Garay v. State

2007 WY 130, 165 P.3d 99, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 140, 2007 WL 2285489
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 10, 2007
Docket06-220
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 2007 WY 130 (Garay 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
Garay v. State, 2007 WY 130, 165 P.3d 99, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 140, 2007 WL 2285489 (Wyo. 2007).

Opinion

VOIGT, Chief Justice.

[T1] The appellant contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for third-degree sexual assault. We affirm.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[T2] Our standard for reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim is as follows:

When reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim in a criminal case, we must determine whether a rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not consider conflicting evidence presented by the unsuccessful party, and afford every favorable inference which may be reasonably and fairly drawn from the successful party's evidence. We have consistently held that it is the jury's responsibility to resolve conflicts in the evidence. We will not substitute our judgment for that of the jury, ... our only duty is to determine whether a quorum of reasonable and rational individuals would, or even could, have come to the same result as the jury actually did.

Kenyon v. State, 2004 WY 100, ¶ 14, 96 P.3d 1016, 1022 (Wyo.2004) (quoting May v. State, 2003 WY 14, ¶ 11, 62 P.3d 574, 578 (Wyo.2003) (citations and quotation marks omitted)). Stated somewhat differently, with emphasis upon witness credibility determinations, our standard of review has been identified as follows:

When the issue of sufficiency of the evidence is raised on appeal, this Court must respect the role of the fact-finder, in this case the jury, to weigh the credibility of the respective witnesses. A jury is entitled to weigh and disregard any evidence intended to discredit the witnesses for the State. Broom v. State, 695 P.2d 640, 642 (Wyo.1985). This Court does not second-guess the credibility determinations of the jury. Estrada-Sanchez v. State, 2003 WY *101 45, ¶ 6, 66 P.3d 703, ¶ 6 (Wyo.2003). To that end, this Court must presume that the jury resolved any conflict in the evidence in favor of the prosecution. McFarlane v. State, 2001 WY 10, ¶ 4, 17 P.3d 31, ¶ 4 (Wyo.2001). Ultimately, in order to preserve the role of the fact-finder, this Court does not review the record evidence to determine if it agrees with the verdict, but rather the critical inquiry of this Court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Ekholm v. State, 2004 WY 159, ¶ 18, 102 P.3d 201, ¶ 18 (Wyo.2004); Tanner v. State, 2002 WY 170, ¶ 7, 57 P.3d 1242, ¶ 7 (Wyo.2002).

Leyo v. State, 2005 WY 92, ¶ 11, 116 P.3d 1113, 1116-17 (Wyo.2005). 1

FACTS

[13] The standard of review just elucidated requires us to set forth the facts shown in the trial record in the light most favorable to the State. Because the victim in this case is a minor, and because many of the witnesses also were minors, and because many of the witnesses share the same surname, we will refer to the victim as "the victim," we will identify witnesses by their given name, and we will refer to Mr. Garay as "the appellant."

[14] On August 10, 2005, the victim traveled from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Worland, Wyoming, to visit a cousin, Shantell. On the evening of August 12, 2005, the victim and Shantell went to the appellant's house to babysit. The appellant is also the victim's cousin. The appellant left the residence, returning later with T.J. and Jamie. The appellant and T.J. then left to buy aleohol with money given them by Shantell. They returned with a bottle of vodka, from which both the victim and the appellant began to drink.

[15] At some point, the victim and Shan-tell went to Mark's house, where they were later picked up by the appellant and T.J. The four of them drove around town, with the appellant and the vietim continuing to drink vodka, while the victim sat on the appellant's lap in the back seat. Along the way, they picked up T.C. and Enrique, whose vehicle had broken down along the road. They then drove to the Rendezvous Lounge, where they picked up Jackie.

[16]. The group next went to Jackie's house, where the victim, who was visibly drunk, remained outside when the others entered the house. She vomited repeatedly on the front porch. Jackie and other adults directed the victim's friends to move her from the front porch so "the cops" would not notice her. In response, Shantell searched for the victim, finding her in the back yard with the appellant. Shantell attempted to help the appellant with the victim, but the appellant resisted her efforts and insisted on helping the victim by himself. The appellant then carried the victim down into the basement and into a back bedroom, closing the door behind them.

[17] Shantell, Enrique, Justin, and T.C. were sitting in the living room just outside the bedroom. Their estimates of the length of time the appellant was in the bedroom with the victim varied, with the longest estimation being 10 to 20 minutes. The victim testified that she recognized the person in the room with her as being the appellant. She identified him by his voice, his shaven head, his headband, and the white sweatshirt he was wearing. She testified that the ap *102 pellant laid her down on a mattress, laid down beside her, rubbed her arm, and told her he was going to "try something new." He then "pullled] and tuggled]" her pants off, positioned himself between her legs, and "lick{ed herl private [parts]." The victim testified that she was going in and out of consciousness-passing out-and the next thing she remembered was being on top of the appellant, "going side to side" and falling over, while the appellant struggled to keep her upright so he could "have sex with" her. She testified that she felt his penis "inside" and she felt it "hit my leg."

[18] When the appellant left the bedroom, he closed the door behind him, and as Shantell got up to go check on the victim, the appellant said, "[Nlo, she's fine." He also said that the victim had vomited on her pants. The appellant left the basement a few minutes later, at which time Shantell, Enrique, T.C., and Justin went into the bedroom. They found the victim lying on the mattress. Her pants were on the floor. Shantell noted that there was no vomit on the victim's pants. After a period of indecision as to what they should do, T.C. covered the victim with a blanket and the group went back out into the living room. T.J. and Jamie then came downstairs. Upon being told the situation, they went into the bedroom and put the victim's pants back on her. In doing so, they noticed that the top button of the pants was missing. The button was found in a "dust ruffle" next to the mattress. Shantell then told Mark about the victim's condition, and Mark carried her to his car and took her and Shantell home.

DISCUSSION

[T9] Eventually, the victim's parents learned about the incident and, after an investigation, the appellant was charged with third-degree sexual assault, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-804(a)(i) (LexisNexis 2005), which reads as follows:

(a) An actor commits sexual assault in the third degree if, under cireumstances not constituting sexual assault in the first or second degree;

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Bluebook (online)
2007 WY 130, 165 P.3d 99, 2007 Wyo. LEXIS 140, 2007 WL 2285489, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garay-v-state-wyo-2007.