Keller v. State

771 P.2d 379, 1989 Wyo. LEXIS 94, 1989 WL 29084
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 31, 1989
Docket87-16
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 771 P.2d 379 (Keller 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
Keller v. State, 771 P.2d 379, 1989 Wyo. LEXIS 94, 1989 WL 29084 (Wyo. 1989).

Opinion

THOMAS, Justice.

The main question in this appeal is whether the court erred in refusing to give to the jury a requested lesser included offense instruction on the offense of criminal entry in a trial in which Thomas Ray Keller (Keller) was convicted of three counts of burglary. Other issues are presented relating to Keller’s sentence. These include challenges to the authority of the court to order Keller to attend therapeutic programs at the penitentiary, to order Keller to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later time, and to order Keller to repay the office of the public defender for legal services. We conclude that the trial court did err in refusing to give a lesser included offense instruction as to *381 one of the counts of burglary, and we reverse the judgment on Count III for that reason. We also are persuaded that the judgment and sentence did exceed the authority of the trial court, and we declare the judgment and sentence void with respect to the aspects attacked by Keller.

In his Brief of Appellant, Keller sets forth these issues:

“1. Whether the Trial Court’s decision not to instruct the jury on lesser-included offenses was error.
“2. Whether the provision in the District Court’s sentence requiring Appellant to attend therapeutic programs at the Wyoming State Penitentiary must be stricken as in excess of the District Court’s jurisdiction.
“3. Whether the district court exceeded its jurisdiction when it ordered restitution in an amount to be determined.
“4. Whether the District Court erred in ordering reimbursement to the State for the services of the Public Defender’s office.”

In the Brief of Appellee, the State identifies the issues in this way:

“1. Whether the trial court’s decision not to instruct the jury on lesser-included offenses was error?
“2. Whether the district court exceeded its jurisdiction in recommending to the Board of Parole that the appellant’s attendance of therapeutic programs ordered by the Wyoming State Penitentiary be considered in determining if the appellant should be paroled?
“3. Whether the district court erred when it ordered restitution in an amount to be determined?
“4. Whether the district court erred in ordering reimbursement to the state for services of the Public Defender’s office without first determining the appellant’s ability to pay?”

Keller initially was charged with four counts of burglary in violation of § 6-3-301(a), W.S.1977 (June 1983 Repl.). That statute provides:

“(a) A person is guilty of burglary if, without authority, he enters or remains in a building, occupied structure or vehicle, or separately secured or occupied portion thereof, with intent to commit larceny or a felony therein.”

Those charges were:

COUNT PLACE DATE
I Super Wash Car Wash June 6, 1985
II Ford Store June 7, 1985
III Broadway Cleaners June 12, 1985
IV White Eagle Motors Dee. 28, 1985

All of these business establishments were located in Rock Springs.

After originally entering a plea of not guilty to each of these counts, Keller made an arrangement pursuant to which he entered a plea of guilty to the lesser charge of criminal entry as to the alleged burglary of the Broadway Cleaners. That count was dismissed from the case, and an amended information was filed incorporating the three remaining counts. Keller then went to trial on those charges of burglary. After trading a plea of guilty to criminal entry for the charge of burglary at the Broadway Cleaners, Keller was interested in obtaining the same opportunity in front of the jury. His initial claim of error is premised upon the refusal of the district court to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of criminal entry.

An evaluation of this contention requires a summary of the evidence. The only evidence presented at the trial was offered by the prosecution. Testimony of the witnesses established that, on June 7, 1985, the Rock Springs Police Department was advised of two burglaries which occurred during the late night of June 6 and early morning of June 7, 1985. The first was reported by the manager of the Super Wash Car Wash who had discovered, when he arrived at the premises, that the door jamb and lock on the door to the office building had been broken. The doors to a cabinet inside the building were open, and the manager discovered upon discussion with an employee that $62, which had been left in the cabinet the evening before, was missing.

The report of the second burglary was from the Ford Store. At about 6:30 A.M., an employee discovered that a plexiglass window on the upper portion of a garage door had been shattered. An examination *382 of the interior of the building disclosed that one of their cars had been moved to a location near a garage door and that the keys to the car were still in the ignition. Further investigation disclosed that the keys to a cash register and a soda machine dispenser were missing from where they normally were kept. An employee at a store next door advised the police that he had found a set of keys in the flower garden of that business, and a later inspection of the flower garden revealed still another set of keys. The two sets of keys found were the missing cash register and soda dispensing machine keys. Pieces of the broken plexiglass window were examined for fingerprints, and Keller’s fingerprints were found on the pieces of plexiglass.

More than six months later, a silent alarm was activated at White Eagle Motors at 4:10 A.M. on December 28, 1985. Officers who responded to the alarm discovered a broken window, and one officer was stationed under the window to prevent any person who might still be in the premises from escaping. The officers then notified the owner of the business and asked him to come to White Eagle Motors. When he arrived, the owner observed the broken window and saw a hydraulic jack, which normally was kept inside the building, outside the building. The owner then unlocked the door and, once he had deactivated the alarm, he and the officers began an examination of the premises. One officer observed a person, identified as Keller, lying underneath a pickup truck near the back part of the building. When the officers ordered Keller to come out from underneath the truck, Keller did not respond and had to be physically removed from beneath the truck. The police then arrested Keller and took him to the police station. Further investigation resulted in a determination that nothing had been stolen although the doors to a file cabinet were found open, and papers which had been in the cabinet had been moved.

One officer testified that, as Keller was being physically pulled from under the truck, Keller stated, “All right, all right, I’ll get up.” The officer testified that Keller appeared to have been “passed out” with no movement observable, but that he did not detect any odor of alcohol.

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Bluebook (online)
771 P.2d 379, 1989 Wyo. LEXIS 94, 1989 WL 29084, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keller-v-state-wyo-1989.