Christopher James Yager v. State

2015 WY 139, 362 P.3d 777, 2015 Wyo. LEXIS 156, 2015 WL 6598079
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 30, 2015
DocketS-15-0045
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 2015 WY 139 (Christopher James Yager 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
Christopher James Yager v. State, 2015 WY 139, 362 P.3d 777, 2015 Wyo. LEXIS 156, 2015 WL 6598079 (Wyo. 2015).

Opinion

BURKE, Chief Justice.

[¶1] Appellant, Christopher Yage1 chal'lenges his conviction of third-degreé sexual assault, He contends Wyoming's sexual assault statute does not apply to sexual contact between probatlon officers and probatloners We affirm

- ISSUE

[T2] Appellant presents one issue which we have restated:

Is a probation officer an "employee ... of a state ... correctional system" under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-308(a)(vin)? 1

FACTS

[¶8] Appellant was employed as a probation and parole agent by the Wyoming Department of Corrections, Division of Field Services. In that capacity, Appellant supervised probationers and parolees. In May 2011, Appellant began supervising M.C. as a result of her participation in a drug court treatment program. Appellant's supervision of M.C. ceased after her completion of the treatment program in August 2012. M.C.!'s probation was scheduled to expire on April 27, 2018. However, on April 11, M.C. tested positive for methamphetamine, and the State moved to revoke her probation. After a hearing, the district court found she had violated the terms of her probation. As a result, the court revoked M.C.'s probation and re-imposed her original sentence of 18 to 24 months. The court imposed an additional 45-day term in jail and suspended the balance of the sentence in favor of 18 months probation conditional on M.C.'s re-application to and completion of the drug court'program

[T4] Appellant continued to have contact with M.C. after she completed her initial drug treatment program and the two began a romantic relationship in January. 2018. Appellant visited M.C. at her residence to "hang out." - In February 2018, Appellant and M.C. began a sexual relationship. At least one of their sexual encounters occurred in Appellant's office. Appellant's sexual relationship with M.C. ended in May 20183, Although Appellant was not M.C.'s supervising agent during the period of their sexual relationship, he was aware that she was under the supervision of another agent employed by the Wyoming Department of Corrections.

[¶5] M.C. reported her relationship w1th Appellant to her probation officer,. That report ultimately resulted in the State charging *779 Appellant with second-degree sexual assault pursuant to Wyo. Stat, Ann. § 6-2-808(a)(vii) (LexisNexis 2011). 2 That statute provided as follows:

§ 6-2-3038. Sexual assault in the see-ond degree.
(a) Any actor who inflicts sexual intrusion on a victim commits sexual assault in the second degree if, under cireumstances not constituting sexual assault in the first degree:
[[Image here]]
(vii) The actor is an employee, independent contractor or volunteer of a state, county, city or town, or privately operated adult or juvenile correctional system, including but not limited to jails, penal institutions, detention centers, juvenile residential or rehabilitative facilities, adult community correctional facilities, secure treatment facilities or work release facilities, and the victim is known or should be known by the actor to be a resident of such facility or under supervision of the correctional system{.]

Appellant moved to dismiss the charge under W.R.Cz.P. 12(b)(@), asserting that the statute does not apply to probation officers or probationers. Following a hearing, the district court denied the motion.

[fl 6] In accordance with a ‘xiJlea agreement, Appellant entered a conditional guilty plea to an amended charge of third-degree sexual assault under Wyo. Stat, Ann, § 6-2-304 3 , which requires "sexual contact" under any of the cireumstances set forth in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-3808. He reserved the right to appeal the denial of his motion to dismiss. Appellant was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison, suspended in favor of two years of probation. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[T7] In this case, we must determine whether Appellant is an "employee ... of a state ... correctional system" under Wyo. Stat, Ann. § 6-2-3808. Resolution of this issue involves a question of statutory interpretation. We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. Spreeman v. State, 2012 WY 88, ¶ 6, 278 P.3d 1159, 1161 (Wyo.2012).

_DISCUSSION

[¶8] In his only issue, Appellant contends the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss because Wyo. Stat. Ann,. § 6-2-308(a)(vii) does not apply to his conduct. Appellant claims that he was not an "employee ... of a state ... correctional system" within the meaning of the, statute. Appellant concedes that he was an employee of the Department of Corrections He claims, however, that he was not an employee of a "correctional system" under the unambiguous meaning of thit term,. Relying on the principles of efusdem generis and moscéitur a sociis, he contends the term "correctional 'system" should be interpreted in light of the acilities listed in the statute. He notes that each of the listed facilities involves confinement of the person under supervision of the correctional system, whereas probation does not,

[€¥91 Appellant further claims that interpreting "correctional system" to encompass probation is contrary to the intent of the legislature. He also addresses the final element in the statute, which requires that "the victim is known or should be known by the actor to be a resident of such facility or under supervision of the correctional system." - He asserts that "under supervision of the correctional system" does not mean supervision of probationers. Appellant ac *780 knowledges that the statute's reference to work release facilities and community correctional facilities includes persons who are not physically confined, but he asserts that these examples are different from probation because probationers are not in "official detention" under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-5-201(a)@). In sum, he claims that Wyo. Stat. Ann, § 6-2-308(a)(vil) was intended to protect inmates, residents, or certain other supervisees, but not probationers.

[¶10] In response, the State contends that Wyoming law forbids a probation officer from having sexual relations with a probationer. The State contends Wyo. Stat, Aun, § 6-2-303(a)(vii) is unambiguous and that the ordinary meaning of "correctional system" includes probation officers and probationers. The State further claims that, had the legislature intended to limit the meaning of the term "correctional system" to facilities that detain inmates, it could have used the phrase "correctional facility," as it has in other statutes. The State also contends that the principle of efusdem generis is not applicable because the statute expressly states that employees of a state correctional system are "not limited to" employees of the enumerated facilities. The State asserts that the rule of noscitur a sociis also does not apply because the statute is not amblguous With respect to the last phrase of the statute, the State claims that by defining victims to include persons "under supervision of the correctional system" the legislature clearly intended to include probation agents and probationers.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

David Wayne Gober v. The State of Wyoming
2025 WY 96 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2025)
Tomlin v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Virginia, 2023
John Gerald Howitt v. The State of Wyoming
2022 WY 152 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2022)
Solvay Chemicals, Inc. v. Wyoming Department of Revenue
2022 WY 122 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2022)
Alfonso Roman v. The State of Wyoming
2022 WY 48 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2022)
Lonnie Lee Dahl v. The State of Wyoming
2020 WY 59 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2020)
Gordon v. State
413 P.3d 1093 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2018)
Riddle v. State
2017 WY 153 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2017)
Chad Dockter v. State
2017 WY 63 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2017)
Kimberly D. Rambo v. Jeffrey D. Rambo
2017 WY 32 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2017)
Santana Mendoza v. State
2016 WY 31 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 WY 139, 362 P.3d 777, 2015 Wyo. LEXIS 156, 2015 WL 6598079, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christopher-james-yager-v-state-wyo-2015.