency room testified that Willie had suffered a stab wound near the middle of his back just to the left of his spine. The doctors inserted a tube into Willie's chest. Willie continued to bleed through that tube, and his pulse rate stayed high, indicating that he was losing blood. Willie eventually lost about three and a half liters of blood, the doctor testified, which was significant for a person whose normal blood volume would be about five liters. The doctor termed such substantial blood loss as "dangerous" and "life-threatening." In addition, Willie's lung remained collapsed-a condition the doctor termed "urgent"-and the doctors determined that he needed chest surgery. Because that surgery was generally not performed in the Riverton hospital, arrangements were made to send Willie on a Life Flight to Casper. The surgery performed there revealed a laceration of the intercostal artery, a large artery "that runs along the rib, supplying the rib and the muscles around there." Willie was hospitalized for five days, and was released on January 1, 2010.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 WY 169, 267 P.3d 1083, 2011 Wyo. LEXIS 175, 2011 WL 6793716, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burnett-v-state-wyo-2011.